Repair Floor Drain
Floor drains, an important interface connecting the drain pipes system with the indoor ground, is an important part of the drain system in the residence, its good or bad performance directly affects the quality of indoor air and is very important for odor control in the bathroom.
The special feature of a floor drain is that it excludes basement drain, groundwater, water stains, solids, fibers, hair, easy deposits,toilet paper, paper towels, baby wipes etc.
What is The Good and Bad Floor Drains？
Drainage speed, anti-odor effect, easy to clean reason, no mechanical principle durability degree. So the floor drain should have four properties: fast drainage, anti-odor, anti-clog, and easy to clean.
The single function of the floor drain only leak has not kept up with the times. Floor drain should not only be fast, but the most important thing is also to prevent clog, otherwise the old have to clean up, and the consequences are endless.
A wide variety of floor drains on the market, prices range from 3 to 5 yuan to more than 100 yuan, but can really play a deodorant effect is not easy to find, said to be deodorant floor drains, but the use of the effect can only wait until you know after using.
What Materials are Available for Floor Drains?
Mainly cast iron, PVC, zinc alloy, ceramic, cast aluminum, stainless steel, brass, copper alloy, and other materials.
- Engineering plastics: engineering is widely used, cheap, cheap.
- Cast iron: cheap, easy to rust, not beautiful, rust hanging sticky dirt, stubborn clogs,not easy to clean.
- PVC: cheap, easily deformed by temperature, poor scratch and impact resistance, unsightly.
- Zinc alloy: cheap, very easy to corrosion.
- Ceramic: cheap, corrosion-resistant, not impact-resistant
- Cast aluminum: mid-range price, lightweight, rougher.
- Stainless steel: moderately priced, beautiful, durable.
- Copper alloy: moderately priced, practical.
- Brass: heavy quality, high-grade, higher prices, the surface can be plated.
What are The Classifications of Floor Drains?
1. Traditional Water Seal Floor Drain
Pros
- Cheap, widely used in rough housing builders’ own products.
Cons
- Poor self-cleaning ability, easy to clog, not easy to clean; slow drainage speed
2. Eccentric Block Type Under Flap Floor Drain
A sealing gasket is used, one side is fixed with a pin, a lead block is added, and the principle of gravity eccentricity is used to seal. This structure was horizontal at the beginning and later evolved into vertical and vertical with water seals. When draining, the gasket opens under water pressure, and when the drainage is over, the gasket closes under the gravity of the lead block.
Pros
- Advantages: Cheap and easy to produce.
Cons
- The gasket is a mechanical structure, not tightly closed;
- The pin is easily damaged;
- The flap is easy to jam and not reset. Basically, it cannot solve the problem of odor return.
3. Spring-type Floor Drain
The gasket at the lower end of the spring-tensioned sealing core is used to seal. When there is no water or little water in the floor drain, the gasket is stretched upward by the spring to close the pipe, and when the water in the basement floor drain reaches a certain height and the gravity of water exceeds the spring force, the spring is pressed downward by the water, the gasket opens and drains automatically.
Pros
- Before the spring fails, the odor-proof effect is not bad
Cons
- The spring is made of boron iron, long-term contact with sewage is very easy to rust, resulting in weakened elasticity, and failure and life is not long;
- The spring is easy to wind the hair, affecting the gasket rebound;
- The gasket is a mechanical structure, closed poorly. It needs to be cleaned or replaced frequently, otherwise, it will not work at all.
4. Iron-absorbing Floor Drain
The structure of this type of floor drain is similar to the spring type, with the magnetic force of two magnets suction gasket to seal. When the water pressure is greater than the magnetic force, the gasket opens down to the drain, drainage ends, the water pressure decreases, and when it is less than the magnetic force, the magnets are sucked together and the gasket is pulled upward.
Pros
- Plastic material core can be processed in drain pipe.
Cons
- Due to the ground sewage water quality is very poor, such as washing items, brushing the floor and various other reasons, will contain some iron impurities adsorbed on the suction stone, after a period of time, the layer of impurities will lead to the gasket can not close, not play the role of anti-odor;
- The magnetic force will gradually weaken, disappear, affecting the gasket up and down to open and close, easy to fail.
5. Gravity-type Floor Drain
No water seal, no springs, magnets, and other external forces, the use of water flow of its own gravity and the balance of the internal floating ball floor drain, automatically open and close the sealing cover. This mode is similar to the spring type, only the elasticity is converted into the buoyancy-driven mechanical pull.
Pros
- The strainer integrated type is not easy to lose.
Cons
- There are spiral mechanical parts inside the floor drain core, long-term work in the sewage will rust or siltation sediment, impede the movement of the buoyancy ball up and down, affecting drainage, odor control, anti-bacteria;
- The sealing cover plate will also be due to the siltation of hair, sediment, resulting in poor sealing, affecting odor control, anti-bacteria.
6. Silicone-type Floor Drain
Use two pieces of thin silicone or silicone bags with an open bottom to seal. The bottom of the silicone is washed away by water when draining, and after the drainage is over, the bottom of the silicone automatically closes due to its own elasticity and the opening due to residual moisture to achieve the anti-odor effect.
