I am finishing off my basement and there is a floor drain in the middle of the room. The previous home owner said that the basement never floods. Just wondering if I can plug the drain with something prior to laying down the carpet. If so what can be used? The sump pump in the basement is only about 8 feel away from the drain so if I do have a flood I will still be able to drain water from the basement. There are no other drains in the basement.



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Is there another drain some where in your basement? If not then no, I wouldn't plug it. You could carpet over it and move a piece of furnature over it.

Just my opinion...

if it were me, i would remove the cover, stuff newspaper into it leaving about an inch of space and fill the thing with mortar.

The floor drain is not where the floods come from, but since it should be at a low point in the floor if a washing machine or something should cause a flood, the water will accumulate there before draining to the sump pit.

If he doesnt plug it, what happens if the main gets a stoppage? All sewage is bound to come up through there as it is usually the lowest drain and it will for sure ruin the carpet. Chris

There are many ways to get a backup/flood and carpet in a basement is always a poor idea, because of that. But with a sump pump, the sewer main may be "overhead" anyway.

Its not too often around here that there is a floor drain in a basement, neverless one with the sewer overhead, but you Arizonians are very different. Chris

Around here all basements have floor drains and most have overhead sewers. It's flat prairie for the most part. Some of the older towns on rivers have steep bluffs or are in valleys. But all of the new construction is in what used to be farm fields, so it's flat! All the basements get a floordrain for the condensate and water heater, which usually gets a sump pump. Quite a few get bathroom roughs also, with an ejector pump. Both go into the overhead sewer.

Cheers, Jeff.

Author: charbaugh (MO)


Is there another drain some where in your basement? If not then no, I wouldn't plug it. You could carpet over it and move a piece of furnature over it.

Just my opinion...<<<<Snippp

WOW that is a TERRIBLE thing to suggest NEVER ever just "cover the drain"


Worst thing possible is TRAP SEAL loss then all kinds of great smells enter the home some
can be really dangerous.

Also in case of an over flow from the main sewer water takes the course of least resistance and carpeting wil not hold back the waste water from spewing out of this opening.

Arizonans seldom have basements, but back in the Chicago area that was about the way we did all houses.

You are assuming the floor drain goes to the main sewer, in which case you are correct about the potential odors. But if it goes to the sump pit, which is seldom "sealed" then there would be no "additional" odors to inject into the room.

I believe the floor drain connects to the sump pump because earlier this year the city main backed up and we had sewage that came up our laundry tub and not the floor drain. The main sewer out of the house is about 1.5 feel above the floor which means the previos home owner built a thrown for the basement toliet, kind of funny looking but it works. When I have cleaned the cement floors after the sewer back up and put water down the floor drain the sump pump kicked on. that is why i think it goes into the sump pump.

Here is what I did last night, carpet comes today. I cut a piece of rubber to fit inside the floor drain cap so that dirt, dust, etc. can't get into the drain. The cap isn't so tight that if water needed to get out it can. I also measured from each wall so I know where the drain is at in case I need to access it. Thanks for all the help,

Brad

Our state plumbing code requires floor drains in all basements where you will find the water heater installed 99% of the time and laundry hook-ups half the time. The topography of the land ranges from large hills to flat farm land where you will find most of the construction occuring.

Author: hj


You are assuming the floor drain goes to the main sewer, in which case you are correct about the potential odors. But if it goes to the sump pit, which is seldom "sealed" then there would be no "additional" odors to inject into the room.

TRUE But sight unseen I would be more conserative in my approach as far as just covering without knowing for sure.

Now he knows Then covering is ok

After a recent basement flood, my Father & I are having a debate regarding wether or not his basement's floor drain is tied to either the city sanitation pipes, storm pipes or directly to the sump pit? During a recent flood, I noticed fairly clean/orderless water backing up SLOWLY from the floor drain and figured this clue alone proved the floor drain is most likely tied to the sump pit. My Father thinks the floor drain is tied DIRECTLY to either the city's storm sewer or the city's sanitation sewar. Clearly if it were tied to the "overwhelmed" storm sewers during the flood...a great deal of water would be blasting out of the floor drain, and if the floor drain is tied to the city's sanitation lines, the odor/color of the water alone would prove the line was tied to the sanitation lines. Any help regarding an easy test to see exactly where the floor drain flows to would be a huge help... Keep in mind the water levels are still high in the sump pit from the recent rains, so small amoutns of water poured into the floor drain might not show/prove much... I was thinking about adding some dye to a 5gal bucket of water and pouring it down the floor drain to see if it will show up in the sump pit(?)