Hi Cat-Mom, Yup, we're also renoing Living Room and Master Bedroom at the same time- you? :>) I just faux-painted our entry stair railing to make do until we add on to our front entry. So many balls in the air, hard to juggle it all at one time. kgwlisa, That's what I had thought of so far, basement ceiling has been ripped down, so all the plumbing is fully exposed, and present shower and bath have leaking problems, so things pretty well have to be redone anyways. I was even contemplating 'borrowing' more out of the common wall when we build it, by building in storage behind mirror and perhaps a deeper vanity. I'm assuming this is a fairly basic/common plan, and hopefully others have paved the path... Rae

First let us examine the point where the drain enters the basement. You have a 4" CI entering with a cleanout on the end of the Wye. That cleanout is defined as the "house Main Cleanout" and it defines the point of demarcation between the "House Sewer" (line from the municipal main or septic tank to the structure) and the "House Main Drain" (The main drain upstream from that cleanout). The IRC requires all structures to have one "Main Vent" which must run undiminished in size from the house main drain through the roof; therefore if any line upstream of the main cleanout is increased to 4" the main vent must also be increased to 4". First we must compute the DFU (drainage fixture unit) load for the existing fixtures in this structure. 1st Full Bath Group.. 6DFU 2nd Full Bath Group. 6 DFU Kitchen Group. 2DFU Laundry Standpipe.. 2DFU Total 16DFU The proposed expansion is a full bath group in the basement, which will be served by a sewage ejector pump. The IRC requires that we assign a DFU value of 1.5DFUs for each GPM of the sewage ejector output. The IRC further requires a Sewage Ejector Pump to have a minimum of 14.2GPM therefore the minimum DFU load for an ejector pump system is 1.5DFU x 14.2GPM = 21.3DFUs. Adding the sewage ejector pump rating to the existing load we get 21.3DFU + 16DFU = 37.3DFUs. The maximum allowable load on a 3" house main drain is 30DFUs therefore the sewage ejector may not be connected to the existing 3" house main drain. If you were to increase the size of the house main drain to 4" you would also be required to increase the size of the house Main Vent to 4". The solution for the sewage ejector: A sewage ejector pump discharge line is required to be connected to a horizontal line by means of a Wye with the side opening of the Wye on the top of the pipe. A 4" house main drain or sewer is rated for a maximum of 180DFUs The solution for the sewage ejector would be to go back to the 4" house main cleanout. Remove the cleanout plug and install a second WYE extending outwards. Install the cleanout plug on the end of the second Wye, which would now retain the cleanout function at this point. The side opening of the Wye should be positioned on the top of the pipe and the sewage ejector discharge line may then be connected to that Wye side opening. You will be required to install two 1-1/2" vents to the basement. One vent would be used to vent the fixtures and this vent may be tied into the existing house vents once it reaches an elevation at least 6" above the flood level rim of the highest fixture served by the vent you are connecting to. The sewage ejector vessel is required to have a separate dedicated 1-1/2" vent through the roof. In reference to your question about venting the second water closet, under the IRC a water closet is required to have a minimum of a 3" discharge line. A 3" line is permitted to run up to 12 without any additional venting however there is an exception to the rule. If a water closet is the only fixture served by that line it may run an indefinite length without additional venting.

sowkmom – I wasn’t initially thinking about adding a mudroom by the garage door. I’m not totally opposed to it, I just can’t really visualize how it would work with my space. The step down to the family room makes the space a little extra awkward. acm – Yes, there is a step down to the family room to keep in mind. We don’t absolutely need an eat in kitchen because we use the dining room. If we could fit a few chairs in with an island or peninsula that could be a nice option for us though. er612 – Thank you so much for those layouts! One thing to keep in mind is that on the other side of the wall (in the dining room) where the refrigerator is currently is a cold air return, so it won’t be as easy to eliminate or shorten that wall. I kind of like the layout with the island, but am a bit concerned about the 36-inch space on both sides of the island. I’m thinking that maybe a 2.5 ft. island could maybe work and give us a little extra space. Carly Schwanz – Thanks for the 3d diagrams. That makes it helpful to visualize! I didn’t really think about a peninsula until I saw it in your layout. I feel like the only thing is that we have a bit of empty space behind the peninsula and may not have enough cabinet/pantry space as we would cutting out the wall by the dining room. My husband and I went to Ikea to just look around and were surprised by how nice some of the cabinets there were. We are thinking about maybe using those. I know that we need to get a designer and GC involved, but I’m not sure if any will really want to work with Ikea cabinets either. Does anyone have any experience working with a designer that was ok with Ikea cabinets?

Thank you so much for replying. I apologize for not being clear. I was referring the South (bottom) side of the drawing (East in real life). So the wall with the windows and existing door adjacent the stairs is the one that goes outside. We plan to keep a bedroom in this area, but are willing to take square footage away from it for the bathroom/entry.