That's going to be 'very' expensive now. I'm surprised the contractor didn't try to talk you into at least have a rough in installed.

He kinda did, but it's our forever retirement home. We didn't think at the time we would want one. We were trying to keep expenses within our budget, laughing. Like that was going to happen. We don't really NEED a bathroom in the basement, but now my husband is thinking of making into a hobby/mancave sort of area. Oh well, he will have to use the stairs to potty.

A number of companies offer systems that sit on top of the concrete floor. These require separate vents and special drain piping. Have your plumber provide the proper waste pipe and vent even if future installation is uncertain.
Get the specifications for the piping and follow them exactly.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pump

Mine was broken ground on Dec 31. I have 2116 SF unfinished basement with full basement bathroom. I do have 5 full bathrooms in two main floors.
If you were still building, ask the builder to see what his cost to get one. It is very well worthy though.

At the bottom of the web page, the links in green offer all the needed specifications.

Here is a link that might be useful: Zoeller

We are still building, only the foundation and basement floor have been poured. Is it too late to ask for a roughin?

Probably too late for it to be easy, they'll have to break out the concrete to bury the lines.

When we built we planned an unfinished basement but plan on finishing it w/bedrooms so had a bathroom/laundry room roughed in. It requires quite a bit of plumbing and forethought. Ours has a pump under the floor that all the downstairs plumbing flows through to get to the elevated sewer line. We also asked for a sink in the garage, the builder didn't want to do it at the end of the build but it was in the contract so he had the plumber come out and put one in. Good thing we pushed that as that meant the pump/sewer line had to be all hooked up to drain the sink in the garage. The plumber had originally put plastic over the pump and put a ring around it, the concrete guys buried it so the plumber had to bust it out to hook it all up. I'm certainly glad I didn't have to do that job. The foundation guys also read the plans wrong and forgot to put the 2nd door into the garage in the foundation wall and had to cut it out later. Fortunately it was only about 18" high but it still took them quite some time to cut it out and get it square enough to put the door in. Working on concrete is hard, dirty work and costs a bit to get it done well.

The whole point of doing it during the build is that it's easier if you don't have to dig up the concrete. If you're going to have to dig up the concrete anyway, I would wait until you are really sure you want a bathroom and know exactly where it's going to be.

I know so many people who bought new houses with the basement RIs that then had to dig them up anyway because it wasn't in quite the right spot. I guess they did have the advantage of only having to move it a few feet, as opposed to having to trench the whole basement. But, adding a few feet of pipe might mean trenching the whole thing up in order to get the slope right.

We also have a lift station like Mistman, as our basement floor is lower than the sewer in the street. And our slab guys messed that up, too. Our GC had even covered it in foam, so they just had to pour to the top of the foam, then we'd pull out the foam and be able to access the pump. The crack heads pulled off the foam and lifted the lift station so that it was even with the floor. The pipes had been connected already, so lifting it meant either the pipes got disconnected under the concrete floor (great place for sewage to go, right?) or they were now sloped up instead of down. We had to jackhammer that out and re position the lift station. Fortunately (??) it disconnected the pipes rather than moving them, so we didn't have to dig it out all the way back to the bathroom.

Even if we didn't have the basement bathroom, we'd have needed the lift station though. We needed a drain in the furnace room in case the water tank leaks. And that also goes into the lift station.

I opted out of finished basement when I built this home since I allocated all funds to things that could not be changed later. I made a huge mistake not requesting a rough-in basement bathroom. Though I knew exactly where the bathroom would go, close to water and sewage pipes, right next to the sump pump however it was never done. When I finally finished the basement four years ago, I had no choice but to pay for entire rough plumbing incl. material but felt I got a good deal on it: Cutting concrete floor for bath and a 30' run to the new bar, macerator pump, pit and installation, plumbing for a battery backup sump pump, all copper pipes only, vent through to house roof etc. but it was done nicely even though I fired the guy for something else.

Pine baron

Beautiful bath!
I guess we can live without a basement bath. We are a retired couple and will not be putting bedrooms in or finishing it off. We are building a 1 level to avoid steps!

Thanks all for your input.

Zorroslw,

Thanks. I was planning to retire withing a few years; no chance now. Just about to undertake a giant building project. Single level over a walkout basement. Just about to post a rendering view from the gate. In the meantime see another pic of the basement as one walks down the stairs to the basement. There's a whole lot more.

This post was edited by Pinebaron on Thu, Jan 15, 15 at 5:48

zorroslw, One thing I just thought of is the venting for the basement bathroom. Even though the slab has been poured, you can probably still get the pipe that has to run up to the roof (to allow air into the drains) done now. It's probably a lot easier to do that now if the drywall isn't done yet.

That would be correct. The vent in my basement was drawn up through the garage wall and in-line wall of the roof above; a relatively easier task.