Here goes what is probably a D U M dum question.

I have a large concrete patio with a plastic channel
that directs water away to one side. It gets clogged
with dirt, of course. Grass and weeds then love to grow
in it, creating another chore.

Is the plastic strip meant to be pried up and replaced?

It's difficult to clean as it is. For whatever reason I
thought it was permanently stuck on there but maybe not?

Ignoring that my patio looks really bad in closeup, here's
a picture of the channel.

http://tinypic.com/r/snjjgh/8

Thanks for any help.

nancy

Nancy Young wrote:
Here goes what is probably a D U M dum question.

I have a large concrete patio with a plastic channel
that directs water away to one side. It gets clogged
with dirt, of course. Grass and weeds then love to grow
in it, creating another chore.

Is the plastic strip meant to be pried up and replaced?

It's difficult to clean as it is. For whatever reason I
thought it was permanently stuck on there but maybe not?

Ignoring that my patio looks really bad in closeup, here's
a picture of the channel.

http://tinypic.com/r/snjjgh/8

Thanks for any help.

nancy
Hi,
Tried to pry and lift it? Looks like pop in and out type.
Or can you put in new ones? When they get old it is easy to crack when
handled.

On 5/10/2015 1:41 PM, Tony Hwang wrote:
Nancy Young wrote:

Is the plastic strip meant to be pried up and replaced?

It's difficult to clean as it is. For whatever reason I
thought it was permanently stuck on there but maybe not?

Ignoring that my patio looks really bad in closeup, here's
a picture of the channel.

http://tinypic.com/r/snjjgh/8

Thanks for any help.

Tried to pry and lift it?

I haven't! I really don't know why it never occurred to me it
was doable.

I really thought it was cemented in somehow.

Looks like pop in and out type.

How easy would it be to clean then, duh. To date all I've
done is hose it out as best as I can and try to keep the dirt
from washing right back in.

Or can you put in new ones? When they get old it is easy to crack when
handled.

That's what has stopped me from even trying at this point, it's
brittle now. I can see it will snap off in pieces.

I will look for a replacement before I go breaking something I can't
repair. Thanks very much for your help.

nancy

On Sun, 10 May 2015 13:05:25 -0400, Nancy Young
wrote:

Here goes what is probably a D U M dum question.

I have a large concrete patio with a plastic channel
that directs water away to one side. It gets clogged
with dirt, of course. Grass and weeds then love to grow
in it, creating another chore.

Is the plastic strip meant to be pried up and replaced?

It's difficult to clean as it is. For whatever reason I
thought it was permanently stuck on there but maybe not?

Ignoring that my patio looks really bad in closeup, here's
a picture of the channel.

http://tinypic.com/r/snjjgh/8

Thanks for any help.

nancy

I have similar on my pool decking, smaller. Meant to allow water
drainage beneath the deck. pad.

Never tried to pull it out but I see no way it is secure other than
snapped into place. Lightly pry on an end and see if it lifts up.

Careful. UV damage may have made it brittle so it may break when you
tinker with it.

Have you tried water pressure to clear and clean the channel?

On 5/10/2015 1:55 PM, Oren wrote:
On Sun, 10 May 2015 13:05:25 -0400, Nancy Young
wrote:

It's difficult to clean as it is. For whatever reason I
thought it was permanently stuck on there but maybe not?

I have similar on my pool decking, smaller. Meant to allow water
drainage beneath the deck. pad.

This is also a pool installation. Now that I'm looking around,
I see it might be called, cleverly enough, pool deck drain stips.

Never tried to pull it out but I see no way it is secure other than
snapped into place. Lightly pry on an end and see if it lifts up.

Careful. UV damage may have made it brittle so it may break when you
tinker with it.

This stuff is old. I really don't think I'll be messing with
it until I'm sure I have a replacement.

Have you tried water pressure to clear and clean the channel?

That's what I've been doing, and it's really a waste of time and
water. Yes, the water drives out the dirt, and being a drain
it all whooshes right back in. I do my best to hose the dirt
away so it doesn't wash back in but it's like thumb wrestling
jello. Very unsatisfactory.

nancy

On Sun, 10 May 2015 14:24:13 -0400, Nancy Young
wrote:

On 5/10/2015 1:55 PM, Oren wrote:
On Sun, 10 May 2015 13:05:25 -0400, Nancy Young
wrote:

It's difficult to clean as it is. For whatever reason I
thought it was permanently stuck on there but maybe not?

I have similar on my pool decking, smaller. Meant to allow water
drainage beneath the deck. pad.

This is also a pool installation. Now that I'm looking around,
I see it might be called, cleverly enough, pool deck drain stips.

Never tried to pull it out but I see no way it is secure other than
snapped into place. Lightly pry on an end and see if it lifts up.

Careful. UV damage may have made it brittle so it may break when you
tinker with it.

This stuff is old. I really don't think I'll be messing with
it until I'm sure I have a replacement.

Have you tried water pressure to clear and clean the channel?

That's what I've been doing, and it's really a waste of time and
water. Yes, the water drives out the dirt, and being a drain
it all whooshes right back in. I do my best to hose the dirt
away so it doesn't wash back in but it's like thumb wrestling
jello. Very unsatisfactory.


Nancy,

I lost my intended reply. So. How can you change the elevation around
the deck to reduce washed away dirt from draining back onto the deck.

If you find a good pool store with good customer service - you can
find a person to replace the PVC pool deck drain channel.

