Spigot but no drain?

[aarondr]

I'm a new homeowner (rented for the better part of a decade), and recently got a home with a large (to me) 1000 sq/ft 3 car garage. Loving it, but one thing it lacks is a sink.

The garage has a spigot and is located in the very back of the garage through the cinder block foundation into the crawlspace. I thought about just hooking up a sink to the spigot, but there is no drain anywhere in the garage. I hope this is an appropriate question for my first post, as I couldn't find anyone with a similar solution through google. Any thoughts?

I unfortunately don't have a picture at the moment, but probably can get one later today if that would help (let me know what to take a picture of).

 

[APEowner]

Welcome to the GJ.

A friend of mine has a sink with no drain in his chop. He's got a bucket under the sink and either dumps it outside or down the drain in the house depending on what the sink was used for. It's not the most convinient arrangement but it beats running into the house every time you need to wash your hands, cool a hot part off or (perhaps most importantly) treat a burn or flush chemicals off your body.

If the garage has a drain you may be able to tie into that.

 

[info2x]

I've got the same deal in my attached garage. I'm fortunate enough to have a sink on the other side of the wall so I do have a drain that I can tap into. You might be lucky enough to have a drain line passing by.

 

[aarondr]

Yeah, unfortunately there is no drain. I did think of the bucket idea, and I even suppose I could pay a plumber to hook up to the drain system (bathroom indoors about 10 ft away), but I was just so surprised that a garage would have a spigot, but no drain anywhere? I believe there's a gentle slope in the flooring (but not enough to even cause my cars to roll backwards). Water from the cars drips on the floor and just evaporates over time.

I suppose the bucket arrangement would work , but I just don't understand why there isn't a drain. Thanks for the reply.

FYI to expand details
* 3 car attached garage
* big concrete slab floor (doesn't appear attached to foundation? - I don't know how foundations/garage slabs work)
* house built in 1997
* located in Richmond VA - (so I don't fight freezing temps too often)

 

[aarondr]

I've got the same deal in my attached garage. I'm fortunate enough to have a sink on the other side of the wall so I do have a drain that I can tap into. You might be lucky enough to have a drain line passing by.

Yeah I need to go put on my overalls and do some crawling around to get a better idea of how the crawlspace is organized. Just hate all the spiders

 

[dbonne]

Welcome to GJ! On a previous place, I had to use a bucket also, Luckily it was on an inside wall and I was able to bore through the foundation and hit a drain line in my crawl space.

 

[aarondr]

Sounds more and more like tapping into the drain line is my long term plan then. Thanks for all the replies! Anyone have a setup like this - recommendations? Do you run a length of hose from the drain to the bucket to prevent splashing? Can I simply hook up to the spigot to the sink hardware somehow? Plumbing/Garage/House N00b! Thanks again for all the replies!!!

 

[Dale1962]

use a bucket as stated but put a small sump pump in it? garden hose to somewhere convienent, just a thought

 

[aarondr]

use a bucket as stated but put a small sump pump in it? garden hose to somewhere convienent, just a thought

Haha, bet the HOA would love me dumping gray water into my flower beds . Good idea though, but I think manually moving the water to sink or toilet drain would be sufficient for me. I'd only use it post yard work, or oil change/car maintenance.

 

[Anglia Guy]

I'd just drill a hole in the wall and let it drain out into the yard. Put a bush in front of it. No one will ever know.

 

[aarondr]

I'd just drill a hole in the wall and let it drain out into the yard. Put a bush in front of it. No one will ever know.

"What? No, no, it's not a drain - It's 'irrigation'!"

 

[OldNeons]

You can easily plumb a slop sink (typical white plastic laundry sink) with a conventional faucet mounted on it into your hose bib with flexible stainless lines. I did in my shop. Then I "plumbed" the sink drain to the floor drain via garden hose temporarily until I pipe it. With no floor drain, I would go the irrigation route like others recommended.

