So I have an older house. The grate to the basement drain cracked, and it isn’t trapping smells anymore. I’ve been looking online but I can’t figure out a way to word it to find what I need. It’s an old simple in floor trap grate. Here is an attempt at a picture. This is a cross section if you cut the basement floor in half through the grate and hole, and looked across ground level, The hole and grate, and drain pipe are both round in the look straight-down view.
ggggogggggggogggggggggogggggoggg
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx g g xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
x g g x
x g d d g x
x g d d g x
x g d d g x
x d d x
x d d x
xxxxxxxxxxxxxd dxxxxxxxxxxxxx
d d
Where g is the grate I need(o for holes), x is cement, and d is the drain continuing into the ground.
Any suggestion for how I can find one to order it?
ggggogggggggogggggggggogggggoggg
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx g g xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
x g g x
x g d d g x
x g d d g x
x g d d g x
x d d x
x d d x
xxxxxxxxxxxd dxxxxxxxxxxxxx
d d
Still a bit screwed up, there are no holes on the top inside the bottom cup, or the trap wouldn’t work at all, the grate holes are on the outside edge.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxgggggogggggggggggggggggggggogggggxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxx g g xxxx
x g d d g x
x g d d g x
x g d d g x
x d d x
x d d x
xxxxxxxxxxxxd dxxxxxxxxxxxxx
d d
Can you take it out? Assume you can, just take it out and bring it to Home Depot or a plumbing store and they’ll probably have a new one, assuming it’s in a standard size pipe.
Also, I’m not sure I understand why it being cracked it causing smells to come up. It’s already got holes in it so it’s not like it was keeping anything trapped underneath. The actual trap, the part the blocks smells (and sewer gases) is a regular plumbing trap under the concrete slab. If you look down there with a flashlight you should see some standing water, that’s the trap.
No, this is the actual trap mechanism. Standing water fills up to the level at the top of the "d"s. and as I said the first pictures were wrong, there are no holes inside the cup, only on the outside of it. So the water comes in the outsides, raises the level enough to let some drain down the pipe, but it still leaves the standing water to seal the smells and stuff.
You might be best off at a plumbing supply house for a specialty part like that. Take the old one in and see if they have an exact match. I’ve never run into a drain like that and I’d want to make sure it matches up exactly. It’s not like a regular drain where you can just toss the grate on it and not worry if it’s not quite right. If the new one isn’t quite right it either won’t let water in fast enough or let air back out. I assume there’s no brand name listed, that’d be too easy.
BTW, that smell, that’s sewer gas, it’s not particularly safe. I wouldn’t be too worried about it, but if it were my house, I’d probably toss something over the drain, even just something like a welcome mat or a folded up bath towel, to keep the gas down and turn off the water to the house* while I’m at work, but that’s just me.
*so if a water line breaks or a water heater blows while the floor drain is plugged your basement doesn’t flood for 8 hours.
Yeah there is only a bit of a smell occasionally, and I’ve been procrastinating. But after we got about 5 inches of rain today,in SE Michigan, and there are highways underpasses with 20 foot deep water I’m not sure what the sewers re going to be doing for a while.
I actually just soldered it back together now, but I know it isn’t strong enough for permanent. Supply house it is tommorow(if I can get there, it is on the other side of the flooded interstate ;))
It’s a grate + trap arrangement, if the grate is cracked, then the trap won’t work. It’s a basement drain so I’m assuming it’s a concrete slab floor and quite possibly the drain was retrofitted in.
Just wanted to point out that I often take a few pictures with my phone before heading to the lumber/plumbing/electrical/etc place. Has come in handy a few times.
