Here's Why Your Basement Bathroom Is Calling For An Upflush Toilet

If you decide to add a toilet to your basement, figuring out the plumbing will be a challenge because it's more complicated due to it being a below-ground-level space. A new drainage system will need to be put under the basement floor for the toilet waste to flush down. Luckily, an upflush toilet can be your saving grace. Also known as a macerating toilet, an upflush toilet can connect the basement toilet to the main sewage system and pump the waste upward, a setup that requires a lot less labor and expertise than a traditional toilet.

In an exclusive House Digest survey, we discovered that people think the best uses of a finished basement are a home theater, game room, or a general living space. This shows how much people want the basement to become an extension of the rest of the home. Instead of being a storage space that's crept into every once in a while, people want to spend more time there which means it needs to be comfortable and livable. A bathroom is a big necessity in making this happen and upflush toilets make it possible to get one without breaking the bank.

An upflush system is an easier and more affordable way to set up a toilet in the basement. When installing one, you don't have to worry about putting in new pipes. How it works is that instead of the waste going down through the pipes after a flush, it goes out through the back of the toilet to a pump where it is ground up and broken down before it is sent through a tiny PVC pipe to the main system. The pump is the bedrock of this system so it's important to invest in a quality one. The good news is a luxury upflush toilet system still won't cost as much as a traditional one.

A new bathroom with pipes costs upwards of $10,000 while an upflush system costs around $1,000. The Saniflo SaniPLUS Toilet System, for example, is around $1,316, per Saniflo Depot. A macerating pump alone costs around $974, per Saniflo Depot. While it is technically possible to DIY the installation of an upflush system if you want to save even more, we recommend hiring a contractor because plumbing work is one home improvement project that's better left to the professionals.

Upflush toilet systems can save the day, not just in the basement but virtually any space that needs a simple, quick fix. The pumps can also be set up to support a sink and shower so you can easily create a whole bathroom. This can be just what you need in a space that you use a lot outside the home like a shed or a workshop, so you don't have to keep going back into the house. It definitely beats having a vault toilet.

One downside of upflush toilets is that they need a bit more maintenance when compared to traditional toilets. Frequent flushing is needed in order to prime the pump, which means removing air from it, and regular descaling is needed to stop a foul odor from forming. Clogging is also a bigger issue when things other than waste end up in the pump system because plungers can't be used on upflush toilets.