South Bend Lee Supply Showroom Avoids Breaking Through Concrete Flooring to Install Drainage for Working Display

Plumbing wholesaler Lee Supply remodels outdated branch showroom, choosing Saniflo’s Saniswift Pro drain pumps to provide drainage for working faucet and coffee-bar sink display. The result: A more compelling showroom display plus a live demonstration of how above-floor plumbing can affordably meet everyday application challenges.

Problem

SOUTH BEND, INDIANA — Since 1949, Lee Supply has provided the highest-quality plumbing, HVAC, water treatment, appliances, lighting products, and services to customers throughout the Midwest. Whether providing the newest products or implementing the latest technologies, Lee Supply prides itself on a willingness and ability to adapt, putting them at the forefront of innovation.

In that same spirit, Lee Supply recently remodeled the showroom portion of its South Bend branch, which had become dated and “needed a little facelift,” according to Showroom Manager Dawn Aneston.

The showroom’s original location was on one side of the building with limited square footage. So, explains Aneston, part of the reasoning behind the project was to expand the showroom’s footprint by turning old, underutilized offices into additional display space.

Updated with a completely new layout and look, including new appliances and lighting, the remodel included another unique element: A working lavatory faucet.

“One of our faucet lines, Brizo, gave us a Frank Lloyd Wright lavatory faucet to display, with hopes of us having it work,” says Aneston, who oversaw the entire buildout. The remodeling plans also included a coffee bar with a functioning sink for associates.

However, they didn’t have the necessary plumbing lines nearby to accommodate the water drainage from the faucet.

“The space has all concrete flooring, so installing conventional plumbing lines would have been too expensive,” Aneston says. That’s when Bob Sapienza, a Lee Supply sales representative, recommended installing Saniflo’s above-floor drain pumps.

Solution

Sapienza knew this application would require an above-floor plumbing solution to provide the proper drainage for the faucet and coffee bar sink, while avoiding the expense of breaking concrete to install plumbing lines. Lee Supply has been a supplier of Saniflo products for a few years, and was confident the new Saniswift Pro drain pump would be the ultimate solution to handle the drainage.

The Frank Lloyd Wright faucet, now installed as part of a high-end vanity, is located in the middle of the updated showroom. While Saniflo’s above-floor plumbing products are usually located on the plumbing wholesale side of the branch, Anestion explains having it installed in the showroom offers an excellent opportunity to show plumbers how the Saniswift Pro unit works as well as how to set up the plumbing.

Lee Supply also installed a second Saniswift Pro to handle the water drainage from the coffee bar sink towards the back of the showroom. Both units are discreetly concealed in cabinets beneath the sinks.

The Saniswift Pro is a heavy-duty companion to the popular Saniswift residential drain pump. Designed to meet larger commercial as well as conventional residential drainage applications, the Saniswift Pro can connect to up to three gray water fixtures: sink, shower, dishwasher, or washing machine (via a laundry sink).

The installer-friendly design also features a pair of two-inch inlets, one on either side of the unit, with diameters that comply with major plumbing codes. These side inlets are positioned lower than those found on conventional drain pumps, further easing installation.

With Saniflo above-floor plumbing technology, like the Saniswift Pro, home and building owners can decide where their new kitchen or laundry room goes and are no longer limited to locations where downhill drainage or gravity evacuates waste. It also need not be close to the main waste pipe (soil stack).

The compact pump is encased in a more robust yet stylish, cube-shaped exterior that can be easily installed in hard-to-reach spaces, such as beneath a bathroom or kitchen sink. Its superior drain-water detection and removal sequence is engineered to extend the overall lifecycle of the pump, while also eliminating unwanted odors.

Servicing can be done without disconnecting any piping to the unit. Made of rugged, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) to resist corrosion from harsh chemicals, the Saniswift Pro encasement has a top cover with two removable screws, providing ready access to all electrical components inside. The pump motor can then be quickly lifted from within to remove any foreign objects in the impeller.

Results

Aneston hired a local plumber to install the Saniflo Saniswift Pro drain pumps and says that while they were working on the plumbing portion of the project for a few days, it took them only one day to complete the rough-in part of the installation.

“After the faucet was hooked up, the installer finished the connections to the Saniflo units in only 10 to 15 minutes,” she says.

Aneston considers this a successful installation of a Saniflo product that Lee Supply can now showcase to plumbers and other visitors to their showroom.

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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].