Folks:
This is mostly for the easterners, probably. People who live or work
in areas
with new stuff don't see things like this, but there's sure a lot
around here.

My house was built with servants in mind, but no automatic washer. I
have
no servants, but I do have a washing machine.

The old owner had one, too, and he drained it through the floor drain.
Here is some information on this floor drain:

http://s19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...loordrain1.jpg

The cast iron basin, at some point, had its center bottom smashed out,
and
the old owner's washer drain hose was placed in the basin, and
weighted down
with the basin's perforated steel-plate cover. The pipe below appears
to be a
trap; water flows freely through, and can be heard at the soil stack,
but some
remains standing in it, and putting on some girly-man gloves and
feeling the
pipe bend suggests that it does curve back up. The trap has an odd
sidearm,
which I think leads, untrapped, to a downspout drain outside; a breeze
of
fresh air blows in through it. I intend to run a garden hose into the
downspout
drain to see if water flows into the trap.

Questions: Is anybody familiar with this type of floor drain? What
pieces am
I missing? Is this a common arrangement for old-home downspout
drains?
It seems pretty clever, actually, in that the downspout water is
clean, and
keeps the little-used floor drain trap topped up. Of course it also
overloads
the sanitary sewer system.

So now my task is: how do I arrange my wife's washing machine drain
now?
I need to do something quickly, but the old way with the hose is too
much a
kludge. In the future, too, what would be the best way to hook this
up
permanently?

I am governed, as usual, by the guiding principles of old-house
repair:

1. Codes are there for a reason, even if they weren't there back then;
if you
are fixing something, best to do it properly.

-BUT AT THE SAME TIME-

2. Don't FA with something that has been doing a job for 100 years
unless
you are prepared to replace it.

So here are my options:

-Install my laundry tub, hooking its drain to the former owner's drain
hose.
Leave that hose in the basin. Quick and easy, but somewhat sloppy-
looking,
and I am just a little uncertain whether that basin had a bell trap in
it that was
broken out.

-Break out the rest of the basin's center, make a hole at its side,
and fit a
TY, and a floor drain above it. Join the plastic and clay with the
usual stuff
(probably oakum and plastic lead; I don't want to stress the clay
bell,
which already has a notch in it from the bygone workman's hammering).
Fill in around the TY with sand, concrete over it, and run a 2" drain
under the
floor to the laundry tub, with a trap and vacuum breaker at the tub.

-Dig up the 3" downspout drain a good way from the trap. Join 3" PVC
and
run that to the laundry tub. This one, and the above one, would be a
little
odd, as the trap would be acting as a catch basin (as it was for
downspout
runoff), but it's just graywater anyhow. I may mangle the clay DS
drain,
but at least I have enough slack to cut off more and try again.

-Cut the soil stack and insert a TY, a 2" drain line to the tubs, and
a vacuum
breaker to vent them. I am really really leery of this method. See
principle
no. 2, above. The soil stack is working fine now, running freely and
not
leaking, and I don't want to bother it. It's a lot older than me.
Respect
your elders.

-Dig up the clay pipe past the floor drain, replace the floor drain
and run
a new line to the wash tub, with conventional traps etc. I am really
really
reluctant to do this (see no. 2). The clay pipe is working fine, no
backups
or wet spots on the floor. If I mess with it, I might as well replace
the whole
thing...and then the soil stack...and we all know where this goes.

So what does anybody think about the situation here?

A P w M F

On Mar 26, 11:28*am, wrote:
Folks:
This is mostly for the easterners, probably. *People who live or work
in areas
with new stuff don't see things like this, but there's sure a lot
around here.

My house was built with servants in mind, but no automatic washer. *I
have
no servants, but I do have a washing machine.

The old owner had one, too, and he drained it through the floor drain.
Here is some information on this floor drain:

http://s19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...ra/floordrain1...

The cast iron basin, at some point, had its center bottom smashed out,
and
the old owner's washer drain hose was placed in the basin, and
weighted down
with the basin's perforated steel-plate cover. *The pipe below appears
to be a
trap; water flows freely through, and can be heard at the soil stack,
but some
remains standing in it, and putting on some girly-man gloves and
feeling the
pipe bend suggests that it does curve back up. *The trap has an odd
sidearm,
which I think leads, untrapped, to a downspout drain outside; a breeze
of
fresh air blows in through it. I intend to run a garden hose into the
downspout
drain to see if water flows into the trap.

Questions: Is anybody familiar with this type of floor drain? What
pieces am
I missing? *Is this a common arrangement for old-home downspout
drains?
It seems pretty clever, actually, in that the downspout water is
clean, and
keeps the little-used floor drain trap topped up. *Of course it also
overloads
the sanitary sewer system. *

So now my task is: how do I arrange my wife's washing machine drain
now?
I need to do something quickly, but the old way with the hose is too
much a
kludge. *In the future, too, what would be the best way to hook this
up
permanently?

I am governed, as usual, by the guiding principles of old-house
repair:

1. Codes are there for a reason, even if they weren't there back then;
if you
are fixing something, best to do it properly.

-BUT AT THE SAME TIME-

2. Don't FA with something that has been doing a job for 100 years
unless
you are prepared to replace it.

So here are my options:

-Install my laundry tub, hooking its drain to the former owner's drain
hose.
Leave that hose in the basin. *Quick and easy, but somewhat sloppy-
looking,
and I am just a little uncertain whether that basin had a bell trap in
it that was
broken out.

-Break out the rest of the basin's center, make a hole at its side,
and fit a
TY, and a floor drain above it. *Join the plastic and clay with the
usual stuff
(probably oakum and plastic lead; I don't want to stress the clay
bell,
which already has a notch in it from the bygone workman's hammering).
Fill in around the TY with sand, concrete over it, and run a 2" drain
under the
floor to the laundry tub, with a trap and vacuum breaker at the tub.

-Dig up the 3" downspout drain a good way from the trap. *Join 3" PVC
and
run that to the laundry tub. *This one, and the above one, would be a
little
odd, as the trap would be acting as a catch basin (as it was for
downspout
runoff), but it's just graywater anyhow. I may mangle the clay DS
drain,
but at least I have enough slack to cut off more and try again.

-Cut the soil stack and insert a TY, a 2" drain line to the tubs, and
a vacuum
breaker to vent them. *I am really really leery of this method. *See
principle
no. 2, above. *The soil stack is working fine now, running freely and
not
leaking, and I don't want to bother it. *It's a lot older than me.
Respect
your elders.

-Dig up the clay pipe past the floor drain, replace the floor drain
and run
a new line to the wash tub, with conventional traps etc. *I am really
really
reluctant to do this (see no. 2). *The clay pipe is working fine, no
backups
or wet spots on the floor. *If I mess with it, I might as well replace
the whole
thing...and then the soil stack...and we all know where this goes.

So what does anybody think about the situation here?

A P w M F

Either cut into floor pipe or into stack as it is the right way and
saves you a smelly floor trap as the catch basin was never meant for
this soap and the scum that it contains.