There’s a saying that real estate agents have about bathrooms when trying to sell a home in Edmonton – the more the merrier (see http://plumbers-edmonton.ca/). Those in the market for a new house are accustomed to having almost a minimum of two bathrooms with bathing capabilities. That being said adding a bathroom or a shower to a home is a good investment not only when preparing to sell, just for the peace of living convenience. Although you can do some things yourself, you will need a plumbing contractor (check out Plumbers Edmonton) to build a basement bathroom. There are a few things needed when adding a bathroom to a home, the first of which is room to put it. Once the decision is made and the space is allocated, the process (which can be long and enduring but also enjoyable) can begin. Route Plumbing to the Basement One of the main things you’ll need to add a shower or bathroom to a basement is to route the plumbing down there if it doesn’t exist already. If the foundation is already laid the best way to route the pipes is to have your local Edmonton plumbing contractors do an above floor destination. What many homeowners do is add a drop-ceiling into their basement so that they can adequately hook up to the plumbing on the main floor and easily route it to the new bathroom. The drop ceiling tiles cover up all the pipes and give the area a finished look. Of course the height of the basement will have to be tall enough to accommodate the drop ceiling and still have room to move but it is a very common procedure. Trench and Drain the Floor For in floor basement plumbing a trench will have to be dug into the concrete slab. It’s quite a labor-intensive process using a jackhammer to cut out a route from the bathroom to a spot where you can hook up with the sewage tank. Obviously this is a job most often left for experienced plumbing contractors Edmonton unless a homeowner is advanced in the DIY field. Once the trench is dug and the pipes are run from the sink / toilet / shower the cutout needs to be filled back in with concrete and leveled off. Vent the Room
Bathrooms also need some sort of ventilation system to get rid of not only smells but also to suck out moisture so mold is less likely to form. Vents are a minimum of 2” PVC pipe that need to be either tied into existing vents and routed out through the attic or run through the walls out the side of the house. It’s important to run the vents where they won’t invade on people outside; for instance, running them out to a deck near your barbecue would not be a good practice. Frame Up Walls One thing a basement definitely needs is some privacy so walls must be framed up to separate the commode from a living area. Framing basement walls is a little more difficult because a hammer drill is needed to tap into the concrete to secure the wood to the floor. Once the frames are erected, the next step is to bring in an electrician and plumbing contractors so they can run their wires, pipes, etc. in the walls before they’re covered up. It’s important to leave area for a door in the walls and decipher what needs to be done about windows. Having windows in the basement bathroom aren’t a necessity as long as there is a ventilation system and the grade needs to be evaluated to decide if windows are even feasible. If the window opening is close to the soil it could just be an added headache and risk for flooding and should probably be left out. Install Toilet If the sewage drain for your home is under a basement slab, most building codes require that you hook up to that for a bottom floor bathroom. This is where the cutting and removing of the concrete comes in. For those homes where the sewage line is located elsewhere there are other options available. For instance, an upflush toilet features it’ own small pipe that can be run almost anywhere out of the house until it hooks up with the sewage system. The upflush toilet turns the waste into a fine slurry before it passes it through the pipes so it’s able to move through the pipe adequately. Install a Shower and Sink You’ll want to bring in plumbing contractors Edmonton to run the shower and sink in your basement. The process involves tapping into the existing drain in the basement and routing the water lines both from the ground floor and into the sewage system. Installing a shower and sink in the basement bathroom represents a pretty good chunk of overhead but it also offers a great return of investment. In addition to the convenience of having an extra bathroom to use, if your home ever goes on the market it will fetch more and sell faster because potential buyers are accustomed to having at least two bathrooms in the home now. Add Tile / Drywall / Accessories You’ll actually install the floor tile and drywall before the plumbing contractors Edmonton put on the final fixtures like the toilet or a sink / vanity combo but they’re still an important part of the task. To be honest finishing the bathroom is an optional choice, especially if the rest of the basement is used mostly for storage and is unfinished itself. You’ll definitely want to install a door on the bathroom but as far as the rest of the accessories it’s simply on a per-homeowner basis. Adding a bathroom in your basement takes some work but the convenience that comes from the additional restroom is something almost every homeowner will tell you is worth the work. Comments are closed.
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