Hey all. Im new to the forum but after reading many posts it seems you guys may be able to give me some advice. I live in central Indiana and have a 2 1/2 car garage that's heated and air conditioned. The house and garage were constructed in 1998 and over the years, the concrete has apparently settled. Now in the winter all the snow melts off my truck and my wifes suv and after about 3 days of parking, you have to wear rain boots to get into your vehicle or your socks get wet from water coming up over the soles of your shoes. Well I am seeing 3 options. One is put a 10 inch drain in the lowest spot and dig straight down maybe 4 ft or so and put a plastic field tile with holes all around it down there and surround that with sand and p gravel. Or call in a plumber and have them put in a trench style floor drain that drains out the side of the garage into my gravel driveway. I have not gotten a quote so im not sure how much a 10 or 15ft floor trench would cost me but im sure its expensive! The garage floor is higher than the drive so I should be able to go right out the side and dump out into the drive so that I wouldn't think would be too bad. My last option is to resurface the floor but that's a whole lot of work and getting EVERYTHING out of the garage may be an issue especially in the winter. Do you guys have any suggestions what might or might not work? Also the floor is a 6 inch slab with a vapor barrier and I believe it was pored over a gravel bed if I remember right. Thanks!
Floor drain options for a flooded garage!
- Thread starter rbooe05
- Start date
Denwood
Well-known member
Can you post a pic, and indicate where the slope and low points are? If you drain outside, will this just freeze up? Draining to your driveway would be the best option if you can do it.
You can rent a diamond blade concrete Hilte (gas or electric) saw from Home Depot, attach a shop vac and cut your own drainage slots. Using a straight edge, you basically make a number of cuts 1/4 to 1/2" apart and break them out. Drop in a shallow trench drain with some concrete and you're done.
I just did an in-floor drain..and it was a lot of work:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=309814
It drains to a dry well outside the garage, 5ft deep. It's a good idea to drain outside so any soil settling does not happen under your slab. A lot of water flowing into a dry-well can carry silt/soil downward, and create a void under your slab...so best to have it outside. My brother just had this issue with a dry well outside that was seeing a lot of flow from his weeping tile. His lawn has dropped a bit over the dry well. Easy to fix outside..not so easy under your slab, particularly if it breaks into the hole.
You can rent a diamond blade concrete Hilte (gas or electric) saw from Home Depot, attach a shop vac and cut your own drainage slots. Using a straight edge, you basically make a number of cuts 1/4 to 1/2" apart and break them out. Drop in a shallow trench drain with some concrete and you're done.
I just did an in-floor drain..and it was a lot of work:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=309814
It drains to a dry well outside the garage, 5ft deep. It's a good idea to drain outside so any soil settling does not happen under your slab. A lot of water flowing into a dry-well can carry silt/soil downward, and create a void under your slab...so best to have it outside. My brother just had this issue with a dry well outside that was seeing a lot of flow from his weeping tile. His lawn has dropped a bit over the dry well. Easy to fix outside..not so easy under your slab, particularly if it breaks into the hole.
Last edited:
Thanks Denwood, that's the exact trench drain im looking for. And your garage looks awesome! Wish my wife would let me do something like that! Im just really nervous about cutting a trench out of my garage floor and if I didn't get it laid just right I would be calling someone to come fix it. I can take pics tonight when I get home. But the water pools in the center to left side of the garage. The left side is the wall and driveway side so I would end up with a 10 or 15 foot trench and run it out the side and probably put some kind of flap over the opening to keep out mice and bugs. Im not too concerned about small puddles that are here and there because as long as I had a drain I could squeegee the water to the drain instead of opening a door letting out the heat and pushing it outside which also freezes on the drive ramp into my garage making it even harder to get in.
Denwood
Well-known member
If the outside conditions are consistently below zero, your trench drain will just freeze at the exit and be pretty useless. In that case, a drain at the low spot to dry well outside will make sense. Either way you'll need to cut a slot..but it's not as scary as it sounds. It only took about 45 minutes to cut/break out for this drain (diamond blade Hilte saw and demolition hammer rental from HD).
About 3 bags of 4000 psi quickrete to patch things up.
Because your shop is heated, it will never freeze. Just make sure you dig down where the drain exits your garage foundation below the frost line and run to your dry well. I just dug down five feet outside the garage, put an ABS grate on the end of my drain pipe, added a few feet of coarse stone/gravel, a layer of 2" foam, then filled the rest with soil. If you can rent/job out the outside hole, it will save you a lot of time and labour. The dry well was the hardest job.
I just dropped by a local plumbing wholesale shop (Western Supply) gave them a sketch and let them sort out the bits I needed. The cast drain/grate assembly I used has a screw-in grate (easy to set level) and can be driven over.
About 3 bags of 4000 psi quickrete to patch things up.
