The homeowners had a partially finished basement with a rec room and spare bedroom but no bathroom — meaning a trip upstairs every single time. The brief was straightforward: add a three-piece bath (shower, vanity, toilet) in a tight 55-square-foot footprint tucked behind the stairwell, and make it feel intentional rather than like an afterthought squeezed into a basement corner.

The biggest challenge wasn't the finishes — it was the infrastructure. There was no plumbing below grade. We needed to cut through the existing concrete slab, trench new drain lines to the main stack, and install a sanitary pump system to handle drainage below the sewer invert. The ceiling height sat at just 7 feet 4 inches, which meant every fixture, transition, and lighting decision had to be low-profile or recessed to avoid making the space feel compressed.

We started by saw-cutting and trenching the concrete slab to run new ABS drain lines for the shower, toilet, and vanity. A backwater valve was installed at the main connection point, and we assessed the existing sump pump to confirm it could handle any future water table events without affecting the new bathroom. All supply lines were run in PEX through the open joist bays above, insulated where they passed near exterior walls to prevent freeze risk.

With the rough-in inspected and the slab patched, we turned to moisture management — a non-negotiable in any below-grade bathroom. The shower received a full Kerdi waterproof membrane system, the floor got a vapour barrier beneath the tile substrate, and we installed a high-CFM exhaust fan ducted directly to the exterior through the rim joist. The material palette leaned into the basement setting rather than fighting it: charcoal 12×24 porcelain floor tile, dark grey painted walls, a matte black wall-mount vanity with integrated LED under-lighting, and a matte black rain shower head paired with a handheld on a slide bar.

The finished room reads moody and modern — exactly what the homeowners wanted. The charcoal tile runs continuously from the shower floor to the main floor with a flush linear drain, giving the narrow space a sense of length it wouldn't have with a traditional shower curb. LED strip lighting recessed beneath the floating vanity and inside the medicine cabinet niche creates a soft ambient glow that works as a night light for the basement hallway. At 7'4" the ceiling is tight, but the slim-profile recessed pot lights and matte black ceiling-mount shower arm keep everything feeling clean rather than cramped. Three months post-completion, there's been zero moisture accumulation on any surface — the ventilation and waterproofing are doing exactly what they should.