Basement floor drains, what are they?

[Jetboy55]

Hello everyone. I have these 4in floor drains in what is original rough in on my 1964 Wisconsin foundation. I want to know for sure what they are, as I plan to use the one on the right for a tub. I believe the one on the left by the water meter (with iron cap) is the cleanout for the street. The one in the middle is a floor drain with a grill and it has a trap in the floor. The one on the right is 4in drain with no trap in the floor. Does that sound correct?
If so, I want to figure out how to install a tub that will use that drain. My wife needs hot water therapy several times per week for pain relief. We were using a hot tub, but it's really expensive to run a hot tub 24/7 for this purpose. So I want to put a tub in this room in the basement that will get used probably 3 times per week for about a 45 min each time. But I'm not sure how to go about it. I don't plan on installing a sink or toilet, just a tub, and maybe a handheld shower above the tub (for when we remodel the main bathroom upstairs, it would be a place to shower). Anyway, I haven't done anything like this before in a basement, though I have done numerous plumbing projects on main floors. How does on make use of a 4 inch drain like this one (on the right) to drain a tub? How do you incorporate a p-trap? Vent? Thanks for any advice.

 

[Sylvan]

Time to call in a local plumber who is licensed and insured and try to a copy of the blue prints or you may acquire them from the local building department

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Jeff H Young]

a 4 inch drain that ties into the sewer without a trap sounds incorrect . we don't have open lines like that in a house unless something is really wrong it would have a smell down there

 

[Jetboy55]

When I purchased the house a year ago, there was a smell and I knew it was coming from that line which was not capped in any way. It is indeed 4 inches connected to the main waste line and is not trapped. I know because I put my endoscope down the line till I ran into the main waste line. Also, in the picture, you can see a expansion plug near the hole that keeps the gasses from entering the house. I had it removed for the picture. I imagine it was originally planned as a toilet waste line, its about 13 inches from the wall. Either way, I want to use it for a tub drain, any ideas?

 

[John Gayewski]

You need to cut the concrete and put a reducer on the pipe then come up with a tee. The horizontal inlet for the tee will be the drain and the vertical will be your vent. Done. But your tub drain won't sit directly over that pipe so you might want to layout the tub and walls before you decide which pipe you want to use.

 

[Jeff H Young]

jetboy55, ok got it I thought you had a drain possibly daylighting down a slope. sure dig it out and put santee a trap and AAV on it for your tub waste and overflow as John says . just a small 10 x 16 hole or so

 

[Sylvan]

a 4 inch drain that ties into the sewer without a trap sounds incorrect . we dont have open lines like that in a house unless something is really wrong it would have a smell down there

Unfortunately We have morons dabbling in the plumbing codes and these idiots are doing away with house traps.

The reason these fools did away with the trap as they realized the main public sewers are not vented properly so by eliminating a house trap each building will now be utilized to vent the public system.

Now for the bad news because the house traps are being removed drains inside the building as traps evaporate such as floor drains that are seldom used carcinogenic and flammable fumes now enter the structure causing people to have headaches and difficulty in breathing

Westchester NY which is much larger than NYC no longer allows the installation of a building house trap

America is blessed with the best polititions money can buy who dabble in codes with no experience whatsoever IMHO

 

[Reach4]

I suspect the 4 inch was intended for a toilet. If you look around, you might find provision for a lavatory that might have been set up to wet vent the toilet.

But to be sure, you might want to remove the cap on that cleanout. Put water down the 4-inch and see that the water flows under that cleanout. It seems possible that the 4 inch was something else. Due to the construction date, it is unlikely they had a radon collection system in mind. That pipe probably connects tot he sewer, but it does seem easy enough to check.

 

[Jetboy55]

Thanks everyone. I am hoping to find a solution that doesn't include ripping up the concrete. I am not installing a full finished bathroom. I just want a place for a big soaking tub. I wonder if I would be better served draining a tub to the trapped drain (currently has a grill on it and is a floor drain). I guess it still isn't vented, but neither is it vented as it acts as a floor drain, and it drains fine as a floor drain. Anyway, I was wondering if a free standing clawfoot tub can be drained into it?

 

[Terry]

A floor drain is treated differently than a tub that can drain fifty gallons at a time.
If it's a home that a plumber has to vouch for, as far as keeping sewer gas and smells out of the home, they're making sure that is a working trap that is vented properly to prevent that.
But then, I can't smell if from here anyway.

 

[Sylvan]

"A floor drain is treated differently than a tub that can drain fifty gallons at a time"

Wouldn't the size and pitch of a FD determine how may CU FT it can convey on timed drainage?

600 3rd ave I installed 6" floor drains and the high rise building with the boilers installed on the upper most floors we installed 8" floor drains

 

[Sylvan]

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Shower drain also is 2" BOTH have traps below the drain