Gonna have to jackhammer the whole slab and start over. Are you prepared for the 50-70K expense to do this?

Start over? Right now there is nothing but dirt and grass, construction has not started yet(this is a new house build).

"Gonna have to jackhammer the whole slab and start over. Are you prepared for the 50-70K expense to do this?"

Sophie, how is this comment helpful?

Anything below grade requires a lift pump if the sewer exist is closer to "street level". We've had a lift pump with about a 30 gallon "tank" that the pump only runs when it gets to a certain level - that way it has some headroom if there is a power outage. Alternatively - just don't use the basement bath in a power outage.

I guess I don't see why the curb-less is an issue - as I don't think doing something like that would have mattered the way they executed that in my house.

I don't know if curbless is an issue or not in the basement... Trying to find out what others think. My builder did not mention anything about a reserve tank, but that makes sense. Where is the tank? is it embedded in the slab?

You did not specify this as new construction. In that case, it will likely only cost you an extra 10-15K to do curbless over the standard 20K-30K extra bath cost. You will need a wall hung vanity and wall hung toilet. Straight square items don’t sit well on sloped floors.

Linear drains for curbless showers can be installed without demolishing the entire floor using pre-made high density foam panels. See Quickdrainusa and Schluter. I only know of systems for single slope not compound slopes as shown. I think single slope is better since you can use large format tiles. Tiles won't bend to create those little valleys.

The plan would need to be re-worked a bit for a single slope system. I'm not sure why the room needs to be so tight in a new build. Look at placing the toilet next to the lavatory and the shower occupying the opposite wall.

If the drain is going to back up it will do so in this application or a traditional shower. The only difference is that the traditional shower with curb will contain more of the muck. If the main sewer line gets clogged backups can happen with gravity systems or ejector pumps.

Consider the maintenance required for the ejector pump, sewage basin, linear drain and additional tiled area. Pumps work good until they don't.

I have a small closet in which the tank resides along with the pump and an alarm if the pump fails. The tank is simply recessed into the ground / below the depth of the slab. It "looks" like a 55 gal drum with a lid on in, in which there are 2 PVC pipes that go into / through the lid. and I suspect the drains from the basement bath and shop sink tie in below there somewhere. I have found it to be virtually trouble free.

The pump only runs periodically. And I "think" the pump is mounted inline with the PVC pipe, with only a "tube" of some sort handling the icky stuff.

How often does your power go out? Adults and teens in the house should be cognizant that when the power does go out, the half hour shower will have to be postponed but it's not like it has to be an overriding fear that prevents the bathroom from being used. Commercial and institutional buildings with basement restrooms often have the same setup, albeit larger systems.

My laundry tub, washer and basement bath all go into the same ejector pump pit. My power typically will only go out due to a severe thunderstorm and be out for 4 to 6 hours tops. It's pretty obvious that the power is out and the basement bath, washer and laundry tub are just not used at those times. The toilet is older and has a 3.5 gallon flush. If the pump has just cycled, It takes 2 flushes for it to kick in again. My guess is it would take at least 5 or 6 flushes to start coming out of the shower drain. Maybe more - I've never tested it. The pit doesn't fill to the top before the pump kicks in; there is some buffer there as well.

wishiwere, janniconne. Pumps work good until they don't.

I find this thread interesting. My parents built a house in KS in the early 1950's. It was a Cape Cod with a full basement, all below ground. We had a toilet down there, and a floor drain. The washer drained into the big laundry tubs There was no holding tank or ejector pump. What was different then? We lived there for 11 years, and regularly had power outages due to being in the heart of Tornado Alley.

After having thought about it for abit, power outages probably would not be that big of a problem, because this bathroom is in the basement without any windows. Probably not the first choice when the power is out, unless you already happen to be in there.

@Anglophilia - the difference is the sewer line was lower than the basement floor, so everything could drain into the sewer by gravity.

Thanks, wish! I really wondered about what on earth could be so different?

Pumps work until they don't. Right - because electric motors fail all the time?

Yes - life is simpler if things are simpler. But if you have a basement with a bathroom, then you need a pump (unless there are pipes down lower).

So I sold my 8 year old house a few months ago. My sewer ejector pump never had an issue. My recirc pump on the hot water never had an issue. The pump for the solar hot water never had an issue. The house probably had 5-10 more pumps that never failed. A motor that only runs a few seconds at a time, a couple of times a day, that is designed for that will last a long time.

We had a small tank - in the slab - basically just big enough to hold the pump.

Sometimes people get a little too worried about relatively rare events that even if they happened would not be that big of a deal....

We have a floor drain in our basement mechanical room that is there specifically for the condensate lines from our heaters. We also have a full bathroom down there (although it's not hooked up yet) The heaters have been on for a few weeks and we have a pump. So far no problems and it's working fine. These pumps are very common where I live because everyone has basements that are at least 8' below grade and the sewer lines in the street are only buried between 6-7' deep. I think the pump holds about 30 gallons of material, so if the power goes out for a few hours you will be ok. If I lived in an area where the power went out a lot and for long periods of time, I would install a backup generator.