I've often wished there were floor drains in certain parts of the home... specifically in the kitchen and bathrooms. They seem that they would be useful when doing a real wet mop or in the event of a under sink leak. With multiple young children in the house we have suffered several toilet overflows... a floor drain would be great at containing the mess.

Is there a reason it isn't done?

Unsanitary? Cost?

My previous home, built in the early 50s, had floor drains in the basement.

Floor drains are great until the sewer main clogs and the sewage backs up.

I'll just take a guess and say that there would be no way to keep sewer gases, creepy crawly creatures and other undesirables out.

I'm no plumber but I imagine it is possible to put in a trap when construction... sure, slab foundation would make repairs very difficult later on, but how is it different than a bath tub?

Very curious...

I've seen them in commercial kitchens and it seems that they generally have a sink that has it's drain piped over to the floor... I suppose that gives it a "purpose" and regular supply of water... and be easily hidden under a cabinet.

A trap in the line would keep gases out, but you would have to run water every so often to keep it from drying out.
The trap wouldn't help at all with a sewer line backup, though.

That's what old shop vacs are good for.
Or good shop vacs that become the old shop vac and is stored out with the lawnmower after it's hosed out.

There are plenty of floor drains in commercial bathrooms and kitchens without the hazards mentioned in previous posts, also in every shower stall. Granted, they do take a certain amount of maintenance, probably not that much of a labor saver after all is said and done.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
I'll just take a guess and say that there would be no way to keep sewer gases, creepy crawly creatures and other undesirables out.

but it's no different from a shower drain. Just have the be sure all the water doesn't evaporate from the trap.

I know a guy who did one for his laundry room, but it doesn't connect to sewer. It just drains outside like the overflow of a water heater.

My house was built in 1977. There is a floor drain in the laundry room downstairs.
Sometimes I have to pour some baking soda down the drain to combat odors.

Because we don't live at the YMCA?

Cost. It’s always about the cost. The plumbing wouldn’t add much, but the only kind of kitchen floor would be tile. You’d have to bed the floor, building it up like a giant shower pan to get the proper slope. Then you’d need to tile the whole thing. That’s way more expensive than just laying down some laminate or wood. Even a tile kitchen floor could be laid on hardibacker, quick and easily, if there is no regard for slope.

Most homeowners don’t consider the additional 10k worth it, I’d guess. I wouldn’t. I have hardwoods in my kitchen, and like their feel and look. I wouldn’t want a commercial looking floor with a slope.

My sister lives in Nashville Ga.Not very important for a sleepy little town. But at near see level and next to oki swamp and a town with drainage ditches behind streets and a big rain it causes your neighbors toilets to back up thru their shitter and tub to hers.
Being the smartass brother my advive on the first last time was to tell her to have a plumber put in a sewer check valve [used pretty much around my hilly sub division ]cause others shit in your basement is unsightly and stink to high heaven..
Well it happen twice last year,she is stubborn as a mule,she got new carpet and furniture and on my visit last fall I only stayed on night.
04:00 am I was leaving much to their protesting ,She said WHY as I am coughing and my eyes were watering.
The morel is you can get used to about all kinds of smells , [they did not even notice the smell]and she still has not had a back flow preventer installed.
No way in hell do I want to clean up rubbers turds and shit paper from other folks as she described to me.

quote:

Originally posted by thumperfbc:
I've often wished there were floor drains in certain parts of the home... specifically in the kitchen and bathrooms.
Is there a reason it isn't done?

Here's the issue.... drains require traps, especially those connected to sanitary sewers, to stop sewer gas coming up. Commodes, sinks, showers, tubs, are used frequently enough to keep their traps filled and functioning. Just like the floor drain in your basement that is seldom used, you better pour water in it every few weeks. Or fill it with oil.

Trap primers keep floor drain traps sealed with water.
Two types, an inverted branch tailpiece on the drain or a trap primer from the cold feed to the fixture.

My laundry room and master bath will have them .
( In my forever dream house)

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
Because we don't live at the YMCA?

You beat me to it. I was going to say because we don’t live in an interstate rest stop.

I’m a builder and I gotta say you guys aren’t even scratching the surface on all the reasons why you don’t want this.

Sure, put drains in the floor and tile all the walls. Stainless steel walls would also suffice. Then you don't ever have to worry about dusting, mopping, or vacuuming. Just hose everything down with your pressure washer once a week or so.

Though I suppose you'll also want to invest in some of those thick plastic covers for your furniture, like grandma used to have back in the day.

A floor drain in a home kitchen..... Sure it sounds pragmatic and efficient but, so does only wearing t-shirts all the time, for all occasions.
If my home was a commercial kitchen where full, disinfecting wash downs nightly are mandatory, ok. However the lady of the house may have a thing or, two to say about that idea.

The prepared parent has a shop-vac and a handheld vacuum readily available, several buckets/tubs and saves all towels, regardless of how old and worn they are.

A bunch of compartments aboard ship have deck drains. Galley, magazines, head and adjoining dressing/lockers, compactor room…no P traps, but each fitting has a valve to close them.

We used to assign a person each week to clean the heads. Every day he washed the entire compartment in the head using a garden hose and pine oil.

The magazines hav a drain in case you have to turn on the sprinklers to avoid fire spreading-water has to go somewhere….

Galley was the same way, daily the mess cooks washed everything down the drain.

My dad always threatened to put deck drains in the next house when I was a kid, so he could wash down the room.