Installing drain in garage?
- Thread starter Matt_L
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imported_ZimRandy
New member
Don't forget to consider whether or not the local city or county will even allow drains. In some areas, garage drains are not allowed.
Drains after the fact aren't real functional, as the slab needs to have the proper grade to allow the water to run towards it. If the slab is flat, then you will still have to push all of the water to the drain with a squeegee.
Try one of the high end squeegees that are made from a folded over 'foam', not the hard rubber style and push it out the door.
Randy
Drains after the fact aren't real functional, as the slab needs to have the proper grade to allow the water to run towards it. If the slab is flat, then you will still have to push all of the water to the drain with a squeegee.
Try one of the high end squeegees that are made from a folded over 'foam', not the hard rubber style and push it out the door.
Randy
imported_Picus
New member
A few things I learned having just done this. First, it can be a pain depending on your garage. Second, it can be an even bigger pain depending on your city. The permit for a garage drain into the storm sewers here is $1600. You can run an ABS drain without tearing up all the concrete, but you'll need to find the storm sewer and map out the most efficient route to it; tear up where the drain will be, tear where the sewer is, run the ABS, connect...and if you're lucky and have a straight shot you're done. I was lucky, the storm sewer runs under my garage.
On the grading, if you have better than 4" of concrete you can cut a scupper to the drain, which is essentially a little trough that runs at a 3-5 degree slope to the drain, so even if you don't have a graded pad it'll drain properly.
Another, way less expensive option is to do the scupper thing minus the drain. I've seen a lot of people put two long 2 inch wide by ~1" deep troughs the length of the garage; grade them toward the door and it will carry water out. The only issue there is when you get to the door you have to put the water somewhere where it won't freeze or run a tracer line.
On the grading, if you have better than 4" of concrete you can cut a scupper to the drain, which is essentially a little trough that runs at a 3-5 degree slope to the drain, so even if you don't have a graded pad it'll drain properly.
Another, way less expensive option is to do the scupper thing minus the drain. I've seen a lot of people put two long 2 inch wide by ~1" deep troughs the length of the garage; grade them toward the door and it will carry water out. The only issue there is when you get to the door you have to put the water somewhere where it won't freeze or run a tracer line.
imported_ZimRandy
New member
Domas said:
That is the sticky part for many cities. They don't want oil, antifreeze, etc. going into the municipal sewer system. They may even want expensive grease or fire traps, too.
For my shop, all the inspector wanted to see was the "drain to air", meaning they want to see the outlet above ground. After the final inspection, most people just bury it into a hole filled with pea gravel like a drain field. (I'm in a pretty rural area!)
Randy
No drain either but wash regularly in the garage all year long. What I did was pick up the roll out floor covering. The original Parking Pad® garage flooring mat — Rib-Channel Surface This works GREAT to channel everything out the door including salt, rain, etc.. I actually picked it up at Sam's club for $140/roll. Used three rolls total and was able to cover the main part of the floor wall to wall. It was about 6' short but doesn't matter as that is where my workbench and a few other things go. Simply roll it out, cut it to fit and that's all. It's not perfect but does the job quite nicely and looks much better than the bare concrete. Good cheap solution!!
imported_Picus
New member
Domas said:
As mentioned above, in most non-rural places the city tries to have strict control over what enters the sewer system. Of course you could dump oil down your sink drain, but the idea is that you're generally not going to. Putting a drain to the city sewers in the garage is pretty much (to the city) a guarantee that you'll be putting chemicals into the system. Storm sewers are normally a better option anyway, at least around here they are much easier to connect to.
Another option would be to add a weeping tile to the outside of the garage, then connect to that.
Well, I live in a country, and I've just connected my garage drain to the house's sewerage (sinks, showers, etc.), don't know anything about laws, but I think you better dump detailing chemicals to the sewerage, where it gets cleaned/filtered later, than dump it to the storm drain, where it ends up in rivers uncleaned.
+1 for washing in the garage with Optimum No Rinse. I do that frequently and it doesn't get all that much water on the floor. Whatever's left, I squeegee out the door with a floor squeegee that I got at Home Depot. Works great. Doesn't require a drain.
If you were planning to do conventional washes in the garage, you have more than the drain to think about. You'll also need to think about waterproofing all the stuff that could get wet from spraying a hose in the garage.
If you were planning to do conventional washes in the garage, you have more than the drain to think about. You'll also need to think about waterproofing all the stuff that could get wet from spraying a hose in the garage.
Setec Astronomy
Well-known member
Picus said:
It's the opposite around here...NOTHING can go into the storm drains, they are even trying to control the leaves, because the storm drains go right to the rivers. In the sanitary you are allowed a lot more because it goes to the treatment plant, but they really try to limit what you are putting in there, as you noted.
A weeping tile? What the heck is that? Actually, I can imagine what it is...wouldn't that freeze right up in winter?
imported_Picus
New member
Setec Astronomy said:
From what I gathered when I permitted my drain, around here they are more concerned with what chemicals go into the municipal drinking water system. Not that they are unconcerned about storm sewers; but I am not sure they aren't filtered in some way too (here, at least).
You've never heard of a weeping tile? I thought it was a pretty universal thing. A weeping tile is a system that's been around for hundreds of years. It's a pit dug around the outside foundation of a structure (usually all the way down so no freezing), you fill the bottom of the pit with pea gravel them put a tubed pipe with holes in it all the way around the perimeter. The pipe has a "sock" on it which is a light fabric that will let water into the pipe but not gravel/dirt; water weeps into this system and is deposited to (usually) a dry well, 4+ feet from the foundation. It's super common in any area that gets a lot of snow or has a lot of ground water (they were all over in California, and exist on 99% of houses here). You never see them, they just take ground water from against the foundation and move it. Sometimes if you have a lot of ground water the house will have a sump pump dug below the foundation (usually 2-4 feet), and the weeping tile will feed water to the sump to be drained into the sewers.
It sounds like a big deal, but a lot of houses already have them (I thought the OPs might since he is in MN); and they aren't very difficult to tie into from above ground. The ground level "intakes" are normally near basement windows and doors.
Weeping tile - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
My shop has what is called a French drain. 2 55 gallon barrells on top of each other with a stell lid on top with holes cut or drilled into it to act as a drain. No it DOESNT work very well as the ground is saturated and the barrels have filled up with fine sidiment which has made a seal to the surrounding ground around the hole and below it. Its probably been there 40+ years. I just push the rest of the water out the garage door, it runs to the city storm drain through the Dairy Queens parking lot. No worse the rain water running there all the time that drains from 10 houses.
I have a good squeegee but the water pools in the middle of the garage so flows backwards as I *try* to squeegee it out. It's a major pain. Plus it freezes in the winter and my wife has almost ended up on the floor a few times.
It sounds like a drain is out but maybe I could have the concrete topped off to regrade it sloping to the front?
It sounds like a drain is out but maybe I could have the concrete topped off to regrade it sloping to the front?
imported_Picus
New member
LADNAR said:
A french drain is a similar idea to a weeping tile. Just like a weeping tile if they fill with sediment it won't work.
That's why they put socks on weeping tiles now.
Labster
New member
Picus said:A french drain is a similar idea to a weeping tile. Just like a weeping tile if they fill with sediment it won't work.
I used to work for an excavating business and we got a lot of calls to jet out the drain tiles with a hi pressure pump at 3500psi and it would actually bust apart the sediment clogs and such. Worked great!