Florida's basement substitute
Garage & utility drains
Florida houses do not have basements, so the garage and laundry floor drains inherit the job. Most of them have never been tested.
In most of the country a failed water heater drains into a basement floor drain that somebody at least glances at occasionally. Here it goes onto a garage or laundry slab, and whether that becomes twenty minutes with a mop or a five-figure claim comes down to a drain nobody has ever put water down deliberately.
That is the whole argument for testing one. Pour a couple of gallons in and watch what happens. If it takes it instantly you have a working safety valve. If it backs up, gurgles, or takes it slowly, you have a decorative grate in a floor, and you will find that out at the same moment you find out your washer hose has failed.
Worth testing before
- Hurricane season, every year without exception
- Leaving a property empty for an extended period
- Replacing a water heater or washing machine
- Converting a garage to living or storage space
- Buying a house with any of those in the garage
What we do on a service visit
- Clear the basket, grate and trap of accumulated grit
- Jet the branch line so sediment leaves rather than relocating
- Confirm it takes a real volume, not a trickle
- Fit a trap primer where the drain keeps drying out
Test it yourself in two minutes
Pour two gallons down it and watch. Instant is good. Slow, gurgling or backing up means it cannot do the one job it exists for, and that is worth knowing on a calm afternoon rather than during a failure.
Straight answers
Questions about garage & utility drains
Why does my garage drain smell?
Almost always a dried-out trap. The water seal that blocks sewer gas evaporates in a drain nothing runs into, and Florida heat accelerates it considerably. A gallon of water usually fixes it. If the smell returns within a day or two, the line itself is restricted and worth looking at.
Can a floor drain be added if there is not one?
Sometimes, and it depends entirely on what is under the slab and where the nearest line runs. It is a real excavation rather than a small job, so it is worth cameraing and locating first to find out whether there is a practical route before anybody commits to it.
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Flat rate, quoted before we start
Let's get it flowing
Call and talk to a person. You get a straight answer on what it is, what it costs, and when we can be there.