On 11 Mar 2006 06:38:52 -0800 someone who may be "ianw"
wrote this:-

The wife keeps banging on about converting a box room at adjacent to
our bedroom into an en-suite shower/wc.
Unfortunately the box room is at the front of the house and the
bathroom is at the rear (and on a slightly different level)
What would be the best approach?
put in a new soil stack at the front or use a macerator wc?

The best approach depends on your precise circumstances. If you can
run a suitable drain then it makes sense to use "traditional"
plumbing, as there is less to go wrong. It is worth going to some
trouble to do this, including having holes dug to make underground
connections. At the front of the house the stack would be best
inside, would this be a problem, what is the floor made of?

However, there are circumstances where a suitable "traditional"
drain will be difficult or impossible to provide. This is where
macerators are useful. It is much easier running a 22mm waste pipe
through the house, it can be routed in much the same way as other
water pipes.

You will hear people complaining long and loud about macerators.
Their moaning reminds me of the moaning of "experts" when single
pipe drainage was introduced after the Second World War. If one
listened to them then single pipe drainage was going to cause all
sorts of problems, but if it is designed and installed properly
single pipe drainage works fine. The same is true of macerators. The
real thing to watch is that things which shouldn't be put down
ordinary toilets are not put down the macerated toilet, sanitary
towels and cotton buds being the two main examples. These belong in
rubbish bins.

Have you thought how you will provide hot water to the basin? Long
pipe runs are not ideal for hot water to basins. A local electric
heater would probably be better (they can be fitted under sinks).
Depending on the hot water system the shower might be better as an
electric one or fed from the hot water supply.


--
David Hansen, Edinburgh
I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/00023--e.htm#54