Moving toilet to basement

dutchcloggie

Hello,

I have recently bought a 2 bed terrace with a kitchen, utility and toilet at the back of the house. I want to make a kitchen with open doors to the gardenThis means combining those 3 rooms together. Doing this would mean losing the downstairs toilet, which is of course not good in terms of resale value but I believe a kitchen that opens into the garden will add much value.

How about moving the second toilet into the basement? We plan to tank, plaster and put laminate flooring there. Apart from the plumbing work, is this worse than not having that big open kitchen with double doors into the garden? There isn't another option really. Unless we put the toilet in front of the door to the cellar (making access to the cellar through the toilet only).

Thanks for advice.

Kiran

If it goes in the basement will you need a saniflo or simila? Does the work to the basement depend on if you need to move the toilet?

Running_On_Empty

Putting your toilet in the basement is not a good idea. Gravity is the means by which your sewage reaches the sewers. In the basement you would not be able to get rid of the waste. Even a saniflo needs gravity I believe to get rid of the macerated waste liquid but am not sure on that point.
Having doors opening into the garden is a poor idea if it is at the expense of a toilet.

dutchcloggie

Thanks for that advice. I wasn't convinced about the toilet in the cellar. The problem is that the toilet goes across the rear of the property. So it would be impossible to have light coming in from the back of the kitchen. It also means the kitchen will have to remain a galley-style kitchen. And they are nowhere near as popular with buyers. Which is a shame.

chappers

a saniflo will pump up too, between 3 and 5 metres depending on model.
If you are planning on doing the work in the basement anyway then I would say go for it.

macman

Your plumber will just love getting the call(s) out to unblock the saniflo...

JuzaMum

My MIL has a basement cloakroom and used to own a property with a full underground bathroom. No problems with either and both have normal toilets as far as I know.

Doozergirl

macman wrote: »

Your plumber will just love getting the call(s) out to unblock the saniflo...

There's no denying that they aren't as simple as a regular gravity based waste, we have had one in our ensuite for over four years. The only problem we've had so far was with a visiting toddler that put a jay cloth down the loo and flushed it. Presented a challenge to the macerator!

The benefit of having it has certainly outweighed the benefit of not.