Customer completes beautiful home spa renovation with help from Saniflo

After 32 years, Tamara McBride decided to sell her successful spa business and open a new skin care aesthetics spa and nail salon out of her home. She was looking for a solution to convert her unfinished basement into a professional, attractive space for her clients. After learning about Saniflo from a friend, Tamara requested her contractor investigate whether Saniflo could be the solution she was looking for. 

Challenge

To convert an unfinished basement with existing laundry into a professional “home” spa, including the creation of a half-bathroom for added convenience. There was an existing large floor drain in the middle of the room handling the current washer, water heater, softener and laundry sink that did not meet code to drain grey water. Additionally, the space was limited to 220 square feet, making it challenging to comfortably layout the spa equipment with a full-size bathroom.

Approach

“The original plan was to build around the existing floor drain, not realizing that it did not meet the provincial plumbing code,” says Tamara McBride, Freda Aesthetics Spa. “Then we were going to purchase a composting toilet, assuming it was our only other option. However, it was quite expensive and would require disposing of human waste manually and also needed to be properly vented, which was not possible given the location of the existing vent stack,” she continued.

After speaking with Tamara about her home spa renovation plans, Saniflo recommended utilizing the Sanivite drain pump to move the grey water from the washer, hot water tank, softener and laundry sink to beside the location for the new half-bathroom. This allowed the contractor to remove the old floor drain and plumb behind the wall for a clean, safe and code-approved installation.

Next, we installed the Sanicompact toilet underneath the stairs to use what would usually be unusable space. The toilet is self-venting, dualflush and tankless, so it saves a lot of space. “My clients are so impressed with the Sanicompact and love the convenience of having a dedicated bathroom,” adds Tamara.

The plumber connected both pump systems to the main drain stack directly above the stairs. Finally, a beautiful barn door was installed to complete the bathroom area.

Results

“Using Saniflo in my spa has given me great peace of mind,” says Tamara. “All the plumbing meets code and I saved several thousands of dollars by not breaking the concrete to install these two products. Now, my clients are able to enjoy a safe, calm and comfortable spa environment during their services and have the benefit of a private lavatory space within the spa itself, alleviating the need to use the private facilities in my personal home space.”

Have a plumbing challenge holding you back from realizing your dream renovation? Contact Saniflo to learn about our convenient solutions!