Home Improvement → [Plumbing] when

at what stage do I need to get a Plummer in, I'm doing a Reno now and need to add a bathroom to my basement! Do I call one to do work before framing or after? also I know they have to brake the floor up ect but how long does a job like this take 2-3 days or more wondering? and what does a job like this cost around

Sooner is better than later...

After the framing. For all your other questions: You'll need to be much more forthcoming with information to get even remotely close to a valid answer.

Before the framing.

You might be able to cut a day off the costs for the plumber not have to deal with the framing. You DO need a good layout, though.

And yes, far more information is needed. You're basically asking "how long is a string?"

Plumber has to have some place to run his pipes. It's a little rough with no walls.

so before framing

Also hard to brake (sp) concrete under walls. Plumber needs to be involved in the planning from the beginning. Then they, as a professional, have the ability to schedule when they need to be there through the job.

---

Also hard to brake (sp) concrete under walls.

---

It's really not. They do it all the time.

Yeah they do...on YOUR time.

I've done it before myself and yes it takes much more time going under a wall than just out in the open.

Plumbers don't seem to have any problem with it. We are talking about a basement here. Going under 1 2x4. A DIY basement at that. Knowing EXACTLY where the walls are going to fall is "iffy", at best.
Stubbing for the toilet, shower, sink, etc... is much easier when there is a wall to measure off of.
Trying to frame up to plumbing roughs, let's just say it doesn't work out well.

OP - do you have any under-slab plumbing now? Some parts of Toronto, it's not at all uncommon for the sewer mains to be above the basement floor level... So basement bathrooms mean sewage pits and ejector pumps. Not a show-stopper, but takes some doing.

Plumbers can, and do break up under framed walls all the time - but it's a bit faster for them to do it in the open, in my experience.

Get a plumbing contractor involved early on, so they can assist you with the planning (venting in an old house can be a pain in the ass - and considering that early on can help) - he'll tell you at what point(s) he needs to be there - after demo, but before framing to do the under floor work; after framing to the do the supply and vents; and after drywall/finshing to do the fixtures wouldn't be an uncommon sequence.

I imagine it would depend on how much you have to break up too. If it's a very large area, it might be tough to do with with a framed wall there. If you're just breaking up a channel to lay a pipe through, it wouldn't be too bad.

I can speak from experience how tough it is to rough in plumbing where you want the wall to be, without the wall actually there. I broke up my basement floor to renovate the bathroom in August 2012 (bathroom isn't completely done yet, but such is life is small kids). I did a lot of measuring, but I still ended up off about an inch and a half from where I wanted the wall, and that made my framing a little more difficult. Of course, this was my first time doing anything like this.

But I probably could not have put the framing in first. As you can see, I had a big area to dig up. The bathroom is right over where the pipe from the street splits to various parts of the house, and all of it needed to change to accommodate the layout of the bathroom I wanted (e.g. I wanted my bathtub where the old stack was). It was all clay underground and cast iron above, so it was a good time to upgrade anyway.

In the picture, the walls were going up where the 'sink and vent' is labelled, and across the back where the main stack is.

I'd rather come in before the framing to do groundwork and go over the design so the homeowner knows what will work and what won't. Sometimes you have to make a hole bigger than what you think. Nothing like putting a 3 1/2" pipe in a 3 1/2" wall (a 6" plumbing wall doesn't always work out) that's swingin' in the breeze.. If you frame it out and then call the plumber, your layout may look good on paper, but doesn't always work. Sometimes it can be challenging to get vents where you would like them without going all the way to the roof. Even in new homes I've walk through layouts that ended up being changed with a "What the hell were you thinking !".