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Floor drain and domestic washer????

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mikey0615

Mechanical
Nov 17, 2013
5
Hello members,

I'm new in plumbing design and my question seem simple to alot of people but i really need help?
I'm designing a multi family apartment building and i'm wondering if it require by code to provide floor drain for domestic clothes washer? If not require is it good practise to have one? If so what is DFU i should count?

Thank you
 
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The pumped discharge from the washer will probably splash all over the place, even with the floor drain. Furnish and install a commercial washing machine wall box with a built in 2" waste and vent and water supplies. One such source is Plastic Oddities. These boxes are quite common and used everywhere, even in my house. Don't forget to add water hammer arrestors to the water supplies.
 
Thanks for your respond so we don't need to provide floor drain?
 
First, if you want to be successful in this business you are going to need to learn what is and isn't in the code. The DFU for a clothes washer is in the code (Chapter 7 of IPC). Good practice for you to look it up as you will find DFU counts for other fixtures in the same place.

Second, where is your senior engineer? He should be providing guidance on these things.

Third, direct connection to sanitary sewer line is not permitted, but a "floor drain" is not required. The problem with a floor drain receiving clothes water drain is that it will splash and make a mess of the floor. Therefore a floor drain is not advisable.

Wash boxes don't come with the waste piping, trap or vent. They will have a hole in which the washer drain can be placed and the waste piping connected but that's it. From the box you will need a length of pipe before locating your trap, from that point you need to design the waste like you would for any other fixture. The next big question is how long to make the box's drain piece; I typically do 36" but you need to confer with your senior engineer who will be signing/sealing the drawings on his preference.


 
We have a floor drain, but the washer doesn't drain into that; there's a separate drain. The floor drain is a "just in case" where you have a dead or malfunctioning washer and the normal drain isn't or can't help.

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faq731-376 forum1529
 
If applicable, IPC 412.4 requires a floor drain for central washing facilities of multiple family dwellings. This is not the discharge point for the washing machines, but a preventative against flooding the room.
 
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