Floor drain in bathroom.

Tjbaudio · Aug 17, 2007

I am having a contractor rebuild my kitchen and bath. The Floor is going to be compleatly removed and so is the pluming. We have a 1 piece shower unit already bought. We were also thinking that a floor drain would be a good idea. I asked the contractor and he has not seen a floor drain in any thing other than tile/cment floor. Any ideas if this can be done on wood floor with vinal? If so what prep and how to seal the drain to the floor. We also like the idea of vinal tile, we have the better grade 12" stick on tile in the laundry and love the look and feel. Any thoughts on this combo witht a floor drain? The main reason for the drain is to help make cleaning a little easyer, a back up for the shower drain, and we have pets and would put a water dish in the bath room so the drain could make spill less of a pain to clean up.

Thank you!

Statjunk · Aug 17, 2007

I don't think it's a bad idea. I was recently faced with a similar decision but decided not to because of asthetics.

Tom

Sponsor · 2022-01-29T12:20:58-0800

Cwhyu2 · Aug 17, 2007

As per code in our area floor drains must be 3".This may cause a problem
as it would need trapped and vented as floor joist space is only 12' max.

Jadnashua · Aug 17, 2007

Personal opinion: A floor drain doesn't make a lot of sense unless the floor is sloped to the drain and the rest of the floor is waterproof. You would either need a trap primer or remember to dump some water down it periodically, since otherwise, the trap would dry out and leave an open connection to the sewer. A lot of trouble. Maybe in a room where you have a washing machine, but not even there for most people. A pan with a connection to a drain is easier, especially since then the whole floor isn't sloped.

Cwhyu2 · Aug 17, 2007

Yes you are right Jad.

Master Plumber Mark · Aug 17, 2007

floor drains in wood floors

We have installed floor drains on second and third floors
in night-clubs under their bar serving areas before..

they were indirect floor drains for ice ect this can really
be a very sloppy wet mess especially on a third floor made of wood......

What I came up with for the bar...was a commercial shower pan liner and drain by J R.Smith

but you can use a cheap plastic shower pan type drain with the clamping ring..

you get some of the shower pan membrane and make about a 24 - 30 inch square with the drain in the center and clamp that membrane into place...

you decide where you want to put the drain and cut out
the floor to the exact size for the hole of the drain....

you go down into the crawl space and set the drain into place and then with a heavy duty staple gun you staple that membrane up to the wood floor useing a lot of staples to keep in place...this keeps the water from ever spilling into the crawl space ...

then you hook up the trap and plumb in in..

and you screw down the drain to the right height in the
wood floor and I would seal it into place with silicone.....

I doubt your plumber is going to be very enthusiastic about doing this ...

it was a lot of work on top of a 12 foot ladder
and i dont think it will be any better in a crawl space either.

but it worked great and I never heard a peep from them.

Jadnashua · Aug 17, 2007

After all the holes from the staples, how'd it hold water? Also, without a slope, how'd it get to the drain? In most cases, I still don't think it is worth the effort.

Master Plumber Mark · Aug 17, 2007

flooor drains in wood fooors

I stapled the membraine up to the woood floor
along its outer edje.. useing a load of 1/2 staples

the biggest problem was
getting it to hang at the right height and getting it to
hang level so the drain lid would be level for the
tile man to tile up to,,, I had to do 4 of them
it took a little work and
a helper on the next floor up with a level...

it worked very well , basicaly just like a shower pan
it caught any water that might spill out to about 15 inches in any direction from the drain.

After we started this 4 story nightclub,
we found out it was going to be Indys biggest
GAY BAR...

So I never wanted to come back to the place for any
complaints

Tjbaudio · Aug 17, 2007

Thank's for the comments. I knew it could be done but was not sure if it was worth the trouble. At least I found out before I bought any thing. All in all it does not sound like it is worth it. Maybe in the next house we will go with tile and a walk in shower.