Because your shop is heated, it will never freeze. Just make sure you dig down where the drain exits your garage foundation below the frost line and run to your dry well. I just dug down five feet outside the garage, put an ABS grate on the end of my drain pipe, added a few feet of coarse stone/gravel, a layer of 2" foam, then filled the rest with soil. If you can rent/job out the outside hole, it will save you a lot of time and labour. The dry well was the hardest job.
I just dropped by a local plumbing wholesale shop (Western Supply) gave them a sketch and let them sort out the bits I needed. The cast drain/grate assembly I used has a screw-in grate (easy to set level) and can be driven over.
Last edited:
Sounds like I might want to wait till spring and rent and excavator and do it right. I need to cut up and remove a big concrete slab anyway. Here is a picture of where the water pools. We squeegied it out and let a fan run on it all night so it's just a small puddle now but you can at least see the position of it. I'm thinking a 5 ft trench drain centered in the wet spot and then maybe run it out to a dry well or leach field of some sort.
Attachments
Denwood
Well-known member
A trench drain is what I should have done...tied in to the dry well. In my case it would have had to been about 8-10 feet long, but in the end would have simplified the drain pad. Wait, and do it right 
Your trench drain ideally would go to a silt box like this:
Then run the drain pipe out to your dry well from this box.
Your trench drain ideally would go to a silt box like this:
Then run the drain pipe out to your dry well from this box.
I would think a pump setup would be a lot easier and wouldn't require nearly as much digging and channeling.
There is probably some style of pump out there which could get away with a smaller pit than a traditional sump pump. I mean it's not like you have to pump a lot of water out.
There is probably some style of pump out there which could get away with a smaller pit than a traditional sump pump. I mean it's not like you have to pump a lot of water out.
6t7gto
Well-known member
In the meantime get a couple of these to keep your shoes out of the water....
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Buffalo-Tools-36-in-x-60-in-Anti-Fatigue-Rubber-Flat-Mat-RMAT35/100648174
The one I picked up is about 3/4" thick. (can't find it on their site).
I use it for a low spot on my concrete porch which always has a puddle of water and gets carried into the house.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Buffalo-Tools-36-in-x-60-in-Anti-Fatigue-Rubber-Flat-Mat-RMAT35/100648174
The one I picked up is about 3/4" thick. (can't find it on their site).
I use it for a low spot on my concrete porch which always has a puddle of water and gets carried into the house.
Denwood
Well-known member
Bz, one snowfall, two cars and you could easily have 10 gallons of water. It's surprising how much snow comes in in the wheel wheels and undercarriage in sloppy conditions with salt and sand mixed in (at least here). So a pump is a good idea, but where to pump? I had the same thought...use a shallow sump like a 12 volt boat bilge pump, but you need a place to pump it where freezing is not an issue. In a heated 2 car garage a 20 gallon container might need emptying every two days, again depending on conditions.
I generally try for the KISS solution that is completely passive, and maintenance free. That said, a drain tile system that manages water with no drain would be pretty nice, no?
I generally try for the KISS solution that is completely passive, and maintenance free. That said, a drain tile system that manages water with no drain would be pretty nice, no?
Dick in Wisconsin
Well-known member
Did you indicate where you live? How cold does it get? How long is it typically below zero?
Does the house have a basement? If the basement open against the garage? Consider putting in the trench drain in, plumbing it to the basement, and then to sewer. You won't have to worry about freezing.
If the garage floor has settled, its very likely there is a huge void under the concrete. You might want to drive a few holes through the concrete near the back of the garage where its at its lowest point. Drop a fiber optic camera in and see how big it is. You might find out you need to bust up the garage floor, fill it in, and replace it. When you do that you can put pex in the floor and heat the garage!
Tell your wife that if you don't do that, you'll lose the garage to a sink hole.
Does the house have a basement? If the basement open against the garage? Consider putting in the trench drain in, plumbing it to the basement, and then to sewer. You won't have to worry about freezing.
If the garage floor has settled, its very likely there is a huge void under the concrete. You might want to drive a few holes through the concrete near the back of the garage where its at its lowest point. Drop a fiber optic camera in and see how big it is. You might find out you need to bust up the garage floor, fill it in, and replace it. When you do that you can put pex in the floor and heat the garage!
Tell your wife that if you don't do that, you'll lose the garage to a sink hole.
I'm located in central Indiana. We get quite a bit of snow in the winter months and driving 2 large 4x4s sure doesn't help matters when they track in snow. It stays below freezing for quite awhile especially at night. Unfortunately I do not have a basement and I really don't want to run that kind of water into my septic. But the soil usually drains pretty well. I'm thinking a large containment drum with some sort of tile system coming off would probably be best. We use an big water softner salt container and burried it about 6ft deep and drilled holes all around it for my shop drain. It has worked great for about 10 years now. But it doesn't see much water. For now I'm thinking of using a bunch of those pig mats maybe that will keep it from pooling so fast maybe give the fans time to dry it up. Not sure how well that will work but fingers crossed maybe we will have a mild winter!
