By Luis Arias
Suppose you might be tasked to construct a brand new lavatory in a house. As a commerce skilled, chances are high you have already got an concept of easy methods to begin the set up course of.
Nonetheless, earlier than beginning the challenge, any lavatory addition challenge entails necessary plumbing set up issues, similar to drain location, the closest entry to the principle plumbing line, and so forth. Luckily, with cautious planning and the assistance of modern plumbing options, it’s doable so as to add a rest room nearly anyplace.
Breaking the Concrete
Earlier than you add a brand new lavatory, think about the pitfalls of breaking by concrete to put in typical plumbing strains under the ground. Including a rest room in a basement, storage space, or in a house that sits on a slab historically requires chopping into concrete to create below-floor drainage with both typical plumbing or sewage ejection. Which means a messy, noisy, time-consuming job — and a excessive value.
Any time you narrow right into a slab, you lower the foundational integrity of the constructing — regardless of how near an ideal lower you make. You might be able to patch the outlet you create effectively sufficient to remove any aesthetic objections. However is that ground as strong because it was earlier than you started to chop? We might guess not — particularly in the event you fail to make use of the identical or a greater grade of concrete. And if the constructing sits on lower than strong floor, similar to sand, it might start to settle in another way after the lower.
Many contractors or remodelers don’t all the time know the depth of the concrete, whether or not it sits on rocks or a ledge, or whether or not it accommodates rebar or stress cables. You possibly can trigger main injury in the event you by accident lower a type of cables. Skilled contractors perceive this hazard and by no means start chopping with out first utilizing an x-ray machine to find out the positioning of the cables.
However even then, the slab was most definitely designed to make use of a sure variety of cables with a certain quantity of concrete. If you happen to take away chunks of concrete, these stress wires could start pulling in a distinct route, creating integrity issues, inflicting delays and further bills.
The precise expense of chopping concrete relies on the dimensions and complexity of the job, in addition to native labor availability and charges. In some components of the nation, the per-foot price could also be $1,000 or extra.
Earlier than subjecting your buyer to this expense, take the time to contemplate and focus on all these sobering hazards of chopping by concrete. These challenges could be solved with above-floor plumbing, and a number of other choices exist.
Above-floor plumbing as an answer
An above-floor drain pump system is an efficient, cost-efficient different to time-consuming, labor-intensive trenching. Whilst you could also be aware of “up-flushing” bathrooms that use a pump to maneuver waste, macerating know-how improves this course of by incorporating a grinding function that reduces strong waste earlier than pumping it out, eliminating clogging.
Macerating – or above-floor – plumbing methods don’t require installers to chop by concrete or dig. After being diminished, wastewater from a rest room, tub, bathe, or sink is pumped by the macerator, which then strikes it by small-diameter piping upward and/or laterally to the principle drain line that’s linked to a sewer system or a septic tank. The up-flush system doesn’t retailer waste like a sewage ejector system; wastewater instantly strikes to the septic or sewer system with each flush.
Consequently, bathrooms, sinks, and different plumbing fixtures could be put in atop completed flooring nearly anyplace in a house or workplace: an attic, a spare bed room, a storage or utility room, even beneath a stairway or inside a closet. Partitions and flooring stay intact, and the set up is achieved rapidly and economically with minimal disturbance to the room structure. The system could be totally operational in as little as half a day.
Periodic upkeep could be achieved simply with out disconnecting the unit from the bathroom or the remainder of the plumbing system. By way of one service panel, a service contractor can entry {the electrical} elements in addition to the water-level sensor mechanism contained in the macerating unit. The second service panel offers prepared entry to the basket space across the macerating blades for straightforward removing of any giant objects that will have been by accident flushed.
In brief, due to above-floor drain pump methods, the associated fee, mess, and trouble of breaking by concrete are not required when creating a brand new lavatory the place no below-floor drainage exists. There are lots of macerator pump methods available on the market immediately to fulfill any house owner’s wants, whether or not they want to add a half-bath or full-bathroom.
So, earlier than reaching for that jackhammer to bust by concrete, take a couple of minutes to check all of the purple flags after which discover extra handy cost-effective options. It can save you hundreds of {dollars} and protect the integrity of a house by using above-floor plumbing methods.
Writer Bio: Luis Arias, Inside Technical Gross sales, SFA Saniflo
Luis Arias has been working for SFA Saniflo for 15 years as Inside Technical Gross sales. His huge information of pump methods and the plumbing commerce has been used on many large-scale initiatives. Luis has contributed to the general firm success by working straight with architects, engineers, and commerce professionals on engineering bids.