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I ended up contacted the plumbing company that did my basement rough-in. This is what they said:

enter image description here

  1. Drain and vent for basement sink
  2. Toilet rough-in
  3. Backwater Valve
  4. Tub Drain

So I guess my new questions are:

  1. Do I need to do anything special for #1, or just spin the tee (if needed) and connect the drain and call it good?
  2. How do we incorporate #3 into the finished bathroom given its location and should we be checking it periodically?
  3. How do we vent the shower, or is it somehow connected to #1 and similar that we don't need an explicit vent?

EDIT: I found the floor plan for a finished basement for the model of my house:

enter image description here

That would solve the mystery of how to get to the valve - they have the wall running between 3 and 4.

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  • I personally would not leave the valve that close to a wall. I would also make sure the floor is draining towards the valve. Also there is no way I would be able to get a bathroom passing inspection where the toilet is installed that close to shower. I know restrictions vary though.
    – DMoore
    Sep 10, 2013 at 19:30
  • Also remember, it is hard to make a bathroom too big. People enjoy space. Give the bathroom an extra foot or two on each side if all you competing with is dead space or a storage room.
    – DMoore
    Sep 10, 2013 at 19:36

1 Answer 1

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  1. Just cut out the T and then drain/vent there.
  2. You don't. It should have been somewhere else in the basement. Not sure what they were thinking putting it next to a shower. You would put a backwater valve in a laundry or storage room.
  3. Who knows but it sure doesn't look like it's vented.

I cannot think of a logical design for your bathroom. The plumber who did your rough-in must have been high. You have a sink on the left then toilet... then in the corner is what? I guess you could put shelving there but I never design something to hold items to get pee spray. Also if the shower runs with wall it might stick out further than toilet. There is no good solution there.

My advice is to jackhammer up the backwater valve and move that into what will be unfinished space. While you have that ground broken up by shower, make sure it vents. Design your bathroom so that door is on the far left. You walk in and have the sink to your immediate left (might actually be able to keep the T in place). Then toilet after sink. Across from toilet is the shower - you are moving the valve so shower will be installed perpendicular to wall. To vent your shower go straight to the wall and then follow the wall over to sink vent.

If your backwater valve comes in on that wall then basically your costs are concrete and extra pipe. If it comes in somewhere else you might be able to just cut out pipe and reinstall head. You do not want this anywhere near a newly renovated bathroom.

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