My husband and I are finishing our basement and the previous owners didn't fork up the money for a rough in. We're only putting in a toilet and sink. The house is only 5 year old. My questions are:

"What are our options for putting in a toilet? Do we have to break up the concrete? What is the most economical? What is the easiest?

Thanks!

Hi Randee,

You're talking about major surgery here. The cement floor will have to jackhammered up and trenches run from the sewer tie in to the fixtures for the drainage. A roof vent will have to be installed that runs from the basement lavatory through the roof. Walls will have to be furred out and drywall installed to hide the water pipes. Since you are tearing up the floor any how you might as well add a shower base and enclosure and make the group complete. Now that you know what's involved do you still want to install a 1/2 bath? If so you're going to need outside help unless you have plumbing skills and tools. Let me know what you decide. Tom

If you need to put in a shower/tub as well as a stool and lav, then follow Tom's excellent advice. But, if all you need is a stoll and lav, there is another option.

I was watching a home improvement show a few weeks ago and they were talking about installing a toilet that was below the sewer lines.

It was a macerating and ejection toilet.

That is a nice way of saying that it takes what you give it, chews it up even more and the spits it out.

Here is a link for it: http://www.saniflo.com/products/saniplus.asp

Tom (speedball1) and others may have had some experience with this system.

Hey Dan,

Thanks for the nice words but the unit that you describe is for a sewer system that's elevated above the basement floor. They would still have to jackhammer up the floor to connect the unit to the sewer in this case. There's just no other way around it. Your idea would work great if there were no basement sewer. That's not the case here. But good thinking on your part. Keep up the good work. Tom