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Hello.
I have seen countless repairs made because of bathrooms that leak. Whether it is because of tubs that overflow, toilets that overflow, or pipes that leak.
While leaky pipes are what they are…my question is whether it is prudent to install a floor drain in any bathroom for the sole purpose of escape for overflowing tubs and toilets?
What do you think might be the pros and cons of such?
Thanks.
Hope this helps.
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Replies
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This is the same problem as putting a floor drain under a washing machine. If you can't let it drain to daylight, then you have to dump it into your sanitary drainage system, and you have sewer gas, so you have to install a trap, and it has to be vented, and the trap has to stay wet or it will dry out from evaporation and then the trap doesn't work and you have sewer gas in your bathroom.
Someone may have solved these problems, but I haven't heard of it yet, so I'd like to know also.
*Alan:I don't recommend floor drains in bathrooms, unless they are going to be used for clean up regularly. I do recommend them for 2nd floor laundry rooms.The cons: Its hard getting them the right height, and people like me trip over them with barefoot feet at 3:00 am; If one does not use them, they dry out and sewer gas is an issue; I have never seen a bath actually flood; finally, the expense and hassel of installation, while one only needs a 1 and 1/2" pipe, one has to cut through a top plate and vent through another, and besides the cost there is the work.The pros: A good plumber will use cast drains that adjust, and will set them at the right elevation, assuming the designer actually knows what the finish elevation will be before the project is over (a big assumption); Our code requires floor drain primers, a 1/2" threaded connection on the side of the trap into which a 1/2" cold water supply line is fed, keeping the trap wet (the valve is located on a nearby wall in a discreet place)