Rookie2
Well-known member
The containment drum is a good way to go. There are several ways to bore under your floor. I've used a backhoe to push 2" pipe 15' under a patio, there are small companies that will bore it or use a 'knocker' to get exactly to a new drain location.
theoldwizard1
Well-known member
Depending on where you live (and nosey neighbors if you are planning on not pulling a permit), but many communities do NOT allow a drain in a garage without an elaborate water/oil separator. Some places have an out right ban.
If you have the proper soil conditions, you can place a dry well under the slab in your garage. Lots of hand digging. Start with a 4-6' diameter hole. It needs to go down about 6'. Line with commercial grade landscape cloth and back fill with recycled concrete or crushed limestone (3/4"-2"). Connect it to a trench drain or just put an 8"-12" grate on top.
If you have the proper soil conditions, you can place a dry well under the slab in your garage. Lots of hand digging. Start with a 4-6' diameter hole. It needs to go down about 6'. Line with commercial grade landscape cloth and back fill with recycled concrete or crushed limestone (3/4"-2"). Connect it to a trench drain or just put an 8"-12" grate on top.
rayra
Well-known member
I'd go for less industrial / costly retrofit solutions and just drill a thru-hole in the slab at the low point. And rent a concrete cutting saw and just cut a series of shallow radial grooves from the hole outward. Like a compass rosette. The groves will hasten water to the hole. With a little finesse it's even easy to dial the saw more shallow as you go. Goove doesn't have to be very deep at all to work well.
But then I live in dry CA and water coming UP thru the hole is no concern.
The other simple choice is just use a pushbroom or push-squeegee when you get standing water on your floor. A moment's work. Sectioning a floor and laying drain tiles seems like a lot of expense to deal with a temporary problem brought on by an improperly slowed pad.
But then I live in dry CA and water coming UP thru the hole is no concern.
The other simple choice is just use a pushbroom or push-squeegee when you get standing water on your floor. A moment's work. Sectioning a floor and laying drain tiles seems like a lot of expense to deal with a temporary problem brought on by an improperly slowed pad.
Denwood
Well-known member
The issue with snow belt garages, is that the water accumulation can be significant, and it will increase as the vehicle's snow load in wheel wells etc. melt. So with 2 SUVs as the OP, after a fresh snow, the 5-10 gallons of water will end up there after a few hours. If you look at a garage here with no drainage, water damage to the walls and salt damage/spalling on the slab is very common. So unless you want to check the garage every night at midnight after a snow fall to squeegee, you need a drain.
Even with no snow, vehicles still pick up a lot, particularly where salt is in use.
My approach previous to installed a drain was to not park in the garage at all.
A hole drilled through the the slab will almost certainly result in a void under the slab over time. Pour a gallon or two in one spot on your lawn, and you'll visualize the effect. Smaller bits of soil will become mobile in the water, and be carried downward...the end result is a void.
Even with no snow, vehicles still pick up a lot, particularly where salt is in use.
My approach previous to installed a drain was to not park in the garage at all.
A hole drilled through the the slab will almost certainly result in a void under the slab over time. Pour a gallon or two in one spot on your lawn, and you'll visualize the effect. Smaller bits of soil will become mobile in the water, and be carried downward...the end result is a void.
Last edited:
OP . . . good luck on the drain project. Denwood has got you on right track !! 
For future posts, would be good to put some PARAGRAPHS in !!!
Hard to read a giant block of text with no paragraph breakups.
Also, Update GJ Profile with your location.
For future posts, would be good to put some PARAGRAPHS in !!!
Hard to read a giant block of text with no paragraph breakups.
Also, Update GJ Profile with your location.
rayra
Well-known member
I just don't fathom why the slabs are not sloped to promote drainage out the door? Even here in drought-ridden CA they're made that way. I'd sure expect garage slabs in snowy climes to address such an issue.
Denwood
Well-known member
Try opening a door at -30C where the garage slopes to the door If the door doesn't freeze solid to the floor, then a large ridge of ice forms outside it. In areas where winter temps don't sit below freezing, sloping to the door does indeed make a lot of sense.
A cup of water at those temps freezes before it hits the ground if you toss it up in the air. Last two winters, average February temp was -20C.
If the door doesn't freeze solid to the floor, then a large ridge of ice forms outside it. In areas where winter temps don't sit below freezing, sloping to the door does indeed make a lot of sense.A cup of water at those temps freezes before it hits the ground if you toss it up in the air. Last two winters, average February temp was -20C.