Jabba
New Member
Good Morning All.
I have a 1960's built house with a cast iron floor drain in my basement floor. This floor drain is within about 10' of my washing machine and is my ONLY floor drain despite having about 2200SF of basement area (dumb dumb dumb). This drain is important as it carries away the coil condensation, dehumidifier condensation (summer), and humidifier water (winter). My washing machine has its own drain...a pipe extending vertically out of the concrete slab behind the washer. This drain and the floor drain are connected in some way(s) as it seems one passes through/by the other.
The cleanout cap was bad and the threads stripped on the cast iron so I used an expanding rubber cap which solved that problem.
The bottom of the floor drain is a 2" hole which had a brass fitting screwed into the bottom. This brass fitting has a rubber seal at the bottom which gives the floating ball a surface to adhere to.
When my washer drains without the clean-out cap installed....I was getting back-wash which can overrun the drain momentarily. The replacement clean-out cap fixed that.
Now I still get some strange activity when the washing machine discharges including a lowered water level in the trap which makes the ball sink and allows sewer gas/smell into the basement to burp out (and inevitably throughout the house as my wife tells me 4 times per week).
I removed the brass fitting and was surprised that the ball is too big to pass through the now open hole? Corrosion around the hole shrunk the circumference?....I dunno. The hole in the bottom of the cast iron floor drain was threaded, however, these basin threads are in poor condition at best and I cannot replace with the old brass fitting or with any threaded item for that matter.
Is there a rubber one way valve that can sit in that rough cast iron 2" basin hole and eliminate sewer gasses while also allowing me to drain condensation lines freely? The edges of the bottom 2" (previously threaded) drain hole are a bit rough....less than ideal for a rubber seal which typically requires a relatively smooth surface for adherence.
I've seen Rectorseal Sureseal product https://www.amazon.com/Sureseal-Sur...ocphy=9023900&hvtargid=pla-348617139786&psc=1
and similar products......even a Sioux Chief 2" PVC version of exactly what I already have...but like I said...my cast iron threads in the bottom of the floor drain are shot. https://www.supplyhouse.com/Sioux-C...sImr9aY8AS20lZlibzmLKDWR4LUgWd9hoCqgoQAvD_BwE
I'd prefer to NOT have to cut this whole floor drain out and replace if at all possible.
Help really appreciated. Here are some photos.
Original before removal....bad seal between ball and gasket
Wider View....I replaced that old cast iron plug with expandable rubber plug
after removal of the threaded brass fitting that held the rubber gasket to the bottom for the ball to seal
Removed brass fitting with rubber gasket at bottom
I have a 1960's built house with a cast iron floor drain in my basement floor. This floor drain is within about 10' of my washing machine and is my ONLY floor drain despite having about 2200SF of basement area (dumb dumb dumb). This drain is important as it carries away the coil condensation, dehumidifier condensation (summer), and humidifier water (winter). My washing machine has its own drain...a pipe extending vertically out of the concrete slab behind the washer. This drain and the floor drain are connected in some way(s) as it seems one passes through/by the other.
The cleanout cap was bad and the threads stripped on the cast iron so I used an expanding rubber cap which solved that problem.
The bottom of the floor drain is a 2" hole which had a brass fitting screwed into the bottom. This brass fitting has a rubber seal at the bottom which gives the floating ball a surface to adhere to.
When my washer drains without the clean-out cap installed....I was getting back-wash which can overrun the drain momentarily. The replacement clean-out cap fixed that.
Now I still get some strange activity when the washing machine discharges including a lowered water level in the trap which makes the ball sink and allows sewer gas/smell into the basement to burp out (and inevitably throughout the house as my wife tells me 4 times per week).
I removed the brass fitting and was surprised that the ball is too big to pass through the now open hole? Corrosion around the hole shrunk the circumference?....I dunno. The hole in the bottom of the cast iron floor drain was threaded, however, these basin threads are in poor condition at best and I cannot replace with the old brass fitting or with any threaded item for that matter.
Is there a rubber one way valve that can sit in that rough cast iron 2" basin hole and eliminate sewer gasses while also allowing me to drain condensation lines freely? The edges of the bottom 2" (previously threaded) drain hole are a bit rough....less than ideal for a rubber seal which typically requires a relatively smooth surface for adherence.
I've seen Rectorseal Sureseal product https://www.amazon.com/Sureseal-Sur...ocphy=9023900&hvtargid=pla-348617139786&psc=1
and similar products......even a Sioux Chief 2" PVC version of exactly what I already have...but like I said...my cast iron threads in the bottom of the floor drain are shot. https://www.supplyhouse.com/Sioux-C...sImr9aY8AS20lZlibzmLKDWR4LUgWd9hoCqgoQAvD_BwE
I'd prefer to NOT have to cut this whole floor drain out and replace if at all possible.
Help really appreciated. Here are some photos.
Original before removal....bad seal between ball and gasket
Wider View....I replaced that old cast iron plug with expandable rubber plug
after removal of the threaded brass fitting that held the rubber gasket to the bottom for the ball to seal
Removed brass fitting with rubber gasket at bottom
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