Pitching concrete to floor drain

grahamW

grahamW

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I'm in the process of adding a basement floor drain and I've found the basement pour quite excessive which is making cutting and jackhammering a pain. I need to re-pitch the floor to the new drain and I was originally planning to remove and then re-pour a large area. I'm now considering pitching the floor by adding fresh concrete to the existing floor. I've seen various self-leveling kits but in this case, I'd like to add grade/pitch. Is there a specific product for this that will bond well to the old floor? Thanks.
 
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What is excessive about the existing concrete?

Do you honestly plan to pitch the entire floor towards the drain?
 
Self-leveling cement will NOT give you a slope, and it is almost impossible to add a thin layer of cement over an existing floor and get a bond that will not chip off in the thinnest areas.
 
It's a residential basement with a pour between 4" and 6" thick and more rock than I expected. Plans show it is non-structural but I could put my truck on it. Either way, it is too much for my little demo tools so I'll clearly need to rent something bigger. For what it is worth, my previous house was 3" thick and I was able to slice & dice this with relative ease.

My plan was to pitch a 8'x8' section towards the new drain. This would cover the HW and washer.
 
hj said:
Self-leveling cement will NOT give you a slope, and it is almost impossible to add a thin layer of cement over an existing floor and get a bond that will not chip off in the thinnest areas.
Click to expand...

Thanks. That is what I feared. Off to rent a propper demo hammer.
 
When bonding new to old, we always used a latex bonding agent. We would also add latex to the mix. It would help to scarify the old concrete and a scarifier can be rented.

How do you plan to finish the floor? Does this drain need to service the entire basement or just a room? Could you lay down ceramic tile and pitch it by varying the thickness of the thinset?
 
LLigetfa said:
When bonding new to old, we always used a latex bonding agent. We would also add latex to the mix. It would help to scarify the old concrete and a scarifier can be rented.

How do you plan to finish the floor? Does this drain need to service the entire basement or just a room? Could you lay down ceramic tile and pitch it by varying the thickness of the thinset?
Click to expand...

My plan was to use epoxy for the floor. It will remain unfinished for the moment. I could tile it, but it wasn't my plan.
 
There is no point in having a floor drain if the water on the floor can soak into the floor before it makes it that far.
 
dlarrivee said:
There is no point in having a floor drain if the water on the floor can soak into the floor before it makes it that far.
Click to expand...

I disagree. He's installing the drain as insurance in the event his HW tank or washer leak, which would cause a flood without the floor drain.
The small amount of water wicking through grout lines would be immaterial in the event of such a leak, most of it will make it down the drain preventing a disaster.
 
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