All,

I have a floor drain in my basement. There used to be a concrete tub that drained into it, but that is now patched directly into the sewer line.

The drain is at the bottom of a hole in the concrete. The hole is about 4-5 inches deep.

I'd like to deal the drain permanently, but there's a small catch. Just above the drain there is a tube that comes in from the side (under the concrete) and drains into the drain. I'd like this tube to be able to contain to have access to the drain.

Last summer, after a few basement floods, a handyman put a piece of plexy glass over the floor drain, put caulk under/around it to seal water from coming up/out. He then screwed it down into the concrete. The problem is, water has started to seep in/through the caulk.

Here's what I am thinking of doing:
1. fill the drain with 2 inches of pea gravel.
2. put a piece of plexy-glass on top of the pea gravel
3. fill the remaining 3" with hydraulic concrete.

This will allow the side tube to still have access to the drain, but otherwise seal the drain from the rest of the basement. What are your thoughts?

Get a transition coupling that fits the old drain on one end and the incoming tube on the other. Slip the coupling on the drain and insert the tube to the other end. Secure it with stainless steel band on each end. Now, your drain is sealed and you can proceed to cover up the hole in the floor any way you wish

Hope that helps

Milo

Milo, this drain is 4-5" underground... no way to attach anything using SS clamps.

I think TheQ has a fine proposal... I would proceed exactly as you presented it TheQ.

Mark

Covering, sealing a floor drain that you know backs up during flooding can be a disaster. If water rises up out of that drain that means there is pressure below the slab. Seal the drain will let pressure build up, I have seen floors burst up cracking the concrete. I'd install a stand pipe about 3' tall. Water would not come out of this pipe unless there was enough water pressure to flood your basement 3" deep.

Where does the water in the "side" drain come from?

You might do better with a pump, rather than sealing this hole.

Get a transition coupling that fits the old drain on one end and the incoming tube on the other. Slip the coupling on the drain and insert the tube to the other end. Secure it with stainless steel band on each end. Now, your drain is sealed and you can proceed to cover up the hole in the floor any way you wish


Milo, this drain is 4-5" underground... no way to attach anything using SS clamps.

As massplumber2008 said, the drain is recessed 4-5". The mystery pipe is also flush with the side of the hole (which is cement). Getting a rubber coupling on it would involve breaking concrete. Not an easy undertaking.


Covering, sealing a floor drain that you know backs up during flooding can be a disaster. If water rises up out of that drain that means there is pressure below the slab. Seal the drain will let pressure build up, I have seen floors burst up cracking the concrete. I'd install a stand pipe about 3' tall. Water would not come out of this pipe unless there was enough water pressure to flood your basement 3" deep.

I'm curious what others experience with this is. The basement has never flooded more than 1/4" or so -- even before I put the plexiglass solution on it. Would the amount of pressure created here really cause cracking?

I mean, back flow preventers are made of plastic (?) -- they don't break, right?


Where does the water in the "side" drain come from?

That's the million dollar question. The house was made in 1952, I bought it in 2006. I am the second owner. The previous owner is an old, senile (maybe now deceased?) lady. I know some type of dry basement solution was installed and a sump pump/hole were created about 25' away from this drain hole. The side pipe is made of PVC, so that tells me it was added after the house was originally made. The floor is painted/sealed, so concrete inconsistencies (from a fresher pour) are harder to detect.


You might do better with a pump, rather than sealing this hole.

I've considered this solution, but do you know of a pump that would fit into a 4-5" hole and would trigger and clear this shallow of a hole? The hole is approximately 10-12" in diameter.

sump pump/hole were created about 25' away from this drain hole. The side pipe is made of PVC, so that tells me it was added after the house was originally made.

A good plumbing supply house should be able to fix you right up, but I would sure investigate what was feeding this drain hole, and the relationship to what was a sump pit. This image is what I came up with,

https://tse1.mm.bing.net/th?&id=OIP.Mb68e1347f84d5889d88287e4bc0acf6co0&w=300&h=225&c=0&pid=1.9&rs=0&p=0

From this site, https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=shallow+flood+pit+pumps&qpvt=shallow+flood+pit+pumps&qpvt=shallow+flood+pit+pumps&FORM=IGRE

Or this,

https://tse1.mm.bing.net/th?&id=OIP.M4d306e703610e4fbcbbbacc0c36951cfo0&w=288&h=299&c=0&pid=1.9&rs=0&p=0