I want to install a small bathroom in my basement. The house, built in 1960, was originally on septic, but was connected to city sewer maybe 25 years ago. Therein lies the problem - the sewer piping is wall-hung, about 4 feet above the basement floor.

My wife found a web site for a toilet called (I think) a Quik-John. It's a toilet that sits on a small tank, with a macerator pump to transfer the contents up to the sewer line. Does anybody have experience with a setup like this, or recommendation on a particular brand to buy?

 

I have heard of few installs such as these.


I do know that it never gives a very appealing look to a bathroom since the floor is raised, and I have heard that these have a tendency to smell over time. Somehow the seals start to leak from the way its made.



The best setup for permanent use would be to open the floor and install a sewage ejector pit, then run underground piping to that bath group you plan to create.

 

Throughout my 18 years of plumbing, never ever seen one set up and operational, so I have no info to offer.

 

Hmmm. Seems these things aren't as common as I thought they might be. To tell you the truth, when my wife mentioned it all I could think of was something like the toilet in our motorhome (except for the pump of course). Not something I'd want inside the house.

Any guidelines/hints for constructing a sewer pit and etc. would be appreciated. This bathroom, if it comes to fruition, would not get a lot of use.

 

http://www.femyers.com/products/sse/sse_mrj.html
try this one,,,it is cheeper than the quik jon...you can dig out the concrete to place it level with the floor and hide the plumbing half in a wall...i am in the proccess of installing it now ...my only problem is what to do with the plastic thet is left even with the floor.......plywood then tile,,hardibacker then tile,,or maybe just cheap vinyl because you may need to rip it up in 5 - 10 yrs...if its vented properly it should not smell....only a small amount of water stays in it and you can adjust that amount...good luck let me know what happens..

 

Thanks, I'll check it out. I assume with this unit I can use a regular toilet?

 

You might also consider a Sani Pro upflush (macerating) toilet.

The advantages are:

Your floors stay intact (no platform under the toilet as the macerating pump is located in back and the toilet sits directly on the floor)

Fits in the space of a regular toilet.

Labor costs are a fraction of traditional sewage tank/lift pump installation; the unit itself runs around $900 delivered. Try to get anying close to that with a sewage sump type system.

Easier to plumb out, only need a small 2" drain line up to the main house drain (need 3" with conventional plus the room for the sump pit and 3" plumbing under the concrete)

You can plumb a sink & shower into it - $962 for the Sani Plus unit if you need to dump a bathtub into it.


Now, I have no direct experience with these personally, but talked with a colleague and he knew 'someone' who had one. FWIW, he said he liked it. Said he never detected any smell, did his own installation and said it was easy to install.

Anyway, might be worth taking a look before laying out several grand for a conventional system. If I was going to add a basement bathroom, this is probably how I would go.

Here's a website where tey off these units:
http://www.faucetdoctor.com/test.html

 

Thank you. I'll check it out.

 

I've got one of the toilet "kits" in my basement. A standard toilet sits on top of the small tank where the macerator pump gets the nasty up into the sewer drain lines. And yes, the floor in that part of the bathroom is raised.

Test your pump very well. I found that my pump had a dead spot. There was a tiny spot where if the pump stopped, it could not re-start. I discovered it by accident while setting the float switches (in clean water). I played with it some more, cycling the pump on/off. About 1 in 30 tries the pump could not restart. I replaced the pump (the manufacturer honered their waranty) and it has worked well since.

Not trusting the pump anymore I installed a totally independant high level alarm system similar to what is used on septic systems with pump tanks. The alarm system is powered on a different electrical circuit than the pump. The alarm has it's own float switch that sets off an alarm if the pump fails and the level in the tank gets too high. Be warned. The tank on these systems is very small and the pump cycles about ever two toilet flushes, so there is not much warning time between failed pump and stinky mess.

PS: Why did I install this system? The basement bathroom is not used very often and it was the least expensive, easy way to go.

 

I lived for eleven years in a ranch style house with a pit and sewage ejector pump as suggested by Dunbar Plumber. We were on septic. The pit seviced a full bathroom . We used this bathroom 99% of the time because we liked it better than the upstairs bathroom. The only problem I had in those eleven years was the coupling on the pump loosened up.
Never had any odor or overflow problems. All-in-all a great system and I wouldn't hesitate for a minute to install one in any house I own.