# Flooring over basement floor drain



## BlueBSH (Oct 29, 2009)

so the previous owners did the basement, we had to rip it out and are in the process of redoing it (never guess why?... lets just say plumb to them ment walls at 80 degree angles...) anyways.... pulled up carpet and found a drain under it... now I knew there was a drain in the furnace room which is uncovered, and is constantly filled with water by the condensate drain on the furnace, humidifier drain and AC condensate year round.... this one is on the complete opposite side of the house (50 ft away).. our plans where to dricore the basement but unsure if i should just go over the drain or not? part of the point of dricore is to create space for water to run under if it would get water under it, therefore you need a drain somewhere... but what happens if the trap dries up? or should it dry up in a basement floor? if its covered by dricore it wont be easy to get to to fill up with water, ontop of that there will be carpet also


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## Bud Cline (Mar 12, 2006)

> what happens if the trap dries up?


Sewer gasses will be emitted into the area.

Does the floor slope to the drain?


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## BlueBSH (Oct 29, 2009)

Bud Cline said:


> Sewer gasses will be emitted into the area.
> 
> Does the floor slope to the drain?


well besides teh obvious 

yes it is 1/2" lower then the rest of the floor around it and it starts a slope from 10 ft out in all directions


I just dont get how the previous owners didn't have a problem, it never had a smell or anything there and the trap was dry


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## Bud Cline (Mar 12, 2006)

> well besides teh obvious


Not following that comment!

What does DriCor say about using their product over a sloping or dished floor?

The floor drain may be clogged and in this case that's a good thing maybe.

Products available to cover that type of floor is limited.


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## AlbacoreShuffle (Sep 18, 2011)

I would either install a trap primer or cap that drain off.
If the main sewer backs up it may find its way to the floor drain and that would be a nasty clean up job.


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## Bud Cline (Mar 12, 2006)

This is headed in a bad direction and one I no longer comprehend so for that reason...:scooter: I'm outta here.


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## BlueBSH (Oct 29, 2009)

Bud Cline said:


> This is headed in a bad direction and one I no longer comprehend so for that reason...:scooter: I'm outta here.


huh? why's this headed in a bad direction? I thought this was the place to get advice and have pros say do or dont do something...

no mater what there is a sub floor going down, I already made that decision, weither its dricore, subflor or delta PL and OSB/Ply over it, somethings going down

now I'm just stuck on getting information and ideas on what to do about the one drain that will be covered up, the other drain never will be as its in a room where there will never be a sub floor (furnace room)


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## Alan (Apr 12, 2006)

BlueBSH said:


> huh? why's this headed in a bad direction? I thought this was the place to get advice and have pros say do or dont do something...
> 
> no mater what there is a sub floor going down, I already made that decision, weither its dricore, subflor or delta PL and OSB/Ply over it, somethings going down
> 
> now I'm just stuck on getting information and ideas on what to do about the one drain that will be covered up, the other drain never will be as its in a room where there will never be a sub floor (furnace room)


If that floor drain isn't acting as a receptor for any appliances that discharge water, then your best bet is to cap it off. Do not bury it underneath the flooring. The fact that it didn't have a smell, may be due to the fact that it COULD discharge to stormwater runoff. If it's dry, it doesn't have a trap primer on it, and it SHOULD. I'd cap it off.


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## BlueBSH (Oct 29, 2009)

Alan said:


> If that floor drain isn't acting as a receptor for any appliances that discharge water, then your best bet is to cap it off. Do not bury it underneath the flooring. The fact that it didn't have a smell, may be due to the fact that it COULD discharge to stormwater runoff. If it's dry, it doesn't have a trap primer on it, and it SHOULD. I'd cap it off.


its a solid slab right now, was thinking maybe have a plumber run a cam down and see where it connects in at because there hasn't been water in this drain for at least 7 years you'd think you'd get a methane / rotting smell by now if it was sewage linked... i poured water down it to test for a clog, and it runs out, slow as heck, but good enough to drain, if I pour a gallon of water in it, it will fill up but never go over the top... its almost like the top of the trap is right in level with about 2 inches down form the slab because thats where it never goes above in water height


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