Anyone have any thoughts on the best location to put a garage floor drain? I think it’s about 6″ wide and about 5′ long. Just trying to figure out the best location. Right in the middle of the garage, between the two doors….centered under the main door where the two cars will park?
Any thoughts would be appreciated!
I want that garage! I’m assuming that third stall would be for a boat, so it is nice to have a drain near the back of the boat.
No to be a smart [censored] here. But the lowest spot in the floor. A garage floor should slope to the door. 
If you are just putting one drain in, then you should place it right in the center of the garage then the floor will be pitched towards the drain from all directions.
Personally myself I would put 3 drains in there. One for that boat to drip off in and one for each vehicle. The cost from one to 3 isn’t going to be that much more just a couple pieces of pipe and a few connectors!!!
When I built my house I wanted a drain in the floor in the garage and I was told that I couldn’t do it becouse of city ordinances.
Coming from a guy that has a DISASTER in his 3 year old garage every winter.. Make DAM* sure there is a good enough slope. With that said,, I’d put one under each automobile parkins spot and run them up and down (not side to side like you have in the diagram) and another one in the 3rd stall if the wheeler or boat will be there. IT IS WELL WORTH the extra expense.
City ordinance allows it where I am building.
I may place the wide one in the main bay 6 or so feet from the main door (horizontal) and have a second smaller round drain installed in the 3rd stall for boat/toy drainage.
I would put it right in the middle of the two car stall. I have the same layout for my garage and wished I had one there. Don’t need one for the boat in my opinion.
Where are you located that they still let you install floor drains? Lucky.
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I’d put one under each automobile parkins spot and run them up and down (not side to side like you have in the diagram)
Why not horizontal? The location from the plan was just to mark that I wanted a drain, not the actual location or orientation.
Building in Stacy/Linwood area.
IMO, I would make your 3rd stall flush and not set back. Will give you an extra foot there. So you can still park your boat and have a bench back there.
For the drain. My FIL, has one width wise in his garage about 6 ft long right in the middle. He also has a heated floor in there so it won’t ice up.
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IMO, I would make your 3rd stall flush and not set back. Will give you an extra foot there. So you can still park your boat and have a bench back there.
For the drain. My FIL, has one width wise in his garage about 6 ft long right in the middle. He also has a heated floor in there so it won’t ice up.
Too late, the garage is being poured Monday. Just one last minute detail I am trying to figure out.
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Coming from a guy that has a DISASTER in his 3 year old garage every winter.. Make DAM* sure there is a good enough slope. With that said,, I’d put one under each automobile parkins spot and run them up and down (not side to side like you have in the diagram) and another one in the 3rd stall if the wheeler or boat will be there. IT IS WELL WORTH the extra expense.
Man, I’m so glad I’m not the only one on Earth who has had this happen AND been driven crazy by it.
Good advice, but the only way to make sure this happes is to threaten the general contractor that after the concrete is cured, you will be out there testing the slope by pouring a 5 gallon bucket of water in multiple places on the floor and if 4.975 out of every 5 gal of water don’t hit the bottom of the drain, he will suffer a slow, painful death AND have to bust it up and start over.
Seriously. It’s that freaking hard to get damn cement contractors to care about getting the slope right. When my parents built their last house, my dad and I were joking about this and then he comes up when they were pouring the basement floor and here the [censored] clowns are down on the slab working the slope the wrong way! Dad yells down to them, “Hey guys, can any of you tell me where the floor drain is?”
Ummm, ohhh, is it, ummmmm, I dunno, one of those pipes sticking up, ummmmmmm… And they all rubberneck around like the phrase “floor drain” was in Russian or something and they had never even heard of the concept.
So we get down in the pit and just by eyeballing it I could see that about half the floor would drain away from the floor drain. It’s like it’s the hardest thing in the world. There’s long division, rocket surgery, and then the REALLY hard stuff like getting the slope to run TOWARD a floor drain.
Grouse
I would just put it in the middle. This is the way my attached garage is and works well (sloped properly). When I built my pole building I made it drive though and had two drains put in. However the floor was not sloped properly and the water runs towards the wall in the area I do all my washing. I installed in-floor heat so I was screwed and could not have it torn out and replaced. Moral of the story, make sure the slope is correct or it won’t make a darn bit of difference.
Like FG said our basement is not sloped right for the drain. 
Had another contractor do the garage 28 X 40 with two drains did a excellent job. 
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If you are just putting one drain in, then you should place it right in the center of the garage then the floor will be pitched towards the drain from all directions.
X2 
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Personally myself I would put 3 drains in there. One for that boat to drip off in and one for each vehicle. The cost from one to 3 isn’t going to be that much more just a couple pieces of pipe and a few connectors!!!
And quite a bit more labor to frame in forms for 2 more drains and to slope to 3 drains. Plus, the drain pan and grate are not exactly cheap, if they are the heavy duty one’s you can drive over. 
I have a drain under each vehicle, centered under the vehicle, with the concrete sloped accordingly. I have radiant heat in the garage so I keep it at about 55 degrees in the winter. Everything melts off and drains to a basin buried below the frost line behind the garage. Works awesome for me.
Your lucky to be able to have a drain. I cuss every time I use the dang squeegee
What is the code requirements for drainage there? Does it go to storm sewer, drain to daylight, catch box with sediment filter, ……. 
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No to be a smart [censored] here. But the lowest spot in the floor. A garage floor should slope to the door.
Wrong, that’s why you have a floor drain. You do not want water at your garage doors, they will freeze down. I used cast concrete ones with 3 inch pvc pipes, picking up my floor drain in the greenhouse on the way outside. Are you putting in in-floor heat?
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What is the code requirements for drainage there? Does it go to storm sewer, drain to daylight, catch box with sediment filter, …….
It will be daylighted.
No in floor heat, but gas is run for a heater.
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No to be a smart [censored] here. But the lowest spot in the floor. A garage floor should slope to the door.
Wrong, that’s why you have a floor drain.
You do not want water at your garage doors, they will freeze down. I used cast concrete ones with 3 inch pvc pipes, picking up my floor drain in the greenhouse on the way outside. Are you putting in in-floor heat?
What I meant was put the floor drain by the door and have the floor slope to the door.
On another note, I have never had a door freeze down and I have no drains and the floor slopes to the door. Heat is kept just above freezing.
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I’d put one under each automobile parkins spot and run them up and down (not side to side like you have in the diagram)
Why not horizontal? The location from the plan was just to mark that I wanted a drain, not the actual location or orientation.
Vertical because you will be able to slope each individual parking spot and have the in between area as your “ridge”. Otherwise you will be going from front to back and have multiple slopes,,if that makes sense.
Thanks guys. I went with 2 drains that are 6′ x 4″. One centered on each door, running vertical, located about half way front to back.
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