Installing a toilet in place of a shower in the garage

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Magnum

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Hello. I want to build a tiny half bathroom in my garage, with the toilet in the spot a of where an old shower was. I removed the shower already and Im thinking of the easiest and most budget friendly way of putting the toilet in. I know that the shower drain pipe is to small. The toilet would be only used very occasionally but I dont want to have troubles with it in the future. The drain pipe inside diameter is 2.5" but the pipe which is deeper is not more than 2". The floor is concrete and the back wall is concrete as well. There is a washer water drain and a water heater next to where the toilet is planning to be installed.

I am considering a macerator pump or a macerator pump built-in toilet from links below:

https://www.saniflodepot.com/collec...h-toilets/products/saniflo-sanicompact-toilet
https://www.saniflodepot.com/collec...cts/saniflo-sanibest-pro-macerating-pump-only
I know the best way would be to install a new drain and a standard toilet but I have no idea where the main sewer line is.

Here are the pictures of the spot where Im planning to install the toilet.



What would you recommend?
Is there any way to install a toilet in that spot?

Thank you!
 
This would be the ideal solution however the toilet is a requirement of my wife running a business from our house, since all of my wifes clients are females, a toilet is a must-have.
 
If they are all women, they are probably not going to want to use a toilet in dumpy conditions like that.
Unless you are going to remodel that whole area.

Also, a Saniflo can only handle piss, poo, and toilet paper.
Anything else will jam it up.
So toilet wipes, Q tips, tampons, will cause it to fail.
 
Im going to remodel it, move the washing machine and separate the laundry and the toilet with a permanent wall. I will surely not just leave it like that.

It is going to be used very occasionally but I dont have control of what people throw in the toilet, that is why I'm a bit afraid of the macerator toilet.
 
I would install the toilet on the wall next to the water heater (not where the washer machine is). Its an outside wall. The wall there the washer/dryer machines are is a concrete block as well but there is a room on the other side of that wall.

The shower drain pipe goes somewhere under the washer machine, I can see that the concrete is a bit raised where the pipe goes.

There is a standpipe into where the washer wastewater line goes in. The pipe goes inside the wall but it is not visible on the other side of that wall.
 
You should hire a plumber to at least survey the current buried drain lines, and see if you can reach a drain line big enough for a toilet.
You might also have to add a vent line.
Cheaping out now will just cause her business to shut down later, when the toilet fails.
 
You are in Fla, so maybe you don’t have a problem with pipes freezing.
So as suggested, going out the wall behind the proposed toilet might work, if you can access the main drain line somewhere outside.
 
Yes, Im in Florida and its a house built in 77'.
So you would suggest digging up the lawn outside of that wall and look for the main drain?

Or opening the wall there the washer standpipe is and checking where that goes?
 
I would suggest having a plumber do a survey, and tell you where things are.
They can locate drain pipes with tools that can read through concrete or soil.
Make a map of what they locate.
 
Which wall are you suggesting to open? The one where the toilet is going to be installed? It is a concrete block wall and there is nothing inside that wall.

I think I will have a plumber make a map.

I found the main drain cleanout but it is on the other side of the house, where the bathrooms are. I do not see it on the garage side, I could dig up some soil to look for the drain but I have no idea which area should I start with.
 
Not looking for any plumbing inside the wall, just possible going through it, to outside, then down into the dirt.
Don’t waste time digging, have a locating survey done.
 
I will try to use an endoscope camera first, if that wont work, I'll call the plumber. At least I will learn something new.

Would any of these work? Which one would you recommend?

1. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0785H3XR7/
2. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082WCXPV5/
3. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SWQFT9H/
4. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BNDHM5W
Hard to say I would read the reviews and see what the reviewers use it for may be tough going thru a trap but that's the only way you will know when the pipe changes in size, you will at least know how far away you are from a bigger drain
 
Last edited:
Some of those cheap scopes can go 30 feet, which should likely reach a full size drain line.
You will probably be able to see that it is big enough.
But you won’t know where it is located.
 

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