Damifino
Gold Member
GT2, now that you have clarified purpose of drain, I would think you would be good to go without vent, then again your jurisdiction may vary. Good thinking ahead for potential problem.
Question for the Plumbers
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GT2, now that you have clarified purpose of drain, I would think you would be good to go without vent, then again your jurisdiction may vary. Good thinking ahead for potential problem.
JB4310
Super Member
Yeah, I would want a drain in there.
You could have a small sump pit and pump, but that requires electric outlet, not a big deal. But a pump that just sits there and does not get used could fail from lack of use.
Gravity drain is always better if the lot allows it.
JB
You could have a small sump pit and pump, but that requires electric outlet, not a big deal. But a pump that just sits there and does not get used could fail from lack of use.
Gravity drain is always better if the lot allows it.
JB
MarkV
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Ok, I sure can see your reasoning. Thanks for explaining.
MarkV
MarkV
Raspy
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It's a mistake to equate a floor drain that runs to the outside, or to it's own sump, with a sewer drain.
Sewer drains need traps to prevent sewer smells from coming back up the drain piping into the home. And they need vents to prevent suction emptying the trap or to prevent air pressure in the line from slowing the drain flow.
A simple floor drain to the outside just needs a slight slope and an open end at the outside. No trap, no vent. One possible exception to this is that bugs might be able to come up the pipe into the house without a wet trap to stop them. This can be prevented with a check valve at the exit point or a screen or something.
A trap in an active plumbing system stays wet through use. How ridiculous to install a trap primer just to keep a garage drain trap wet forever, when the trap is not even needed.
I asked my inspector about a garage floor drain to the outside and he was stumped. So I dropped the question and installed it without pointing it out. No problem.
Gravity floor drains are great and can prevent a lot of damage if a water heater leaks or some other big leak happens. A nice way to get rid of a few gallons of melted snow that came in with the car. If you accidentally spill oil or something, you could have a bucket ready to set under the outlet. Or you could keep the drain plugged with a plumbing test plug that you could pull out for water and leave in for possible oil spills. It's unlikely you'll spill that much oil and have it get out of control, a few drops on the other side of the garage are easily picked up.
Sewer drains need traps to prevent sewer smells from coming back up the drain piping into the home. And they need vents to prevent suction emptying the trap or to prevent air pressure in the line from slowing the drain flow.
A simple floor drain to the outside just needs a slight slope and an open end at the outside. No trap, no vent. One possible exception to this is that bugs might be able to come up the pipe into the house without a wet trap to stop them. This can be prevented with a check valve at the exit point or a screen or something.
A trap in an active plumbing system stays wet through use. How ridiculous to install a trap primer just to keep a garage drain trap wet forever, when the trap is not even needed.
I asked my inspector about a garage floor drain to the outside and he was stumped. So I dropped the question and installed it without pointing it out. No problem.
Gravity floor drains are great and can prevent a lot of damage if a water heater leaks or some other big leak happens. A nice way to get rid of a few gallons of melted snow that came in with the car. If you accidentally spill oil or something, you could have a bucket ready to set under the outlet. Or you could keep the drain plugged with a plumbing test plug that you could pull out for water and leave in for possible oil spills. It's unlikely you'll spill that much oil and have it get out of control, a few drops on the other side of the garage are easily picked up.