A18 - DRAINS AND CLEANOUTS
Revision 01 - January 2022
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A18 - 1 Improper Cleanouts and Drain Assemblies
A18 - 2. Proper Cleanouts and Drain Assemblies a. Cleanouts b. Drains c. Potential Risks of Pooled Liquids A18 - 3 Appendix #1: Examples of Actual Clamping-ring Assemblies A18 - 4 Appendix #2: Examples of Specification Illustrations A18 - 5 Appendix #3: Mock-ups, including the perfectly flush clamping-ring A18 - 6 Appendix #4: Deficiencies in Floor Drains and Cleanouts A18 - 7 Appendix #5: Deficiencies Case Study |
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1. IMPROPER CLEANOUTS AND DRAIN ASSEMBLIES
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.1 There are many cleanout and drain assemblies that are NOT designed for flexible resilient flooring, but are designed for rigid flooring like VCT or ceramic tile. In a non-clamp-and-ring assembly, the resilient flooring is typically butted up against the perimeter of the drain grate. This will always result in a gap space that allows for the ingress of moisture and contamination that not only could affect the adhesive bond of the flooring, but also would breach the “engineered infection prevention solutions for health care facilities.” Two examples are shown below how this type of assembly FAILS in health care facilities (see Photo #1 and #2). Further examples of FAILURES are shown in Appendix #4.
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Photo .3 Silicone caulking failing after 3 months
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Photo .4 Flooring not clamped properly allowing damage to occur and moisture to penetrate
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Photo .4 (above), the drain system failed because the vinyl did not extend over the sloped drain base assembly. It was cut too short, thus allowing moisture to penetrate at the joint between the vinyl and the drain base assembly. Correct installation is shown in Appendix #3-Mock-up where the vinyl can be seen overlapping the metal slope of the drain base.
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2. CORRECT CLEANOUTS AND DRAIN ASSEMBLIES
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.1 Cleanouts:
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The top plane of a cleanout cover should be finished flush with the adjoining resilient flooring, with no slope. The exception to this rule, is only one small depression around the perimeter of the ring that can be easily cleaned and maintained (see Photo #3-blue area #1). See Appendix #3 (Mock-ups) on how even this small depression can be completely eliminated.
The resilient flooring is fully glued to the concrete substrate and over top of the tapered, “base” portion of the cleanout/drain assembly. Next, the clamping ring (see Photo #3-blue area #2) is placed over top of the flooring and is then by internal screws/bolts (Not show in Photo #3 but shown in Photo #5 and #6) and often with some adhesive. Just prior to the clamping ring being installed, a few incisions are often made around the perimeter of the resilient flooring under the ring area to allow the flooring material to slope downward toward the vertical cleanout/drain pipe (see Photo #4). This allows any liquid that somehow seeps between the flooring and ring to flow towards the vertical drain. Finally, the cleanout cover (cover plate) is screwed into the clamping ring (see Photo #3-3 visible screws/bolts). |
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.2 Drains
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Unlike perfectly flat substrates for cleanouts, substrates for drains typically are sloped from the normal subfloor plane. A minimum slope of 1/8” over 12” (1/4” for ceramic tile) over a 2-feet radius (4-feet diameter) is typical around a drain. Steeper slopes are specified depending on how quickly the end-user needs liquids to flow down the drains. The slower liquids flow, the higher the risk there is for excessive liquids to remain pooled around the drain (see “Risks of Pooled Liquids” below).
