Adding a bathroom, trying to get an idea of cost?

13 years ago

I'm sorry if this is an annoying post, I'm not looking for quotes, just ANY ballpark of what I might be looking at JUST for the plumbing work (rough in).

We have one small bathroom and are planning to add one in the upstairs. We don't want to stack them but the downstairs bathroom butts up to a hollow that has the pipes and stuff from the furnace in the basement to the upstairs. Where we want the upstairs bathroom would butt up against the opposite side of that hollow, so it's very close to "sharing a wall" with the current one. We just want to plumb a shower/tub, sink and toilet. I have NO idea the cost, from $100-$3000, I really don't know. I'm in the midwest in a 1950's cape cod if that makes a difference.

If anyone has any experience here or has done something like this if you could give me any idea what I'm looking at I would really appreciate it!

hopefully this is helpful

{{!gwi}}From house

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Comments (4)

paul21
13 years ago
Hi, I wouldn't bother asking for ideas from anyone other than tradespeople in your area. What I would do is decide on what you want, ( which you seem to have done ) and then start calling reputable companies in your area for quotes. They should be able to provide them free of charge and then there are no surprises. Make sure you get 3 or more quotes, in writing and if you see one you like check them out with your local BBB etc. 5 years ago we added a powder room i.e. , a toilet and sink to the main floor area of our 90 yr old house. It was positioned so that the wall housing the upstairs plumbing sat behind the toilet however the furnace oil tank in the basement was very close to where the plumbers were to work on the cast iron waste pipes. The quotes I got were reflective of whether or not the plumbers thought they would have to move the ( full ) tank to work on the pipes, ranging from $2K to $4K. I went with the low bid because of my impression of the person and the feedback from references he had supplied and I was more than pleased with the result. I did the rest of the work, i.e. electrical, framing , drywall etc etc. Good luck !
User
13 years ago
Average bath remodels that don't involve adding plumbing usually run around $11-$12K. Your talking about adding everything involved in a remodel plus adding the infrastructure that isn't there. In my area of the country, you'd be talking from $1K to $3K to add the rough ins, if it were accessible without cutting a slab and it was a simple matter to vent straight out the roof. That wouldn't include the tearing out of the ceiling of the kitchen below or the repair of the same. You may or may not have enough depth in your joists to run drains through them, and you may or may not have enough strength in the joists without additional support to be able to support a bathroom and the kitchen ceiling as well. I'd suspect in a home of that vintage, additional structural work would be needed as well as the plumbing work to be able to handle the weight. That could potentially compromoise the avaialable height for your kitchen ceiling. It might have to be lowered to accomplish what you want. DOn't forget the electrical requirments and GFI circuits that will be needed. Can your panel handle that without an upgrade?

Only in person estimates from licensed plumbers can give you your ballpark figure for your particular area though. And, you really should consult a structural engineer about the ability of your joists to carry the additional weight as well as their integrity should drains be run through them.
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Kati
13 years ago
Hi,

I live in the Midwest (Wisconsin) and we had a 3/4 bath put in our basement this past winter. I told the contractor that my budget was ~$10,000 (they had to break concrete to put in the plumbing, etc.). The 2 quotes I got were in the $15,000 range. I said "what happened to my $10,000 budget??!!" and one of the contractors brought the estimate down to $11,800.

They put in a pretty basic no frills bathroom, but I was happy with it and the cost. HTH!
paul21
13 years ago
Hi, A bit of advice, not a criticism ! NEVER tell a contractor , or a used car salesman for that matter, what your budget is !!!!!!!! Whatever you want will always cost more ! Been there done that too many times !

Adding a bathroom, trying to get an idea of cost?

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