Minor Bathroom Upgrade (addition of toilet)
#1
06-11-05, 12:11 PM
Minor Bathroom Upgrade (addition of toilet)
We live in Seattle Washington.
We recently purchased a house with a 'continental' bathroom.
A door from the main hallway connects to a bathroom with a toilet and sink/vanity. A second door connects this bathroom to second bathroom with a sink/vanity and a tub/shower. A third door connects the 'shower' bathroom to the master bedroom. Master obviously also has a door back to the hallway.
We would like to replace the vanity in the 'shower' bathroom with a slightly smaller vanity. This would allow enough room to place a toilet between the new vanity and the tub/shower.
This bathroom is directly above a crawlspace, with easy access to the pipes.
The new toilet wouldn't be very far from the original (which would be kept) and is nearly on top of the main house drain. There even appears to be an unused (capped) tie in on the drain in addition to the cleanout.
After the addition of the toilet, we would wall over the door that connects the two bathrooms.
Essentially we're putting a toilet drain through the floor and tying it in right there. Hopefully without even cutting the current pipe.
Does this sound like something that would require a permit?
The main issue with a permit, if necessary, is that most of the work will be done by myself and my father-in-law. He would be in from out of town for not longer than a weekend, and I'm thinking it would be an incredible pain to get the whole set up inspected while roughed in, etc.
My concern is that the house was listed as 'one' bathroom, if we wall it in and list it as 1.5 without getting it permitted, what happens?
We recently purchased a house with a 'continental' bathroom.
A door from the main hallway connects to a bathroom with a toilet and sink/vanity. A second door connects this bathroom to second bathroom with a sink/vanity and a tub/shower. A third door connects the 'shower' bathroom to the master bedroom. Master obviously also has a door back to the hallway.
We would like to replace the vanity in the 'shower' bathroom with a slightly smaller vanity. This would allow enough room to place a toilet between the new vanity and the tub/shower.
This bathroom is directly above a crawlspace, with easy access to the pipes.
The new toilet wouldn't be very far from the original (which would be kept) and is nearly on top of the main house drain. There even appears to be an unused (capped) tie in on the drain in addition to the cleanout.
After the addition of the toilet, we would wall over the door that connects the two bathrooms.
Essentially we're putting a toilet drain through the floor and tying it in right there. Hopefully without even cutting the current pipe.
Does this sound like something that would require a permit?
The main issue with a permit, if necessary, is that most of the work will be done by myself and my father-in-law. He would be in from out of town for not longer than a weekend, and I'm thinking it would be an incredible pain to get the whole set up inspected while roughed in, etc.
My concern is that the house was listed as 'one' bathroom, if we wall it in and list it as 1.5 without getting it permitted, what happens?
#2
06-11-05, 01:43 PM
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Zumdahl,
If you want to be safe and have no issues with the future listing for sale, this permit sounds to be over the counter. If you explain to them what you wrote here it is more time in line than money. It would require at most one inspection when you tie the rough plumbing. I would get the permit, and then call for an inspection at completion.
I hope this helps.
Thanks,
Brian Garrison
General Contractor/Professional Building Designer
If you want to be safe and have no issues with the future listing for sale, this permit sounds to be over the counter. If you explain to them what you wrote here it is more time in line than money. It would require at most one inspection when you tie the rough plumbing. I would get the permit, and then call for an inspection at completion.
I hope this helps.
Thanks,
Brian Garrison
General Contractor/Professional Building Designer
#3
06-11-05, 03:59 PM
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don't know a thing about Seattle, but if you are on a septic there could be an issue. A friend here just ran into that when he did something similar. Every septic field is rated for a certain number of fixtures of a certain type. Don't recall the specifics except that he almost had to expand the septic field. He ended up capping off his utility tub in the garage. 
-art-
-art-
#4
06-13-05, 09:00 PM
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sandbagger,
here in N. Calif. bathrooms are not considered in the septic equation. It is the number of bedrooms as that directly reflects the number of bodies taxing the system. We can have a (1) bedroom perc., build a one bedroom 10 bathroom 10,000 sf house and its all good. We have become very good at room designations. Den, Study, library, sitting room etc... We even became good at sales descriptions such as 1 bedroom home functions as 5 bedroom
brian garrison
here in N. Calif. bathrooms are not considered in the septic equation. It is the number of bedrooms as that directly reflects the number of bodies taxing the system. We can have a (1) bedroom perc., build a one bedroom 10 bathroom 10,000 sf house and its all good. We have become very good at room designations. Den, Study, library, sitting room etc... We even became good at sales descriptions such as 1 bedroom home functions as 5 bedroom
brian garrison
#5
06-14-05, 05:24 AM
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Permits require codes to be followed.
Do you have the proper area to put in a toilet. Basically, 15 inches from the center of the new drain to each side, 30 inches total; and 21 inches in front of the bowl? If the vanity is off to the side and facing the toilet, it requires 21 inches of clearance in front of it. (so there would be 21 inches of free space from the edge of the vanity to the toilet while still maintaining the 15 inches from drain center line to anything on the other side)
I hope this is clear for you.
Good luck with your project and if you have more questions, ask and someone will answer you.
Do you have the proper area to put in a toilet. Basically, 15 inches from the center of the new drain to each side, 30 inches total; and 21 inches in front of the bowl? If the vanity is off to the side and facing the toilet, it requires 21 inches of clearance in front of it. (so there would be 21 inches of free space from the edge of the vanity to the toilet while still maintaining the 15 inches from drain center line to anything on the other side)
I hope this is clear for you.
Good luck with your project and if you have more questions, ask and someone will answer you.
