Heavy-duty grinder pump system facilitates efficient expansion of basement bridal dressing suite at busy wedding venue

Problem

SOUTHSIDE, ALABAMA — Fifteen years ago, Danny McEachern started a wedding venue, J&D Farms. Its success over the past decade and a half has led to his recently upgrading the property to accommodate larger wedding parties. When converting the daylight-basement level of his carriage house into an expanded bridal dressing suite, McEachern faced significant plumbing challenges.

The space, a two-car garage beneath the main-event building, needed not only to handle larger parties but also to include six makeup stations, a locker room, and an additional bathroom. Fast turnaround was essential, as the venue operates year-round with a tight event schedule.

McEachern has a strong background in architecture and construction, having spent nine years in architecture before running his wedding venue full-time. Although he had previously undertaken various projects, this was his first encounter with a plumbing buildout in a basement with an existing concrete slab.

“This project was a new challenge for me,” he explains. “I don’t have plumbing experience, so I was navigating uncharted territory.”

McEachern considered traditional plumbing but quickly ruled it out. Installing conventional drain lines would have required cutting and trenching through the slab. As McEachern puts it: “Using traditional plumbing would have been time-consuming, messy, and expensive. With wedding parties lined up, we needed additional facilities quickly.”

While working on a different project at J&D Farms, a local plumber recommended the Saniflo system and shared a link to its website with McEachern. Intrigued, he began exploring Saniflo options, diving into reviews and watching installation videos.

Ultimately, he opted for a rear outlet toilet combined with the Sanibest Pro grinder pump for the new bathroom. Both were purchased from Lowe’s, as well as two other fixtures that would drain into the new pump system.

Solution

McEachern connected his Sanibest Pro to three fixtures: a sink, shower, and a rear outlet toilet. The discharge line from the grinder runs about 9 feet vertically and 24 feet horizontally before tying into the existing septic system via a Y-fitting on the main line. Venting was achieved by routing a 1½-inch vent pipe upward through the exterior wall and out through a 2×12 inch sill plate.

McEachern found installing the grinder pump system remarkably straightforward, especially compared to the trenching and structural work a conventional plumbing setup would have required. “The installation was simple enough that I completed it in a day,” he says.

During the planning process, he also contacted Saniflo’s customer service team to confirm that the grinder could withstand heavy weekend usage in his commercial setting. “They were helpful and recommended the Pro model to handle the heavy use we anticipated,” McEachern says.

Product Profile: Sanibest Pro Grinder Pump

The Sanibest Pro is a heavy-duty, one-horsepower grinder pump system used to install a complete bathroom up to 25 feet below the sewer line or up to 150 feet away from the soil stack. Recommended for restrooms and other commercial/institutional facilities serving the general public, the product has three inlets to handle drainage for a full bathroom: a 4-inch inlet for the toilet connection and a pair of 2-inch inlets, one on either side, to handle gray-water drainage from a sink, a bathtub, or a shower.

The Sanibest Pro is typically shipped with a two-piece toilet that flushes through a horizontal, rear-discharge (above-floor) spigot. Designed to handle sanitary products and other larger items that normally should not be flushed, the powerful grinder pump quickly reduces and discharges effluent to the sewer or a septic tank through a ¾-inch plastic pipe connected to the top of the unit.

Also at the top of the unit is a 1½-inch vent port and a service panel that permits easy service access to all components inside the Sanibest Pro.

Other key features:

Four-year limited warranty

Built-in, backflow-preventing check valves inside the 2-inch inlets for easier installation

Certified by CSA and listed by IAPMO for nationwide compliance

Results

After testing, the grinder pump system performed as expected. “Everything functions properly,” McEachern comments. Compared to the other pumping systems he has used on the property, he found the Sanibest Pro particularly user-friendly.

“I have another gravity-flow system that pumps to our septic, and it has worked well for seven years. But the Sanibest Pro installation was simpler, something I could do myself.”

The flexibility and ease of installation reaffirmed that Saniflo was the right choice for McEachern.  “A friend told me I should have installed a traditional system, but that just wasn’t feasible due to time, cost, and the fact that I wanted to do the work myself,” he says. “Saniflo allowed me to stay on schedule without tearing up the floor.

“For anyone in a similar situation, it’s a great option.”