# Forum Home Renovation Plumbing  No floor drain in Laundry

## bigclick_dean

We have just recently purchased a house and the laundry is at the back of the garage, there seems to be a problem with the sewer line coming out of that area (large tree probably broke the clay piping) which we will be getting fixed asap. One problem however is that there is no floor drain in the laundry area. 
The previous owner/tenant just let the washing machine overflow and then it would run from the garage into weep holes and then under the house and cause water pooling in the sub floor (and they wondered why there was mould). 
Should I be able to cut in a floor drain and then run the pipe under the house to the lower side of the block and discharge it there? It would come out pretty much next to the floor drain for the bathroom which is on the other side of the house. 
Do I need to have a S-bend in the floor drain? My guess would be no as it doesn't connect to any sewer line and would never contain sitting water. 
Any help would be much appreciated. 
Cheers,
Dean

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## Oldsaltoz

As a professional waterproofer I see many brand new homes with no floor waste in the laundry, there is no ruling in the standards to make this compulsory at this time. 
Any Insurance company will tell you the laundry is the top cause of internal flooding in homes. 
What you are proposing sounds fine.

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## president_ltd

> We have just recently purchased a house and the laundry is at the back of the garage, there seems to be a problem with the sewer line coming out of that area (large tree probably broke the clay piping) which we will be getting fixed asap. One problem however is that there is no floor drain in the laundry area.

  at least in VIC as far as i am aware, there is no building regulation that requires you to have a floor drain in the laundry.   

> The previous owner/tenant just let the washing machine overflow and then it would run from the garage into weep holes and then under the house and cause water pooling in the sub floor (and they wondered why there was mould). 
> Should I be able to cut in a floor drain and then run the pipe under the house to the lower side of the block and discharge it there? It would come out pretty much next to the floor drain for the bathroom which is on the other side of the house. 
> Do I need to have a S-bend in the floor drain? My guess would be no as it doesn't connect to any sewer line and would never contain sitting water.

  i would get it connected to the sewer - its possible you might be washing soiled clothes.
as such yes i would also put in a S bend.
likely the floor drain in your bathroom goes to sewer.

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## GeoffW1

Hi, 
Speaking of NSW, many many houses have a dry waste in the laundry floor, which simply exits over the ground outside. Since it would be in use very infrequently, it would have no P-trap. You should have a grate or flap on the exit to exclude vermin though. 
Cheers

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## jago

Is it not council lead ? 
When I changed my laundry room position the council plumbing inspector made a big song and dance about a having a trap, so,  back to the drawing board as we have a seperate DA for pumbing in Port ... 
We submitted with a dry trap , NO ... So the revised plan was a P trap connected to the sewer line and council specified it had to have Tap within 450mm to charge the Ptrap...I thought it was a pile of manure but now I have had time to think about it ..its the best way to help with (already 2 washing machine floods) Floods, smells and vermin. 
So  OP if you  can do it so its not a problem if the washing machine does spring a leak spend the money and have piece of mind.

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## wonderplumb

> As a professional waterproofer I see many brand new homes with no floor waste in the laundry, there is no ruling in the standards to make this compulsory at this time. 
> Any Insurance company will tell you the laundry is the top cause of internal flooding in homes. 
> What you are proposing sounds fine.

   Unless the laundry door opens to the outside and water on the floor can run freely along the tiles and out the door to outside the house you need a floor waste. A dry floor waste as you described will be fine. Be sure to put a flap valve on the end of it.

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## bigclick_dean

Thanks for all the feedback, as far as I know our local council either doesn't care or prefers to have a dry waste outlet, my parents house has dry waste for the floor vents (with the flaps) and the current floor vent for the bathroom is just a dry waste that discharges to the outside. 
I will cut in a drain and run it to the other side of the block with a flap on it and that should solve that problem. 
Is there any way to easily get a good slope on the floor for laying tiles that will run to the center? I have seen on some US shows that they have a mat that can be glued to the floor and then tiled on top that has a perfect slope and can be cut to size. Does that exist in australia or am I just going to have to do it by hand? 
Cheers,
Dean

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## wonderplumb

Sand and cement bedding under the tiles is the way to go. The mat sounds like a handy thing.

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## bigclick_dean

Yeah I thought that was the case  :Redface: ( was hoping for the easy way out though...lol 
The mats look great, saw them on "Holmes on Homes" and they come in many sizes with the drain hole cut out and are pre sloped to the drain, you simply center the hole on the floor drain and cut off the excess, glue to the floor and then tile on top...presto!

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