Adding a Bathroom to Your Basement in Tooele County
Upterra Builders · June 3, 2026
A bathroom is what turns a finished basement from a nice rec room into a real living space, whether it is for guests, a teenager, or a future rental. The good news for Tooele County homeowners is that most of the newer homes here were built with the plumbing already in place for exactly this. That one fact is the biggest thing separating a $6,000 bathroom from a $20,000 one.
The Cost Range
Here is what a basement bathroom runs in Tooele County when plumbing is already stubbed in:
- Half bath (toilet and sink): $5,000 to $9,000
- Full bath (toilet, sink, shower): $9,000 to $16,000
- Full bath with tub and shower: $11,000 to $18,000
- Larger or upgraded full bath: $18,000 to $30,000+
These include framing, plumbing, electrical, drywall, waterproofing, tile, ventilation, fixtures, and finish work.
The Rough-In Is Everything
Most builders in the Tooele and Stansbury Park subdivisions from the last 20 years or so installed a bathroom rough-in during construction. That means the drain lines, the vent, and the toilet flange location are already under the slab, waiting. When that is the case, adding a bathroom is close to finishing a standard bathroom rather than building one from scratch. You get:
- Little to no concrete cutting
- A faster timeline
- Lower labor cost
- Fewer complications
Not sure if you have a rough-in? Look for a capped pipe sticking up out of the slab, a round cover in the concrete, or a cluster of stubbed pipes in one corner. If you send us a photo we can usually tell you right away.
When There Is No Rough-In
In some of the older Old Tooele homes, there is no basement plumbing at all. Then we have to cut the slab, dig, and run new drain lines to tie into the main. That slab work adds roughly $3,000 to $7,000 to the job depending on how far the new bathroom sits from the existing drain. It is still very doable, it just costs more, so we always locate the plumbing before we quote.
Permits
Any new bathroom needs permits in Tooele County. You will pull a building permit and a separate plumbing permit, with inspections at rough-in and final. Permit fees typically run $400 to $900. A licensed contractor pulls these, which protects you at resale, because a buyer's inspector will flag an unpermitted bathroom and a lender may hold up financing until it is corrected.
Timeline
From permit to final inspection, a basement bathroom usually takes 6 to 10 weeks, though the actual hands-on work is a couple of weeks. Permit timing and tile lead times are what stretch it. If we are finishing the whole basement at once, the bathroom folds into that schedule.
What Drives the Price Within the Range
Two basement bathrooms the same size can land a few thousand dollars apart based on the choices inside them. The things that move your number:
- Shower type. A custom tile walk-in with a bench and niche costs more than a prefab acrylic surround, but it looks and lasts far better.
- Tile and fixtures. Basic ceramic and standard fixtures keep you low. Large-format tile, glass doors, and designer faucets push you up.
- Vanity. A stock vanity is a few hundred dollars. A custom double vanity is several thousand.
- Distance from the drain. The farther the new bathroom sits from the existing plumbing, the more pipe and labor it takes.
Worth Doing Right
The bathroom is the one part of a basement where cutting corners shows up later as a leak or a failed inspection. We build the shower with a real waterproof pan and membrane, vent it properly so it does not grow mildew, and use a licensed plumber and electrician for the connections. It costs a little more than a weekend job, and it lasts decades instead of years.
Upterra Builders is owned by Danny and Trayson and adds basement bathrooms across Tooele City, Stansbury Park, Grantsville, Erda, and Stockton. Licensed and insured in Utah. Call or text (435) 248-0339.