2nd floor laundry and washer drain tray.
RobKress
| Posted in General Discussion on
Hi all,
Moving on rough plumbing now on my new house and have a question about the laundry room. This is on the second floor by the bedrooms.
Should I install a washing machine tray under my washer in case of uncertain accident of some unknown and unforeseen circumstance? Are these things even effective? Anyone with positive experience? Negative?
I’m just thinking to myself that this stupid little 3/4″ lip, too small tray thing that I’m planning on sticking under my washer doesn’t look to me like it’s going to be all that effective if I have a real catastrophe. So why should I drill a hole in my new floor for that? And run a drain line all the way to my basement slop sink?
Thanks for any thoughts,
Rob Kress
Replies
I'd put the pan in. Cheap insurance in case something leaks. Since you are just rough plumbing, it is just too easy to put one in.
Eric
If the washer will be above finished rooms, I'd install a tray. You don't necessarily have to use the pre-made trays -- you can form something from sheet metal or whatever, but whatever you do is cheap insurance.
It's probably even not that unreasonable to install a tray with no drain -- just something to catch a minor leak (or splashover) should it occur. Remember, a fairly common problem is to get too much soap in the unit and have it splash over due to the foam.
I'm planning on doing it shortly, but I'll stick a 1/2" pvc out the wall. Yeah, it'll leak air, but not much.
Something is what it does.
Depending on what your finished floor will be and the current extent of your framing you could incorporate the pan within the finished floor.
Usually, the washing machine never moves from its place so if the entire floor area under the machine was the pan........??
You could have it as deep as you want and practically invisible, except if you think there might be some spillage over the outside skin of the washer then you could have the catch area of the pan slightly visible beyond the edge of the washer although most leaks are under the machine. You would just need 4 leg extensions to raise and level the washer to normal height.
Plumbing would also be invisible under the floor.
In our 2nd story laundry I mailed ordered a pan with a molded back that had hook up for power/drain/supply. Around $125.00, saw ad in FHB or JLC. overflow drain was 1 1/4" drain that I took into the basement and dropped it near a floor drain. You don't put a trap in it or put into the sanitary. Very happy with it!
Install the pan.
However, install the drain line connection to the main sewer line ABOVE the trap used for the washing machine drain. This way you won't have any sewer gases coming into the laundry area. If the pan has its own trap the water will evaporate and allow gases to come in.
The pan is cheap insurance. If you have an overflow or busted line 15 yrs from now you will just laugh at how smart you were 15 years before. That's a good thing!
As someone mentioned above, also get the valve/ power/ drain combo unit. When the washing machine is off the power is also turned off as is the water feed. This way, if the hose bursts the only water to cause a flood is whatever is in the hose.
Also be sure to use the metal braided hose feeds.
F.
This makes more sense than just a pan:
http://www.floodsaver.com/
Todd
Flood saver looks great. If I was building a new laundry room on a second floor it would be a no brainer for me. On a similar note, I also saw on TOH an electronic solenoid that would allow the water to be on for an hour at a time when you started a load of laundry, and then would shut off the connection. Thought being that a broken washer hose would not be running constantly while you were out of the house. Looked pretty simple to install especially for new construction. If not that, for sure get the braided steel washing machine supply hoses.
Jim
you guys are superb
I'll be doing this too in near future
On the homes I've done, I install a floor drain with a drain primer. Nice clean look. Adds about $250 to the whole installation labor included.Regards,
Boris
"Sir, I may be drunk, but you're crazy, and I'll be sober tomorrow" -- WC Fields, "Its a Gift" 1934
I do not reccommend a drain to the sanitary system or the trap primer. Its best to run a pipe straight to the outside, and spill it where it will be noticed. Youll never know the washer is leaking if it drains where you cant see it.
The laundries I've made has a tapered threshold with linoleum coved up the wall. It makes it easier to slide a washer and/or dryer into place. Not as easy to lift a washer with water over a pan lip.
More likely to be noticed on the floor of the washing room as residue of a spill then a wet spot in the dirt in the back yard. Plumbing to daylight can be challenging and may be source of critters and air infusion to the home.Regards,
Boris
"Sir, I may be drunk, but you're crazy, and I'll be sober tomorrow" -- WC Fields, "Its a Gift" 1934
OK Boris I'll bite what the heck is a drain primer LOL
Is it a type of drain that keeps the trap wet??If it sounds good ,that will be another thing to add to the new house I'm building. I got to stay off this site ,I keep addind more STUFF I keep seeing here!!!
Take care greg
A drain primer is a quarter inch supply line from a wall mounted valve into the bottom half of a floor drain which keeps the trap wet. It is Code here, because floor drains, unlike sinks and showers, often are dry.Regards,
Boris
"Sir, I may be drunk, but you're crazy, and I'll be sober tomorrow" -- WC Fields, "Its a Gift" 1934
"Moving on rough plumbing now on my new house and have a question about the laundry room. This is on the second floor by the bedrooms."....."Should I install a washing machine tray under my washer in case of uncertain accident of some unknown and unforeseen circumstance?"
Rob,
A little late in the planning stages? LOL.
Personally, I really like Ralph Wicklund's suggestion, "if the entire floor area under the machine was the pan........??
You could have it as deep as you want and practically invisible"
I mean think about it, If you build the entire floor like a shower pan, with a properly placed drain, no worries. Way easier now than later.....and someday, place a sensor in that drain to shut off the water supply in the event of an overflow.
Jon
Edited 5/6/2004 4:19 pm ET by WorkshopJon
Hi Robb
I like the second floor laundry room in the house I built for our family because my wife loves it. It is right beside the twins room and complete with a cantilevered deck and a 50 foot clothes line 17 feet in the air. I installed a flood saver and plumbed it to the house plumbing. I also plumbed one of those Oatey boxes with the double ball valve so it is quit easy to keep the water turned off when the washer is in use. I've installed a couple more flood savers for friends that saw ours. For the under 200 bucks (Canadian, less for you)you can't go wrong. Happy plumbing!Cliffy
Everyone,
Hey guys, thanks for the advice. It looks like I'll install it. To be honest, I do like the idea of an entire floor pan but that is more work than I am willing to do now. And for something that is only a sloght maybe, I'd rather invest my time into the floor inlay in the dining room.... more bang for the buck there.
Thanks again
Riob Kress