Jimbo · Aug 17, 2007

I see these in new houses on the 2nd floor laundry room, done in sheet vinyl. They provide a great backup for a washing machine flood, but I doubt if they are perfectly waterproof in a situation where there is frequent heavy water usage.

hj · Aug 17, 2007

drain

It would be almost impossible to set a floor drain in a wood floor and make it even partially watertight. And the phrase, "better quality stick down vinyl" is close to being an oxymoron. It would have to be one or the other.

Tjbaudio · Aug 18, 2007

hj said:
It would be almost impossible to set a floor drain in a wood floor and make it even partially watertight. And the phrase, "better quality stick down vinyl" is close to being an oxymoron. It would have to be one or the other.

I guess they are probably not vinyal. I am not sure what they are. What we have is better than the armostrong crap. but not as hard as the industrial school room stuff. We also followd the install and prep instructions. Un like the previous owners who put the 20 cent tiles over particle board.

We just dont like the feel of ceramic tile.

Dunbar Plumbing · Aug 18, 2007

In KY the inspector has discretion to use the application of the similar minimum requirement of a floor drain in a utility room which is 2".

3' would be my recommendation.

In Ohio you are allowed a floor drain on a wood floor only if the material leading to the floor drain is rolled goods and cantered to the drain. The floor can be cantered by cutting long run shims off of a 2X4 or 2X8 to achieve the gentle sloping to the drain without materially affecting the users habits of walking/standing on the floor.

It can be useful but remember that you will have to periodically add water to that drain to keep a proper liquid seal to prevent sewer gases/foul odors from emitting into the room.

The bathroom vent to remove foul air to the outside will be the first situation to suck sewer gases out of the drainage system when that trap dries up.

Bob NH · Aug 18, 2007

I think you are looking at an imaginary problem and considering spending money on something that will actually diminish the value of the property.

If I were buying a house with a floor drain in the bathroom (other than something on a concrete slab) I would be thinking about how much it would cost me to get rid of it.

Geniescience · Aug 18, 2007

i hid my two floor drains discreetly where they go unnoticed. Not in the center of the floor. I sloped the floors 1/8th" per foot. I used large tiles, 11"x19", so the slope is almost impossible to notice and it all goes in one direction.

We love it. It took a lot of thinking before doing.

David

Tjbaudio · Aug 18, 2007

Bob NH said:
I think you are looking at an imaginary problem and considering spending money on something that will actually diminish the value of the property.

Well considering that we keep a dog in that room when we are away at work and would like to have an automatic water, a floor drain DOES make sence in that room. It would be nice for the water that spills to have some place to go. This is not some thing that we have thought " maybe it would be nice" It is some thing that we have said "Dam I wish it was there NOW"

Master Plumber Mark · Aug 18, 2007

well it can be done

you can do it, its not that big a deal..

either the way I mentioned or however you want to...
.
especially if you are gonna keep a dog inthat room
it might be nice to mop up the mess he leaves behind
and a floor drain would make that pleasent job easier

its just getting the plumber to go down in the
crawl space and attempt it

Tjbaudio · Aug 18, 2007

One major advantage I have right now is that the floor is open. Due to watter damage and improper cuts the floor and some of the joist are going to be replaced. At this point in time the walls are nothing but studs with a blue tarp on the out side. I can do any thing I want! Most of the floor is over the basement. The floor is over a basement so access is easy. Right now I am researching industrial floor tile or water contact rated vinal.

Jadnashua · Aug 18, 2007

You could build the entire room as a wet room, basically put a membrane over the entire floor, in the walls of the shower, and up the walls about 3-4", make an ADA complient shower (no curb), and basically, use the shower drain for the entire room. Look at Kerdi by www.schluter.com. If you tiled up the walls a bit, you could use a hand-held shower to rinse things off. If your joists are deep enough, you could taper your subfloor to make it easier without making the threshold into the room so high (remember, you need 1/4" per foot to the drain, so the doorway would likely be the furthest point from the drain and therefore the highest point). Depending on the size of the room, you could make the area furthest from the drain level rather than sloped, though.

Geniescience · Aug 20, 2007

post a floor plan and we'll see how you are planning the location of the drain and how the slope has to be. A part of the room's floor could be flat, too.

david

Floor drain in bathroom.

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