Pros
- Silicone’s anti-aging properties and its own elasticity, good sewer gases performance, and drainage are also fast.
Cons
- Silica gel under normal circumstances mechanical opening and closing is not durable.
7. New water seal Floor Drain
Water seal floor drain is the floor drain with a long-lasting odor-proof effect on the market!
Water seal floor drain is the use of a water storage cavity in the bell or casing device, forming an “N” or “U” type water storage bend, relying on the water seal to isolate the foul odors and germs in the drain lines, to achieve the effect of the odor floor drain.
Pros
- Long-term use will not be bad no mechanical principle, and the effect is good.
Cons
- Stainless steel core cost is higher.
How to Install a Floor Drain?
First: trim the drainage pre-holes so that they match exactly with the floor drains bought back, because the pre-holes for drainage by real estate developers are larger when they deliver the house. Among them, the open hole diameter of floor drain grates should be controlled between 6-8mm, which can prevent the entry of hair, sludge, sand, and other dirt.
Second: what should be grasped is that the inlet of the multi-channel floor drain is installed according to the actual use of the situation. The multi-channel floor drain is a floor drain with a multi-functional connector can be (to undertake facial washers, bathtubs, washing machines, and ground drainage), this structure can solve the problem of sewer lines inlet requires multiple drainage use.
How to Beautify The Floor Drain？
The floor drain in the dry area can be set in an inconspicuous position because there will not be too much-standing water on the ground; while in the wet area, for example, in the shower area, in order to ensure smooth water flow, so not only can it not be hidden, but also have to make it about 10mm below the ground, which may not look good.
At this point, it can be decorated with some design. For example, the floor drain will be hidden, on top of a suspended metal hollow decoration, it resonates with the interior effect, but also can play a “secondary filtering” role.
Or, the ground around the floor drain with mosaic tile curved, sloping pattern, so that the shape is both beautiful and conducive to speed up the water flow. In addition, you can also use the bathroom floor padded with high features to do a small “pond” with the floor drain as the center of the circle.
How to Fix Floor Drains?
Sewer Odors
Reason analysis: It may be that the water seal of the floor drain is not high enough, and it is very easy to dry up, resulting in the odor in the drain pipes flooding into the room.
Solution: First, if the floor drain does not necessarily have a return bend, add one to it; second, change a floor drain of the same brand and specifications. However, when constructing, pay attention not to damage the waterproof layer. In addition, it should be reminded that in use, it should prevent the water seal from drying out and shall be regularly filled with water. If you leave it for a long time, it is better to seal the floor drain with a cover.
Overflow
Reason analysis: It may be that the overflow section of the floor drain is not smooth enough, and the sewage cannot pass through quickly, or because the internal structure of the floor drain is convex and concave, hanging hair, fibers, other dirt, etc.
Solution: The height of the floor drain is determined by the way the drain system is laid. Therefore, it is best to use the floor drain height within 200mm and 120mm respectively and must drain sideways.
Commonly used concealed installation practice for the bathroom structure floor partial sinking pipe and bathroom do bedding pipe two. In order to meet the net height of the bathroom and ergonomic requirements, the former sinking headroom of 300mm, and the latter bedding height of up to 170mm.
What to Do About Water Seepage from Floor Drains?
Solution: Open the floor tile around the floor drain, dig out the cement around it 3cm deep, then use “plugging spirit” to seal it, do a closed water test after 1 hour, observe whether it is still seeping, and if it does not seep, that means restore the original state.
Maintenance and Use of Floor Drain
Many old floors drains will feel that the water is getting slower and slower after using for a period of time, which is because a lot of magazine dirt in the sewage is attached to the water storage bend, and if it is not cleaned up often, it will lead to blockage poor water flow.
But the old-style deep water seal floor drain is very bad to clean, my method is to buy a long, thin awl, bend the head over, just like the previous stabbing stove fire hooks, regularly in the water seal inside the slot to pull out a lot of hair, but small impurities are not good to clean out, generally to use a small spoon to pull out.
The floor drain that can be taken out of the floor drain core is easier to clean, the floor drain only needs to rotate counterclockwise to take out the floor drain core, and then scrubbing hard in the water, also can be used to wash the stain with waste soap or baking soda, and then press clockwise. Depending on the use, it is generally cleaned once every 20-60 days.
Some built-in water seal floor drains have a strong self-cleaning ability, and it is very convenient to take out the floor drain core for cleaning.
Silicone watertight floor drain can basically be free of cleaning, and if these floor drain cores are damaged, it is easy to replace the new cores. The waste pipe is blocked; try flushing it (out) with hot water.
General bathroom floor drain leakage, mainly due to the floor drain and downspout interface installation is not tightly connected, the phenomenon of water leakage.
The solution can open the floor drain around the floor tile, around the cement, dug out 3cm deep, with plugging spirit and other rigid materials in the pipe wall and cement layer at the combination of paint to do local waterproofing treatment, dry to do a closed water test, such as no water seepage can be restored to its original state.
Summary
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