Is my bathroom functional? - roughed in (pics)

[celestia37]

Hello all,

I bought my house new 3 yrs ago. I purchased it when it had JUST been finished being built. The basement had a bathroom with "roughed in plumbing." I admittedly didn't know anything about all this when I purchased the home, and perhaps foolishly, I ASSUMED that the plumbing they'd done was such that it was "functional"....meaning, everything was in place for me to finish the bathroom at a later date (put in upright shower, toilet, sink, etc).

However, a week after I bought the house, the builder was over to do some "touch-ups" that I'd requested. While he was there I asked him about the roughed-in basement bathroom. I told him that although I wasn't a plumber, the way things appeared to be configured, it didn't appear that things were layed out in a "functional" way.....that in order to have a decent layout, it would involve jackhammering up the floor and redirecting some pipes. His response was basically, "look, we're just responsible for ensuring the plumbing is there, we don't have to guarantee that it's functional."

I've very much wanted to get the bathroom finished but I put it off because the thought (and cost) of having to have someone come in and rip up the concrete and make such a mess, it turns me off.

I've taken some pictures and I'd appreciate your input.

Picture #1 shows that black/orange tube thing that's coming out of the floor. What is that? I somehow thought that's where a toilet would go, over in that corner...which leaves very little room in the opposite corner, for a stand-up shower. Does that ?stack (or whatever you call it) look like the place a toilet would go? (pay no attention the black thing on the LEFT, it's a large floorlamp)



Pic#2 - As you'll see, this PVC pipe that runs down the wall looks to "me" like something for a sink....but as you can see, it's outside of the "framed bathroom area", it's actually behind my furnace.



Pic #3 - this is where I figured the sink would go.....as they put the lightswitch and GFI receptacle right above that area (where you'd expect a plug in to be in a bathroom, near the sink/vanity).....but could that black "thing" that's coming out of the concrete, could that be where a TOILET would go? (not sure what the black pipe thing is).



Pic #4 - This grey circular thing (there's 2 of them in the floor), I'm not sure what they are. when you lift them up, they're filled with gravel. Even the builder didn't seem to know what they were.



It's a very long (about 12 ft) and not too wide (just over 5 ft wide)...the room itself. I'd originally hoped to have a bathtub in there but I think that's out, I'd just be happy with a standup (corner) shower.

I know it might be difficult to tell but based on what you've seen, what are the black pipe things in each picture, can you tell?

Thanks.

[celestia37]

Wow, to the 22 people who viewed my post, thanks a lot for your help and for taking a moment to give a girl a hand at figuring things out.

[LazyPup]

It is really difficult to be sure from the photos but i have edited the photos and provided what i beleive they are.

[celestia37]

Thanks so much, LazyPup. Dang. The black pipe that runs down the wall..that you think is for future tap points.......that really annoys the heck out of me because as you can tell, it's OUTSIDE of the framed bathroom area.....that's in an area behind where my furnace is. You couldn't even reconfigure the framed area to include this because you have to leave enough room behind the furnace/to be able to access it. What losers. The thing in the ground, the "main cleanout"....that's right there when you'd walk into the bathroom, on the right....it's in the spot where a SINK/VANITY should go.......so basically what I have is what I thought, a completely non-functional bathroom that would require ripping up the concrete and having to redirect and re-do. P*sses me off. When you sell a house and advertise it as having roughed-in plumbing for a basement bathroom, to ME that should mean that it's ready to go......not that it's totally non-functional and the buyer/new owner has to totally renovate everything...don't you think? This was a new house, too.......why couldn't they have done it RIGHT? Would that have been so hard?

That pipe on the wall you think is for future taps........because it's in an area that's outside the framed bathroom area (and simply can't remain there, due to the furnace being less than 3 ft in front of it), do you think a plumber could attach some kind of pipes to it to redirect it along that back wall.....so that maybe you could have a sink on the other side of where the toilet would go? (even though that would look stupid)........