Engineering manager avoids costly hassle of breaking concrete in basement remode

Brady Main successfully adds half bath and full bar to his basement by installing Saniflo’s Saniaccess 2 — making the remodeling experience simple and cost-effective.

Problem

ELKHART, INDIANA — Brady Main is an engineering manager at Forest River ​​(Diesel), one of the largest RV manufacturers in North America. The company specializes in creating recreational vehicles and other products, including motorhomes, travel trailers, fifth wheels, toy haulers, and camping and destination trailers.

Main manages the engineering process, from design to build, for Forest River motorhomes. He ensures the products installed into every unit meet the company’s high-quality standards. To that end, Forest River uses Saniflo macerating systems within its trailers to stay versatile and meet the needs of their customers.

Main knew that to keep the costs low, he needed a system that would avoid breaking the concrete — one that would pump discharge up and away from the home.On a recent personal home project, Main sought to completely remodel his basement to include a half bathroom and a full bar for entertaining. Since there was no existing plumbing in his basement, he realized that going the usual route of installing conventional, below-floor plumbing would incur significant costs from breaking through concrete.

Solution

Given Forest River’s success with Saniflo macerators, Main was confident in using the Saniaccess 2 to handle the drainage coming from the basement. He hired a general contractor for the installation of the above-floor plumbing system.

The system he chose is equipped with a 0.5 horsepower pump and a macerator whose stainless-steel blades rotate at 3,600 RPM to reduce incoming water and organic waste matter into a fine slurry. The system can then pump that reduced effluent up 15 feet vertically or 150 feet horizontally to a soil stack that drains into a sewer system or septic tank.

Once the water level in the Saniaccess 2 container goes down, the micro switch deactivates the unit’s pump motor until activated again via flushing. A normal operating cycle takes approximately 10 seconds, depending upon the configuration of the discharge pipe run. Power consumption is, therefore, minimal.

The Saniaccess 2 is ideal for small, half-bathrooms. Intended to handle black-water from the attached toilet, the Saniaccess 2 can also handle gray-water drainage from a second fixture, usually a nearby sink.

For Main’s project, he tied a second sink from the bar to the pipeline on the opposite side of the wall. A rear-discharge toilet is connected to the Saniaccess 2’s 4-inch inlet.

The Saniaccess 2 discharges the wastewater from the toilet and the bar sink drains through a 1-inch pipe running 7.5 feet vertically and 1.5 feet horizontally before connecting to a two-inch existing pipeline on the second floor that leads to the septic system at the back of the house.

Following plumbing codes, Main connected the system’s vent pipe to an existing pipe from above. “The wall behind the toilet leads up to the kitchen where there is an existing vent,” he explains. “So we easily tied in the vent connection from the pump.”

“Besides the cost and labor savings, one of the main reasons I went straight to Saniflo was the stainless steel blades and powerful motor that would be able to handle discharge from the basement,” he says. Made of hardened stainless steel, the cutting blade eliminates the need for servicing or replacement.

The macerating unit is installed on the floor at the back of the toilet for ready access. If any maintenance needs to be done, it can be easily accomplished through the two service panels at the top of the unit. One gives access to the electrical components and the level sensor. The other panel allows access to the macerating blade to easily remove any large objects that may have been accidentally flushed.

Results

Main needed a powerful enough system to pump discharge up from his basement and to handle the additional sink fixtures. “The Saniaccess 2 is designed for that purpose,” he says. “It just made sense, in my opinion.”

Since being installed, there have been no problems or complaints with the performance of the unit. Says Main: “Having prior knowledge of the Saniflo macerators installed in the RVs at Forest River helped my decision to install one in my basement.”

From his positive experience, Main recommends it to others looking to save money using above-floor plumbing over standard plumbing.

“The system is a great alternative to breaking up your concrete,” he adds. In fact, the general contractor who helped Main with the installation will also be using it for his own home project.

ORIGINAL CASE STUDY ARTICLE

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ABOUT SANIFLO
SFA SANIFLO U.S.A. – whose parent company originated macerating plumbing technology — offers a complete line of waste and drainage pumping systems for residential and commercial applications. Saniflo developed its innovative, “above-floor plumbing” technology more than a half-century ago and has led its commercialization worldwide. Today, the company markets macerating technology through 24 subsidiaries in 50 countries and has sold more than seven million units worldwide since 1958. Saniflo markets through independent sales agents throughout North America, and the product line is currently available at distributor and dealer locations throughout the United States and Canada.

For more information, contact Saniflo at 1-800-571-8191. Or visit the Saniflo website at saniflo.com.

For editorial assistance, including photography, contact John O’Reilly c/o GreenHouse Digital + PR: 815-469-9100 or [email protected].