The Best Techniques to Clear a Clogged Drain Before It Occurs
February 20, 2023How to Unclog a Kitchen Sink Drain and Clean It
March 20, 2023
Out of all of the drains in your home, the most often overlooked are going to be your floor drains. While these drains are similar in style to what you find in your tubs or showers in design, these drains are usually found in your floor in garages, basements, patios, etc. When you are doing your around-the-house drain cleaning (which you should be doing at least two times a month), you should make sure to show a little love to these drains, too. We’re here to tell you how you should be maintaining these floor drains for the smoothest functioning.
What is a floor drain?
Floor drains are great to have in areas of your home that might receive extra water. They are, as the name implies, installed in the floor. These drains are designed to sit flush with the floor and will always come with a cover. Just like with your regular drains, there should be a drain trap inside. The point of these drains, as we mentioned, is to catch overflow water from things like leaks or flooding. Inside your home, this can come from cleaning machines, sinks, water heaters, etc. Outside, they’re meant to catch and divert rainwater away from your home.
How to tell if you need to clean the floor drain:
• You smell something gross coming up from any of the drains.
• Water isn’t flowing down or it’s moving too slowly down the drain when it hits it.
How should I clean my floor drains?
Just like you would with your other drains, your floor drains are meant to be maintained in much the same ways. Let’s go over some of the ways you can ensure that they stay functional.
• Routinely pour water through to keep the traps filled: Your floor drain traps require filling to work properly. This is what helps them keep the sewer gasses from entering your home through the pipes. Make a habit of pouring a gallon of clean water down your floor drains about once a month. You’ll notice that if you don’t take this step, the trap will dry out and your home will start to smell a bit toilet-y. This is meant to be avoided for the sake of your health, so keep those drain traps filled.
• Do a deep clean a few times a year: About two to four times a year, you should take the time to get those floor drains thoroughly cleaned out. Check for clogs, use a drain snake to clear anything out that can be reached, flush your drain with some form of cleaner (just be aware that you need to keep the corrosive chemicals limited if you can), and just make sure that you are keeping an eye out on them.
• Clear clogs as soon as you notice them: These drains also can clog up with stuff over time, just like your shower and sink drains. However, the makeup of the debris will be a little different. They are prone to catching things like hair, dirt, dust, and more; those things that fall on your floor and then get swept away in any water. You should make sure that you keep an eye out for clogs and remove them as soon as you find them. Use a plunger or a drain snake to break them up, pull them out, or flush them.
• Set up a routine professional visit: At least once or twice a year, have a plumber come out and do a wellness check on your entire plumbing system. They can do an in-depth check of all of your pipes to keep them fully functional. They will let you know if you need any repairs or replacements in your system, as well as clean them fully.
So, we hope that this has given you some ideas about how to take proper care of the floor drains in your home. These drains are just as important to the functioning of your home’s plumbing, so you need to make sure that you can watch out for their health. Use these tips to stay ahead of the game and remember to have a plumber on your contact list for any emergency situations that may pop up!
