Kitchen & Bath

From Basement to Attic: Tackling Tricky Plumbing Renos

Looking to renovate a basement, attic or other challenging room in the home only to be told by your plumber that it will be too expensive, too time-consuming or just too difficult?

Saniflo®, a pump company with more than thirty years of experience providing alternative plumbing solutions to homeowners in Canada, makes possible what your plumber said was impossible!

The most challenging rooms to renovate are often also the ones that add the most value to a home. Typically, these are the kitchen and bathroom and they consistently top the list of home improvement renovations that sell homes. These two rooms can also be extremely costly to renovate, require professional assistance, time, and labor. This is partly due to the fact that plumbing often needs to be moved, updated, or added. According to HomeAdvisor.com, the cost to rough in new plumbing for an average-size home with two or three bathrooms can range anywhere from $1,500 to $15,000 or more. Keep in mind this doesn’t even include the cost of fixtures and other materials needed to complete your renovation.

The benefit of choosing a Saniflo system for your kitchen or bathroom renovation is that a plumbing rough-in is not required.

Yes, you read that right!

In fact, your new kitchen or bathroom plumbing doesn’t even need to be located near the main drain or soil stack. The secret is Saniflo’s innovative upflush technology, which allows for the installation of new plumbing fixtures up to 150 feet away and up to 25 feet below the sewer line. Essentially, this means homeowners can install a new toilet, sink, shower, bathtub, laundry, or any other plumbing fixture almost anywhere, from the basement to the attic, and everywhere in between. No longer are homeowners limited to locations where downhill drainage or gravity evacuates waste.

Each Saniflo system utilizes either an internal macerator, grinder or vortex impeller to reduce human waste, toilet paper, and greywater into a fine slurry, which is then discharged under pressure via a powerful pump mechanism, through small-diameter piping to the nearest waste pipe. These systems require minimal maintenance and are easy to install since they can be placed above-floor, without having to damage the existing floor or break through the concrete slab.

Here is an example: A homeowner wants to create a new three-piece bathroom in the basement, but is worried about digging up the concrete slab to run new pipes out to the main sewer line because he knows that this can cause stress fractures, weakening the structural integrity of his home. In searching for a more cost-effective and simple solution, he discovers the Saniflo Sanicubic 1®, a grinder pump capable of handling multiple fixtures at once, and which can be installed atop the existing basement floor, no concrete cutting required. The homeowner installs the Sanicubic 1 in the furnace room, next to the location of the planned bathroom. He connects all the piping to the home’s existing plumbing system since the Sanicubic 1 will have no problem pumping the effluent vertically to the soil stack on the main floor. Now, the homeowner can easily install a shower, sink, and toilet with minimal construction, saving both time and expense.


Saniflo’s complete line of residential plumbing solutions offers homeowners the most flexible, reliable, and cost-effective means of transforming any space in the home to accommodate sanitary applications. Beyond bathroom and kitchen renovations, Saniflo is also a great option for adding bar sinks, dishwashers, laundry rooms, outdoor showers, pool house facilities, and more. All you need is access to a water supply and an electrical outlet.

The next time your plumber tells you it can’t be done, ask for Saniflo and make your renovation goals possible. Choosing a Saniflo system means homeowners can make improvements to their homes quicker, more easily, and with fewer costs. For expert advice, or for more information on how Saniflo can transform your next plumbing project, visit Saniflo.ca or call 1 800-363-5874. Find us on Facebook @saniflocanada and follow for more DIY home improvement tips.

The following two tabs change content below.
Canadian Home Trends magazine gives you a personal tour of the most stunning homes and condos across Canada. You'll be inspired by a selection of accessible home décor products, trend reports, simple yet stylish DIY projects, and much more. In each issue, you are given the tools to recreate designer spaces you've always dreamt of having at home, in-depth renovation and design advice, colour palette and furniture pairings, and Canada's best places to shop.

Latest posts by Canadian Home Trends (see all)