I put together a proposal for building a small bathroom in a downstairs basement. Shower, sink, and toilet. Among everything else, my proposal included jackhammering the concrete slab and tying a new sewer line into the cast iron sewer main (about 8 feet away), then patching the concrete. The customer balked at the $15,000 estimate, and wanted to know how to cut the costs. Since the major expense is the cutting/jackhammering/hauling/plumbing/concrete work, I considered instead installing a $1000 SaniBest self ejecting system
http://www.saniflo.com/products/sanibest.asp
Am I wasting my time with this thing? Does it really work? Will it save me money?
Thanks,
–Andy
Replies
The above-slab units are ok except they need electric, you need some creative plumbing/venting to the nearest waste line, often you need to elevate the stool, (which can be a pain in a basement with low ceilings to begin with), and unlike gravity which almost always works, pumps do break down. Maybe a little less expensive in the short term, but probably not in the long run. By the way, CYA well on anything that involves breaking up a perfectly good slab. Make sure you clearly state your assumptions (like no ledge or footings to bust through). Digging under slabs always yields surprises, and properly backfilling a trench, even a small one can be a b#tch.
$15K that seems the right #'s to me.
OK check with local codes & see if those are even legal.
Are you puting in 3 of them one each toilet lav shower.
The only thing I see this eliminating is the slab R & R --- & below flow waste piping.
& to be honest I hate plumbing systems that fail when you lose power.
The Sanibest works OK but it looks cheesy and it's not that much cheaper than breaking the slab. NO, your drain work is NOT the major part of $15k. Nowhere near. Don't know where you got that idea. You neeed a good plumber, the underslab work with CI is a little beyond handyman work and requires permits in most places. You also need venting if there isn't any there already. My plumber has done what you described for me many times. All the drain work is 2 guys one day max. Including the new concrete.
You didn't say how big and elaborate the bath is, but $15k for a basement bath is awfully high, at least in my neck of the woods. Even including an 8' trench.
And careful with that jackhammer if you haven't done this many times.
DG/Builder
I used a Zoeler Quick Jon for a full bath in basement where the sewer pipe was 8' above the basement floor:
http://www.zoeller.com/zcopump/products/homeimprove/qwikjon.HTM
It pumps up. I've had it for 3 years with no problems. I've heard the grinder units make a lot of grinding noises (duh) and can get jammed [of course, resulting in you or someone else dear to you getting messy during the unjamming phase].
I seem to recall that Zoeler also has a sewer pump that gets set in a tank under the slab.
Roger <><