# Garage Floor 'drain plug' leaking into the basement below



## rockandroller (Apr 25, 2015)

So, I have this garage with probably a two-in-thick slab.
Inside the slab is hydronic heating pipe, but this whole quadrant was disconnected due to leaks. However, the dead pipe inside is not the issue.

The problem is that snow scooped up in the car's undercarriage and wheelwells melts into a few liters of water - and most of that water pools right over this "plugged" square drain hole that was placed in the floor sometime. 




























The garages are on the second floor, and this square plug leaks a considerable amount of water onto the unfinished basement below, which I plan to develop fairly soon into a small recording studio.


It's generally not a HUGE amount of water, so one possibility that comes to mind would be to try to seal this up with a lot of epoxy (or something). I am planning to do an epoxy paint job on the garage floor, anyway. Then it would just be a matter of squeegeeing the pool of water out to the door from time to time

However, since there is a fairly heavy car driving back and forth daily, I am concerned about how to assure that "a seal" is not ever going to crack and spring a leak. Especially since there is a whole new, quite heavy-duty soundproof ceiling going in below it!

And another idea (strictly a convenience thing) would be to actually INSTALL a proper drain in that hole. (Clearly that was the original design, as it's sort of framed in for it, in the rafters below this slab.) That way, instead of squeegeeing out the door (and having to pull the car out first) - could just rely on the drain to suck away most of the water. Still some pooling elsewhere on the floor, so occasionally pulling out and squeegeeing into the drain would be required anyway. But the main thing is to make sure that there is no more LEAKING! Then the question comes to mind... is sealing a "proper floor drain" going to be any easier than just sealing the plug? (Not to mention I would need a drain that is tough enough to drive the car over!)

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated! Budget is almost non-existent, of course...


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## gregzoll (Dec 25, 2006)

You have the same pictures posted, but nothing from underneath. If I had to guess, that is the drain that was installed when the slab was poured.

In your kind of setup, they bring in pre-fab pre-stressed panels and lay them down on top of the foundation walls with a crane. Then they put down the Hydronic heat pipe, then pour concrete over it.

That drain should have been connected to a sump well when they did the garage floor. If they did not, that is why you are getting a swimming pool.

BTW the Garage is on the first floor, the basement is just that, a basement. Majority of times in these types of setups, you find the water table is high, which causes water to leak into the basement around the floor all of the time.


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## rockandroller (Apr 25, 2015)

I'm not explaining it very well, but I'll try to clarify!

First, the 'unfinished basement' as I call it *really is* on the ground floor, notwithstanding that the back wall of it is slightly dug in to a hillside. 

(see this diagram ...)









You can see in this photo below how the foundation is a full height wall at the *back*, but only an L-shaped footing on the side which extends less than half way along the side walls... (most of the side walls are built directly on the bottom slab, and the 'front' wall (the wall closest to the duplex in the pic above) is _entirely_ on the bottom slab )


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## rockandroller (Apr 25, 2015)

That said, here are pics of that "filled in thing" in the floor above...




















I can see some plywood, and I guess they just put that down and poured some kind of cement over top. It looks like there would be enough slope there to run a drain out to the wall, without compromising the roof height... but that brings up another issue (keeping the outlet from freezing in the winter...)

Anyway, right now any water that pools in the garage above just drips down right out of here... making a puddle on the concrete floor below


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## gregzoll (Dec 25, 2006)

Again there is nothing to explain, except have you looked to see if there is a drain pipe connected to that drain on the garage floor. My brother in law has the same type of setup, but is not constructed where the basement is a walk out.

Your problem is that someone forgot to install the waste line and drain in the floor. Do that, and have an inspection done, to figure out why water is getting downstairs somehow.

You also need to find out why the water is going from the garage to the basement.
Typically you will not have any type of wood underneath them a Garage floor. They will typically use Prestressed slabs for that. In your case, having the plywood there, causes more problems, because any movement will cause the slab to move and crack. Plus it will not allow for that much of a weight load if it was not properly engineered.


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## jomama45 (Nov 13, 2008)

What you have is a pretty unique situation. It looks like it's not actually pre-stressed planks, but a thin concrete pour over a wood structure. It also looks and sounds like it was pitched to the center for the use of a floor drain. It's complicated to get a drain waterproof in a situation like this, but it can be done. I'd recommend trying to find a local tile installer who's familiar with building shower pans to take a look at it first..........


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## stadry (Jun 20, 2009)

i'm not sure if redguard's traffic-resistant but bedliner sure as hell is :yes: eBay is where i buy mine,,, just clean the conc 1st ( REALLY clean ) :thumbsup:


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## ron45 (Feb 25, 2014)

That looks like a hell of a lot of snow melt to me.....


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## rockandroller (Apr 25, 2015)

We got two feet of snow that week (most of it in 2 days...)
Supposedly VERY unusual for this region, but I want to be prepared for next year. Anyway, if it's not snow, it's rain... one way or the other the car is making puddles in there!


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