 

[abachman]

Many municipalities restrict sinks in a garage area. This is to keep people from pouring things down the drain that shouldn't be poured down the drain. Also, in my area a further restriction is listed as they do not want people to turn the garage into additional living quarters.

 

[RickP]

You could also install a small sump pump under the sink like this:

Flotec 6 Gallon Sink Tray System With 1/4 HP Sump Pump

You could run the drain line through the crawlspace and then up into the house.

 

[aarondr]

Many municipalities restrict sinks in a garage area. This is to keep people from pouring things down the drain that shouldn't be poured down the drain. Also, in my area a further restriction is listed as they do not want people to turn the garage into additional living quarters.

Not a problem here. I live in a city call "Mechanicsville" . But seriously, other houses in the county I've seen have them. The HOA I don't think has a rule either. Don't worry about me, I always dispose of my oil/gas properly, just want to wash grass of my arms mostly.

 

[aarondr]

You could also install a small sump pump under the sink like this:

Flotec 6 Gallon Sink Tray System With 1/4 HP Sump Pump

You could run the drain line through the crawlspace and then up into the house.

My garage is at the same level as the crawlspace, so I *think* a proper J trap setup would work, but that's good to know something like that is available. Thanks!

 

[aarondr]

Yeah thinking: http://www.homedepot.com/p/MUSTEE-U...loor-Mount-Utility-Tub-in-White-19F/100030653, how easy is it to find garden hose to standard faucet?

 

[Kels]

I'd just drill a hole in the wall and let it drain out into the yard. Put a bush in front of it. No one will ever know.

"What? No, no, it's not a drain - It's 'irrigation'!"

LOL this is actually kind of what I plan on doing in my shop. Only we have some water that seasonally runs thought the property and are installing a ditch for the water to move off the property and will dump the gray water there there some pvc pipe or the like... Just guna get environment friendly soap etc.

 

[APEowner]

If you plumb a drain in don't forget that you'll need a vent.

 

[Kels]

If you plumb a drain in don't forget that you'll need a vent.

ah yes! Planning on using an under the sink vent not ideal but one less hole in the metal siding!!!!

 

[ddawg16]

If your bathroom drain is only 10' away, how come you have not already done it? That is a no brainer...

I would avoid watering the yard....especially if your going to be washing oily hands.

For the vent....just use an AAV (Air Admittance Valve). Basically, it's just a check valve.

Now for the disclaimer.....

Normally one would pull a permit and follow all building codes.

Now my personal opinion.

Just put the ***** in and get to work in the garage.

 

[aarondr]

Haha - never plumbed a thing in my life. I have 2000' of CAT-6 cable I'm planning on pulling to almost every room in the house soon, so the crawlspace will be my new home soon enough. If i get the itch, I may see how hard it would be to plumb and see if my drill can man up drilling through cinder blocks. Of course wifey may overrule and make me get a plumber.

 

[Kevin54]

If you plumb a drain in don't forget that you'll need a vent.

ah yes! Planning on using an under the sink vent not ideal but one less hole in the metal siding!!!!

You don't have to add a vent if you are tieing into an existing drain. And if you do, you can put in a "burpless vent" or that's what my plumber FIL called it. It basically opens up when water is introduced into the line.

What you need to do is get down in your crawlspace and locate a drain line and see if you would have enough fall from the garage to where you could tie into an existing drain line.

 

[TEXACMAN]

The sump pump ran over to existing drain is good idea if you don't have enough room for proper drain fall . In HVAC we have to use a small condensate pump in homes that have no existing drain for air handler condensate. It is usually ran outside to french drain or piped into resisting plumbing somewhere.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

1000 sq/ft hours and a three car garage? Sounds like the garage was added after the house was built and the faucet/spigot was in the foundation of the house, intended for outside use, and simply ended up inside the garage when it was built.

Mine runs to a dry well outside, you could just run it out on the ground, it won't hurt anything. I assume you just want to wash your hands, possibly your face after a dusty hour of mowing in the yard, etc.

Charles