Laundry Room Floor Drain

[Brent Smith]

Hey everyone,

I know absolutely nothing about plumbing past being able to run and join pipes. I find myself with a plumbing problem and am hoping someone here can shed some light on it for me.

This past week A contractor put in a floor drain in my laundry room. It has a P trap and a backflow vallve on the line. Here is the problem....I am smelling sewer gases from the drain. The stand pipe for the washer drain is also smelling. I realize that this pipe will cease smelling once the washer is connected and there is water in the Ptrap, but how about the floor drain. With no water flowing through it, unless the washer leaks, how can I protect against sewer smells coming up through this drain?

[Alan Trout]

On most residential emergency floor drains they just run to the exterior an not the sanitary sewer for the reason that you have just stated. Being you are connected to the sanitary sewer you are going to have to keep water in the trap or sewer gas will get into the house.

Good Luck,

Alan

[Rod Sheridan]

A trap primer is required.

It can either be as simple as a take off from the laundry tub faucet or an automated one that puts a squirt of water into the trap when water is flowing in a branch line such as to a faucet.

Check with a person familiar with your local codes, as one of the above is probably required by code.

Regards, Rod.

[paul cottingham]

I deliberately chose not to put a floor drain in my new washroom / laundry room for this very reason. You might need to pour water down it on a regular basis to keep the trap filled, and the smell at bay.

[Matthew Canull]

I also have a similar floor drain in my laundry, when I think of it I just pour some water down it to keep the trap full.

[Von Bickley]

I also have a similar floor drain in my laundry, when I think of it I just pour some water down it to keep the trap full.

That will work.......

[James Jaragosky]

On most residential emergency floor drains they just run to the exterior an not the sanitary sewer for the reason that you have just stated. Being you are connected to the sanitary sewer you are going to have to keep water in the trap or sewer gas will get into the house.

Good Luck,

Alan

Running the drain out to the exterior in my area is a violation of the building code. Check your local code before doing this.

[Bobby Adams]

You can go into the kitchen and get some veg/corn oil. Pour it into the floor drain to fill the trap. The oil won't evaporate like water and will keep the sewer gas from entering room.

[Lee Schierer]

Floor drains in general need to have some water put down them from time to time to prevent sewer gas from being drawn back into the room. This is particularly true if the room has an exhaust fan or other device such as a clothes dryer that removes air from the room.

[Caspar Hauser]

I seem to remember seeing something like this, http://thesureseal.com/default.asp in a TOH magazine a year or three ago, it was designed for this very problem. I am also told that RV antifreeze works well in filling the trap.

[Brian Elfert]

I think my laundry room floor drain is connected to the p trap that also services the washer drain so it always has water in it.

I have never had to add water to my drain and it never stinks.

[keith ouellette]

the floor drain should be connected to the washer drain so that everytime the washer drains the water flows through the floor drain at a point before the trap so it stays full of water.

[Phil Thien]

the floor drain should be connected to the washer drain so that everytime the washer drains the water flows through the floor drain at a point before the trap so it stays full of water.

+1. That is how it was installed when my house was built.

Maybe when adding this stuff after the floor is poured they can't do this way because it would require removing too much concrete?