In every drain system, the top of the metal assembly is often specified to be flush with the adjoining flooring, even while sloped (i.e., you can achieve both objectives at the same time) (see Photo #8). Drains will still allow liquids to flow effectively if the drain grate is slightly lower than the floor plane as shown in Appendix #2- Specification #1 and #2. When the clamping-ring is positioned too high, the amount of pooled water remaining on the flooring around the ring will be extended significantly further away from the ring (see below Photo #7). Consider the field test method of taking a bucket of water and pouring it around the drain. Observe and report any pooled water after 30 seconds. Any pooled water remaining around the drain may pose a risk to people walking over the drain system area (see “Risks of Pooled Liquids” below). The primary goal of any cleanout and drain assembly is to only have as small of a depression as possible around the metal ring to prevent liquids from pooling around them (see Photo #8). Even the smallest depressions between the ring and flooring can be completely eliminated (See Appendix #3-Mock-ups). Some cleanout and drain assemblies have a cleanout and drain grate gap space around them (smaller diameter grate) to allow resilient flooring to fit perfectly between the grate and inner portion of the clamping-ring (see Appendix #2-Spec #1 and #2). Some cleanout and drain assemblies are also threaded, thus allowing for height adjustments of the upper assembly at any time during Division 9- Finishing (See Appendix #1-Photo #16). The latter assembly appears to show that the drain grate sits about 2-3mm (thickness of flooring) below the top floor plane, and wouldn’t require any grinding of the lower portion of the ring, as was done in the Mock-up in Appendix #3. |
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.3 Potential risks of pooled liquids
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Pooled liquids can pose the following potential risks to people:
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3. APPENDIX #1: EXAMPLES OF CLAMPING-RING ASSEMBLIES
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Smith brand, clamping-ring and drain-grates:
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Watts brand, clamping-ring and drain-grate, and clamping-ring and cleanout-cover
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Watts brand clamping-ring & drain-grate assembly with example of a specifications sheet (see Appendix #2):
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4. APPENDIX #2: EXAMPLES OF SPECIFICATION ILLUSTRATIONS
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1. Specification - Watts FD-100-C-FC (click image to enlarge)
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2. Specification - Watts FD-100-C-FC (click image to enlarge)
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3. Specification - Watts FD-200-FC (click image to enlarge)
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4. Specification
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5. APPENDIX #3: MOCK-UPS
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Two portable mock-ups are shown below, one of which includes a Zurn 1-piece, clamping-ring and drain-grate assembly with a flash cove internal and external corner, and the other is for a 1-piece tread- riser, staircase stringer system. More photos are available upon request showing further details of these mock-ups from various angles and close-up.
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Above: Portable mock-ups for resilient flooring showing one flash-cove outside corner with metal corner protector. Portable mock-ups are useful for reminding installers what the end-user’s expected “Standard of Quality” is for the balance of the installation.
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Above: A Zurn drain assembly showing how a “1-piece, drain grate” can be used to allow liquids to flow over the flooring and grate with no pooling of moisture. Also shown is one flash cove internal corner.
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Above: A Zurn brand, one-piece, clamping-ring and drain-grate assembly. Moisture will flow over top of the resilient flooring and over the metal grate into the drain.
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Above: Side profile of a cut-out 1-piece, clamping-ring and drain-grate assembly.
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Above: Note how the drain-grate was grinded below its outer edge to achieve a perfectly flush alignment with the flexible resilient flooring with no deviations alongside the perimeter of the metal cover.
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Above: A bottom view of the drain assembly showing where the resilient flooring ends below the drain.
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Above: Note how the concrete substrate would have to be profiled for this system to work properly. A diamond core-cutting tool would be able to achieve this profile.
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6. APPENDIX #4: DEFICIENCIES IN FLOOR DRAINS AND CLEANOUTS
.1 Above: Joint Gaps. Gaps are not permitted.
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.2 Above: Uneven subfloor + Gaps are not permitted
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.3 Above: Cleanout assembly is too low + gaps
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.4 Above: Broken cleanout cover
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.5 Excessive slope - trip hazard, interferes with rolling loads
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.6
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Above - The cleanout in this main hospital corridor is sloped (see #5 above), and sloped significantly, by over 1/4” (6 mm) over 12” (305mm) (see #6 above). There is a risk that people with disabilities, people who shuffle their feet, use a walker, use a wheel chair may be at risk of tilting and falling. Other rolling traffic, such as a gurney may also tilt and increase the risk of an accident. The solution, shown in the photo below, was to make an 18” (457mm) circular cut-out to allow the concrete substrate to be built- up to allow the flooring to be on a flat plane with the balance of the installation (see #7 below).
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.7 Incorrect drain assembly required removal
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.8 Destructive removal
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In order to replace an improper drain/cleanout assembly, jack hammering is typically required to remove the concrete around it (see #8 above).
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10.
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A Smith square drain system is shown above. This system is acceptable rigid flooring like VCT and ceramic tile, but not flexible resilient flooring (see #9 and #10 below). Dry particulate soil and moisture will contaminate the joints, creating a discoloration around it, and potentially causing the floor covering to lose bond strength and lift or curl upward at the joints.
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12.
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Photo #11 The cleanout shows gap spaces around it, and as one taps the vinyl flooring around the perimeter, water squirts out (video available upon request). Photo #12 & #13 The trench drain grate system is “generally” sloped 2-feet on both sides of the drain, but the flooring also slopes “upward” next to the drain within the last 6”, thus allowing liquids to pool in front of the drain system on both sides.
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Photo #14 (above) The discolorations shown area a result of lingering moisture from cleaning solutions
used to clean the resilient flooring. Photo #15 to #18 shows how moisture penetration has resulted in complete bond failure. Under legal pressure, the solution in this food processing plant after one year of installation was to replace the resilient flooring with an epoxy coating. |
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End of section