garage drains ?

[wayfarer770]

What have you got ? what are the options?

 

[Sevenhills1952]

I think that depends on where you are, what code says whether it can drain outside or has to tie into septic. Then it depends on what's going down the drain, water, chemicals, etc.

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[Innovate1]

Lot's of areas don't allow drains in garages or put severe restrictions on them because they don't want oil and other chemicals going down them. Other areas I have seen large drains so vehicles could be washed down so it varies a lot. I put a small floor drain in the back of my garage because it was easy (had a half bath there too) and it seemed like having a floor drain would be useful. Never was questioned about it during inspections. Before you plan anything you should find out what is allowed in your area.

 

[pmiranda]

I knew I didn't want to flood the septic with anything in the garage (either too much water or some grease or cleaner that would kill it).
So I put in 3 9" square NDS boxes which drain through 4" PVC to daylight through some popups. They're nice because you can put in a filter cone to capture sand, debris or dropped parts and also keep any bugs from coming up.
You can also route to a dry well and/or grey water capture.
All depends on what your local code and inspector have to say. I built where I had neither to satisfy but don't want to kill the grass and plants.

 

[didit]

I don't think it is allowed by code now but I put one in when the garage was built in 1982. It connects to the perimeter big "O". It has a solid cover and hasn't ever been used. It was just in case of a water pipe break or some other occurrence such as the hot water tank in the garage letting go. I never wash vehicles in the garage.
The houses on both sides of me were both allowed back yard drains as well as one in the driveway. Since then, I was denied both. They don't want to put any additional strain on the system.
One phone call will let you know the code and by-laws where you live.

 

[jasondavidmann]

I'm following this thread!

I am only allowed a "catch basin" that doesn't drain, so I'll have to pump it out when necessary.

I'll be building a 20x40 with one vehicle section, wondering what people's thoughts are regarding a single basin or channel drain (basin)

Considering this one:

https://www.homedepot.ca/product/re...sin-complete-with-galvanized-grate/1001072633

 

[cosmopedro]

I work on an Air Force base where we frequently wash aircraft, and we’ve had to drain to an electronically-monitored oil + water separator for years… even when separated we can’t discharge into sewer or storm.

Check local regs, but even if they’re lax I’d be careful - it can be a mess to repair the environmental damage


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[K'ledgeBldr]

Remember, state code will always rule unless municipal code is more strict.

https://www.revisor.mn.gov/rules/4714.0418/

So, the state of MN does have a very well defined description for SFH’s. But, you’ll need to contact your local AHJ to know for sure.

 

[rburke65]

No drains in my shop floor. I have floor drains in my 32’x40’ pole barn, but I don’t do any type of pollutant going down the drain....only snow melt from the snow plow

 

[Stuart in MN]

Garage floor drains can be done in Minnesota (I have a friend who built a garage with a drain a few years ago), but of course they need to meet all requirements. Generally you need a trap that will collect any oil or other pollutants, and the drain needs to go to some sort of dry well that is separate from sanitary.

 

[kj_mustang]

My county allows drains so mine goes out to perforated pvc pipe buried in gravel. I couldn't find many options to buy in my area so settled for this overpriced model.

 

[HoosierBuddy]

I'm following this thread!

I am only allowed a "catch basin" that doesn't drain, so I'll have to pump it out when necessary.

I'll be building a 20x40 with one vehicle section, wondering what people's thoughts are regarding a single basin or channel drain (basin)

Considering this one:

https://www.homedepot.ca/product/re...sin-complete-with-galvanized-grate/1001072633

Where I've seen these catch basins they are worse than nothing. They fill with water which quickly sours and stinks up the whole garage. If that's all I could have, I wouldn't want anything.

Fortunately, where I live it wasn't an issue so I did as others suggested. I have 3 floor drains, one per bay, sloped the floor to them, ran them outside, into a square box for with a perforated lid (essentially acts as both an overflow and a cleanout....and the box connects to a french drain.

Phil

 

[TTA89]

I had the covers off as I clean out the muck from saw dust and dirt every 5 years or so. It drains into a french drain and works great. I wash cars and snowmobiles inside and all the melting runs off into the drain.

View media item 111872

 

[kaymccampbell]

YMMV with your AHJ. I have drains in case of flooding. They connect to the perimeter drain, which connects to a gravel bed.
The few times things have gone wrong, they worked great. They are not there to catch oil spills.

 

[grant00]

Call your jurisdiction responsible for your permits and ask. That's what I did here in Colorado and they said my floor drains just have to go to daylight. Any sink must return back to the house sewer system. I even asked if they would want the floor drains out buried in gravel and they basically said whatever I decide to do after it's daylighted for the inspection is up to me. That's all they require.

 

[BruceMc]

I kind of regret putting in a drain now. Something to consider - a drain usually entails a sloped floor. The drain my contractor put in was placed too low. The concrete contractor, rather than fixing the drain height, instead sloped the floor to the drain, which in turn left an annoying slant to the floor and thinned out the slab too much towards the center. In hindsight I would have been better off without the drain.

 

[kabinenroller]

When I built my shop I talked the plumbing inspector about the possibility of drains. He informed me that I could just install the under grade piping and run it to the adjacent farm field, (my property) all I needed was a $35 dollar permit and a rough in inspection before the floor was poured. He came out, looked at the piping, signed off and that was it. I did create a 36” diameter X 48” deep French drain instead of just running the pipe into the field. Its been working fine for over 10 years now. (Hand sink and hydronic condensate)

 

[Tracs]

I kind of regret putting in a drain now. Something to consider - a drain usually entails a sloped floor. The drain my contractor put in was placed too low. The concrete contractor, rather than fixing the drain height, instead sloped the floor to the drain, which in turn left an annoying slant to the floor and thinned out the slab too much towards the center. In hindsight I would have been better off without the drain.

I have a 24x30 with a drain in the center. All my life my parents built houses with attached garages with a drain in the center... not one floor ever drained to the center. So when I got the contractor to do the slab I told him I really want this thing to slope to the drain. There is 3" slope over 15'.. pretty excessive and hard to level things but man water will run from any wall right to the drain. At least my contractor accounted for the slope and slab thickness. At the lowest point the slab is still 4-5" thick.

 

[Sevenhills1952]

I have PVC drains around for different things.
When I bought the old house 40 years ago the gray water drained out to the back yard.

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[Renegade1LI]

All new garages around here have floors that slope to the door per code, usually 1 - 2 percent.