Wiring and plumbing cost questions...

[Holyoak]

Looking at a one bathroom home, and wondering about the feasibility of adding a toilet/toilet and sink in the basement?  The home has public sewer, and seems to sit pretty high up, so perhaps gravity can do its thing...  Also, have only read about systems that use a small pump as a mini lift station for adding a toilet.  Not too crazy about that, as I had a home once that had to lift sewage for the whole home, and when the pump went out it was a real PITA, and expensive.

As for wiring.  The detached garage has no power to it, and is only a few feet from the home.  I think the service for the home is 100A.  Wondering about cost of having power added to run a garage door opener, and some 15A outlets.  lastly, the home has washer hookups, but no 240V power for a dryer...  Again, what are we looking at to have this put in???  The area is NW PA.

Wish I could do this stuff myself (maybe I can), and thank you for your help.

[QajakBoy]

Regarding the bathroom, the first step would be to figure out whether the drain line goes under the slab or not.  So, if it goes under the slab the good news is that you wouldn't need a lift pump.  The bad news is that the slab would have to be cut up to access the drain line and place additional plumbing for a bathroom. 
That level of electrical work might be better left to a professional since you want to power an outside building and add an inside 240V outlet. 

[jba302]

For the electrical -

Take a clear picture of your fuse box so we can see what your current load looks like. You will need 4 open slots (1 for garage, 1 for washer, 2 for dryer). Ideally I would say 2 for garage but that's my "everyone needs more power for tools" brain talking.

[Holyoak]

Thanks QajakBoy and jba302.  Recent blizzard has put a stop on seeing the home just yet...  Maybe I will after I dig myself out.

[MrFrugalChicago]

How modern american do you live, vs how frugal mustache? I know I would want to upgrade the 100amp service to 200amp. An electric dryer can easily pull 20 amps, and I would not want to use that much of your power. What happens when the dryer + ac + fridge are all on at the same time?

[jba302]

How modern american do you live, vs how frugal mustache? I know I would want to upgrade the 100amp service to 200amp. An electric dryer can easily pull 20 amps, and I would not want to use that much of your power. What happens when the dryer + ac + fridge are all on at the same time?

Right this is basically what I was getting at. Dryer is a 30 amp 220v fuse, which is substantial but . He/she might not had the fuse capacity nor the amp capacity to handle it (although you can load up WAY over 100 amp on a 100 amp system as long as you don't decide to click everything on at the same time). Seeing a picture of the fuse box helps to talk through it and figure out if you are under / at / over logical capacity. So then we can see rating on the AC, if there's an electric range (up to 50amp 220v).

FWIW I have a 100 amp service which I loathe but we deal with. We have an electric range but gas dryer, and I still have capacity, especially now that I have LED lights through the majority of the house.

[MrFrugalChicago]

I am gas stove + gas furnace + gas dryer.. but super thankful for my 200 amps. Its not like I pull 110 amps all day, but AC + circular saw can be pretty huge.

[Kevan]

I've plumbed a few new bathrooms.  Busting up a slab under a basement isn't a big deal here in Memphis; those slabs tend to be thinner than the 4" we find under a "slab house," which has no basement.  But regardless of the concrete's thickness, an electric jackhammer from the rental place will make short work of the task.  Be prepared for a 9/11-style dust cloud.

A second toilet can make a world of difference to a family, but a properly-sized and flawlessly installed electrical system is more important.

[bzzzt]

You'll be fine with the 100A panel, especially if you live like a Mustachian. I have a 1000 sq. ft. house and it still had the 60A fuse panel when I moved in. The main reason I upgraded to 100A was so I could re-circuit the house properly and not have stuff double tapped (8-slot 60A vs 24-slot 100A).

I have an older AC unit (28A), large air compressor (240v, 24A), table saw, two fridges, etc. even if I were to try to turn everything on at once, it would not trip the main. My range/oven, clothes dryer, and heat are gas though. My highest winter draw without running tools is 10A on the mains, but I've converted all the lighting to LED/CFL.

Is there a gas hookup near the washer hookups? Just like heating your house, gas appliances are cheaper to operate.