Need some understanding Floor Drains.
We bought our current house about 3 years ago. It needed a lot of work,
But that was the best we could find for my budget in the size house we
Wanted. I figured we could fix it up, and it's 3 years, and we're still
Fixing it up. The main delay is that I'm 100% disabled from military
Service and cancer. Most of my bones are destroyed, and my condition
Gets worse with time. I've always been pretty handy (mostly with
Woodwork), but now I tell my wife, or one of my brothers how to do
Something, and they do the work while I give instruction.
I've had a problem with a floor drain in the basement that has left me
Puzzled. I tried researching, but can't find much info on floor drains.
Our house has 3 levels, the basement, and two floors above it. In the
Basement there's an old cement laundry sink, and a floor vent a few
Feet from it. The washer hookups used to be there (have been moved to
2nd floor with new branch and plumbing). Above that area on the 1st
Floor is the kitchen. Above that on the 2nd floor used to be a 2nd
Kitchen (was removed, made into bedroom & bathroom, new plumbing). The
Kitchen on the first floor was under renovation for a year. Finally at
The point where we have sink and dishwasher installed and running last
Week.
When we first got water running, the sink was clogged. We worked for an
Hour to clear the clog, and the water started to run down the drain
Fine. Then I discovered that the basement floor was flooded. I traced
The source to the floor drain. We tried for hours to clear this drain.
I tried plunging, snaking, and high water pressure to clear the drain.
It seemed like it was clear. I was shooting water down it under
Pressure with a hose, and the water was going through. When we tried
The kitchen sink upstairs, it would back up through the floor drain in
The basement still.
I'll try to describe the floor drain. I looked online, and couldn't
Find anything that looked like it (at least not from the perspective I
See it). It's cast iron. When I remove the grate, it looks like a bowl
Inside about 6-8 inches in diameter. In the bottom, center of the bowl
Is the drain hole, about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. On the side of the
Bowl near the top is a much smaller hole, less than an inch in
Diameter. I don't know what the smaller hole is for. I thought it might
Be some kind of overflow or something. With the aid of a wet vacuum, I
Removed all the water from the drain, and had someone upstairs turn on
The water. I was surprised to find that the water was not backing up
From the larger hole at the bottom of the drain, but from the small
Hole in the side of the drain. Then I thought, why wasn't it draining
Into the bigger hole anyway. I was able to shoot water from the hose
Down that hole. Maybe there's a P-trap under that hole that's partially
Clogged, and the hose can push through, but the relative slow flow from
The sink upstairs can't. I tried finding out how these floor drains
Worked, but had little luck. I tried sticking a rag in the small hole,
Ran the water upstairs, and it drained fine. There was no backup
Anymore. Its been running for several days with the rag in place, and
There's no further problem with flooding.
Can someone tell me how these drains work. Eventually we want to finish
The basement, and we don't want or need the drain. Can we seal it up?
How do we go about doing that? Can we just fill it with cement, or use
Epoxy? Thanks for any and all answers. I'm at a loss trying to figure
This out.
Regards,
Joe