YMC ConstructionBasement finishing · Chicago
Basement bathrooms
A basement bathroom sits below the sewer line, so gravity does not help. The work that decides whether it lasts is under the floor: the ejector pit, the vent and the drains. We plan those first, then the tile.
What is involved
Most basement floors sit below the sewer main, so waste cannot run downhill to it. It goes into a sealed, vented pit cut into the slab and is pumped up by an ejector. That is concrete cutting, digging, a gas tight lid, a vent tied back into the stack and a dedicated circuit.
Get that right and the rest of the room is ordinary bathroom work: a waterproofed shower, a fan ducted outside, ground fault protection near the water, and finishes that suit the space. Half bath, full bath, a steam shower or a curbless shower built for ageing in place.
Basement ideas
Design examples for Chicago area basements. Open any photo for a closer look.
Planning notes
Code does not allow sewage and subsoil drainage in the same pit, so a below grade bathroom means a second pit next to the one you have. If a bid shows you a bathroom and no ejector pit, that is not a cheaper bid, it is an incomplete one.
Put the bathroom near the existing stack and the ejector run stays short. Put a bar or a laundry next to it and they can often share the same pit.
In Chicago a habitable room needs 7 feet of finished height, but a bathroom may be 6 feet 8 inches. That is why the bathroom often goes under the lowest part of the ceiling, where a duct or a beam would spoil a family room.
Suburbs set their own numbers, usually from the residential code with local changes. We measure and check the rule for your address before the room is drawn.
A half bath is the simplest: a toilet and a vanity on the ejector. A full bath adds a shower or a tub, with a sealed membrane behind the tile. A steam shower needs a fully sealed enclosure, a vapour proof membrane and a generator with its own circuit.
For a parent or a guest who needs it, a curbless shower with blocking in the walls for grab bars and a wall hung vanity makes the room usable for years. The slab and the drain are planned for it from the start.
Common questions
Because the floor is below the sewer main. Waste has to go into a sealed, vented pit cut into your slab and be pumped up by an ejector. That is concrete cutting, excavation, a gas tight lid, a vent tied into the stack and a dedicated circuit, before any tile.
No. Code does not allow sewage and subsoil drainage in the same pit, so a below grade bathroom needs its own ejector pit.
In the City of Chicago a bathroom may be 6 feet 8 inches, lower than the 7 feet a habitable room needs. Suburbs set their own rules, so we measure and check yours before the layout is drawn.
Often, yes. The floor has to slope to the drain with no curb, which in a basement means planning the slab, the drain height and the ejector line together. We look at it at the estimate.
Free estimate
Fill out the form and we will call to set a time to look at your basement. The estimate is free and there is nothing to sign.
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