On 5/10/2015 3:03 PM, Oren wrote:
On Sun, 10 May 2015 14:24:13 -0400, Nancy Young
wrote:

it all whooshes right back in. I do my best to hose the dirt
away so it doesn't wash back in but it's like thumb wrestling
jello. Very unsatisfactory.


Nancy,

I lost my intended reply. So. How can you change the elevation around
the deck to reduce washed away dirt from draining back onto the deck.

If I took out this PVC thing, I could just hose it right out.

If you find a good pool store with good customer service - you can
find a person to replace the PVC pool deck drain channel.

After your previous note I thought how about calling the people
who put in the pool. Might be a start even though I don't like
dealing with them.

nancy

In ,
Nancy Young typed:

After your previous note I thought how about calling the people
who put in the pool. Might be a start even though I don't like
dealing with them.

After you wrote that it was part of a pool drain system, I tried doing a
quick Google search to see if I could find anything about them.

I know nothing about them, but here are two links that I found:
http://www.aquamasters.com/deckdrains.htm

http://www.aquamasters.com/deck-o-drain.htm


The second one looks like what you have, but it does say that on that system
the top is not removable.

In ,
TomR typed:
In ,
Nancy Young typed:

After your previous note I thought how about calling the people
who put in the pool. Might be a start even though I don't like
dealing with them.

After you wrote that it was part of a pool drain system, I tried
doing a quick Google search to see if I could find anything about
them.
I know nothing about them, but here are two links that I found:
http://www.aquamasters.com/deckdrains.htm
http://www.aquamasters.com/deck-o-drain.htm
The second one looks like what you have, but it does say that on that
system the top is not removable.

Oops, I just saw that this link also shows some systems that look like yours
and these have removable tops:


http://www.aquamasters.com/frontierr...letopdrain.htm

On 5/10/2015 6:51 PM, TomR wrote:

Nancy Young typed:

After your previous note I thought how about calling the people
who put in the pool. Might be a start even though I don't like
dealing with them.

Oops, I just saw that this link also shows some systems that look like yours
and these have removable tops:


http://www.aquamasters.com/frontierr...letopdrain.htm

That's exactly like mine! I am going to clear out one end and
see if I can get a photo of the anatomy of this thing. I can
see that the first examples you posted are one piece. I really
wouldn't think you'd go prying those out.

It's hard to find information on things when you don't know what
they're called. I have looked at a lot of pictures of channel
drains. I didn't think this part was specific to pools at all.

Thanks so much.

nancy

On 5/10/2015 1:05 PM, Nancy Young wrote:
Here goes what is probably a D U M dum question.

I have a large concrete patio with a plastic channel
that directs water away to one side. It gets clogged
with dirt, of course. Grass and weeds then love to grow
in it, creating another chore.

Is the plastic strip meant to be pried up and replaced?


It is typical that they can be lifted out for cleaning. If they are
plastic, they may have become brittle from the UV light over the years.

On 5/11/2015 11:58 AM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 5/10/2015 1:05 PM, Nancy Young wrote:
Here goes what is probably a D U M dum question.

I have a large concrete patio with a plastic channel
that directs water away to one side. It gets clogged
with dirt, of course. Grass and weeds then love to grow
in it, creating another chore.

Is the plastic strip meant to be pried up and replaced?


It is typical that they can be lifted out for cleaning. If they are
plastic, they may have become brittle from the UV light over the years.

Yeah, the previous owners installed this pool and patio in
1984 or so. It's amazing the strip still looks as good as it
does, only one chip. Every spring after the powerwasher guy
leaves I expect more chips.

So I won't be prying anything until I'm sure I have the right
replacement.

Thanks!

nancy

On Sun, 10 May 2015 19:59:34 -0400, Nancy Young
wrote:

On 5/10/2015 6:51 PM, TomR wrote:

Nancy Young typed:

After your previous note I thought how about calling the people
who put in the pool. Might be a start even though I don't like
dealing with them.

Oops, I just saw that this link also shows some systems that look like yours
and these have removable tops:


http://www.aquamasters.com/frontierr...letopdrain.htm

That's exactly like mine! I am going to clear out one end and
see if I can get a photo of the anatomy of this thing. I can
see that the first examples you posted are one piece. I really
wouldn't think you'd go prying those out.


SWAG - I'd imagine the pool deck is poured after the channel in set,
so the entire piece will not come out. Hopefully, you have the type so
you can snap the top out, clean, replace install new if it has broken
because of UV damage to thee PVC.

It's hard to find information on things when you don't know what
they're called. I have looked at a lot of pictures of channel
drains. I didn't think this part was specific to pools at all.


I've mostly see them around pools where water might puddle and cause a
fall. You might see a similar "drain" near a driveway / shop entrance
or where water could travel under a door.

Trench /Trough drains of metal...

http://www.trenchdrainblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/DSC00125-pr-767x1024.jpg

On Mon, 11 May 2015 12:07:47 -0400, Nancy Young
wrote:

Is the plastic strip meant to be pried up and replaced?


It is typical that they can be lifted out for cleaning. If they are
plastic, they may have become brittle from the UV light over the years.

Yeah, the previous owners installed this pool and patio in
1984 or so. It's amazing the strip still looks as good as it
does, only one chip. Every spring after the powerwasher guy
leaves I expect more chips.

So I won't be prying anything until I'm sure I have the right
replacement.

Thanks!

Nancy,

I'm in the Mojave Desert. Any PVC exposed to UV is painted (latex
works) to prevent it from becoming brittle. Pool pump, pool solar
pipes, irrigation valve, pool deck drain channels, etc. Painting
gives you some protection.

"Krylon" plastic paint is available.