Saturday, September 8, 2012

Toilet Macerator - Bet We're The Only One On The Block With One Of Those

Dear Handyman,

Please put a little effort in to researching the new-fangled toilet and pump that we have asked you to install.  Then, please pass this information on to your help.

Thank you.

Our bathroom is almost hooked up.  The plumbers were here today hooking up the water lines and the drain.  When they went to test it they found that the water from the toilet came up the sink drain.  We are having one of those macerating toilets installed so the toilet drain has its own pump which eliminates the need for a floor drain.  The drain water is pumped up to the drain that was once used for the washer and dryer.

Anyway, I overheard the plumbers telling my mother that the sink drain would have to be routed outside or it would have to be plugged and not have a drain.  Um...no.  The sink drain is supposed to be connected to the toilet macerator unit.  They connected the washing machine and the shower to the toilet so why didn't they connect the sink too?  There is even a little punch-out on the sink side.  I don't know how they missed that other than there wasn't enough communication between the handyman and his help.

We explained how it was supposed to work and they will fix it tomorrow.  Too bad they put all that effort in to hooking it up wrong.  A few minutes on the Sani-Best website would have saved them a lot of time.

The project is almost complete and then we can get on with the fun stuff of making it look nice.  We do need 1 step up for the shower because it is off the ground around 18" for the drain.  I'm not sure how we will do that yet.  There isn't a lot of room for a step.  After we buy a toilet seat and they attach the toilet to the floor then it will be operational.  The laundry is hooked up again which is great.  I did 3 loads tonight.  I love having clean laundry.  I'm looking forward to a new bathroom and laundry area which will make the space so much more useful.  Next, what to do about the living room that has turned in to a storage room.  Hmmm...

6 comments:

Lizzie @ her homeworld said...

Oh no the guilt Macerator toilet was definitely not my idea!

The Executioner said...

Since you seem like someone who does ample research before making any kind of purchase, I'm still surprised you decided to go this route with your bathroom. I've done research myself regarding drain systems in areas where normal gravity-fed drains are complicated/impossible to install. And I have to say, based on what I have read (but not from personal experience) it sounds like the macerator/pump solution is pretty maintenance-intensive, and prone to pretty catastrophic failure if something does go wrong (as in, sh!t always runs downhill).

Keeping my fingers crossed that in your case all will go smoothly, however.

Daizy said...

Lizzie, why do you call it the guilt macerator? What secret don't I know???

Daizy said...

Executioner, it was the best choice of all the bad options. I don't know if I found all of the options. If it only lasts until my parents' house sells and they buy another and move out of here, I will be happy. Hopefully that will be a year at the most. Did you find any other option that would have been better?

The Executioner said...

In our basement (where I was researching) it was recommended that we cut a trench in the concrete slab/floor in order to provide a channel deep enough for the plumbing to work through gravity alone. Haven't actually taken that step yet, though.

Daizy said...

The way my bathrooms are set up I would have to give up part of my bedroom in order to get to the main drain. Either that or take out the fireplace. I was hoping for a more temporary solution but the shower they put in is quite solid. I'm just crossing my fingers and hoping that toilet pump doesn't die!