Bedroom downstairs with macerator toilet or no toilet and bathroom upstairs

mylifemyrules

Hi, bit of a dilemma we were hoping to have a bedroom and toilet downstairs but have been told we'd need a macerator toilet and I've heard awful thing's about them from well everyone! So does anyone have experience of having a bedroom downstairs but only bathroom and toilet upstairs? Is it that much of a big deal? 

greensalad

I despise my macerator toilets. I have two. Even after treating them as best as I can I still have had to shell out hundreds to get them unblocked on the regular. I'm only using normal, fairly thin toilet paper and one of them blocks up constantly. They're noisy, they break all the time and they're expensive to get fixed every few months. I'd rather have no toilet than a macerator toilet. I've stopped using the one in my en suite at all and have to go downstairs in the night which is so frustrating. Avoid avoid avoid. 

mylifemyrules

Thank you! 

aoleks

I wouldn't dismiss a traditional drainage option yet. Some builders will recommend a macerator because it's much, much easier to install. Get a proper plumber in, preferably one that specialises in drainage, and you will see that you can have a traditional toilet connected to your existing soil pipe. It might be more disruptive, as the pipe will have to be dug in the existing floor, but it's a one-off, "for life" solution.

liberty_lily

We've had saniflo and grundfos macerators installed in a couple of previous houses and intend to install one here over the next few weeks. Never had any issues with them in our houses but most people's experience seems to be different 🙄

twopenny

I inherited a macerator for shower drainage when I moved here and woww that's a loud and irritating noise!
I certainly wouldn't want one near a bedroom.

Perhaps there are different sorts as LL seems to suceed.

Martin_the_Unjust

One of our toilets has a macerator and it’s not been a problem in the last 10 years or so since it was installed.

Bendy_House

Mlmr, is the plan a bedroom with en-suite? And will it be for a member of the family, or for guests?

If 'en' and 'fam', I would presume it'll mainly be for, er, overnight No1s? In which case, most of a macerator's drawbacks should be avoidable (depending on personal resilience). Ie, it should not block, and the noise can be delayed until the morn...

Other than that, I'd suggest doing your damnedest to avoid them. And I speak as someone who has never even used one.

Could you post a plan of your house? Both floors, proposed position of the b+b, and location of manhole covers outside, or ideally a proper plan which shows the loc of your sewer.

pollypenny

We have a macerator for our en suite and toilet. It's on the opposite side of the house to the main bathroom and soil pipe, so mains drainage would have been expensive. 

It is rather loud, but not a real problem. Installed in 2006. 

Doozergirl

So it seems so far that most of us that actually have one, with a clear exception,  don't have a problem with them. 

Would it be better to have a gravity set up? Of course.   The components are virtually free and there's pretty much zero maintenance. 

Would I have rather lived in my old house for 10 years without a second toilet and ensuite?  Absolutely not! 

My husband uses half a roll of paper every time he goes and it never posed a problem.  

Saniflo brand, correctly sized for use, serviced yearly, it was never a problem. 

Only once the pipe froze outside (-10 outside!) and rendered the loo unusable as it couldn't pump, but we redirected that part of the pipe back inside and it never happened again.  

diystarter7

liberty_lily said:

We've had saniflo and grundfos macerators installed in a couple of previous houses and intend to install one here over the next few weeks. Never had any issues with them in our houses but most people's experience seems to be different 🙄

Given a choice, the easier choice between a macerator and gravity w/c, gravity fed all day long.
Yep, they cost a lot to repair but often work ok if treated as they are supposed to

A sibling built a massive house years ago 7 bedrooms I thing most have their own ensuite and then shared bathrooms and at least one other w/c - I possibly all the ensuites are macerators and they've never had a problem as I have asked them about them

It depdns on the make you have installed and who installed it and then there is an element of luck

But if you don't want worry, gravity fed will cost more initially but lot less to look after and blocks a lot less even if slightly mistreated.