A client's flooded basement made me rethink how we run drain lines in custom homes

I was finishing a job in Springfield last fall when the homeowner called me back a week after move-in. Their brand new basement laundry room had flooded from a clogged main drain. When I opened the cleanout, I found a solid mass of construction debris and drywall mud that the crew had washed down a sink. The main line was only 3 inches, pitched fine, but it couldn't handle that kind of load. Now, for any custom build, I make the owners pick one basement sink as a designated 'cleanout sink' for the trades. We cap the others until drywall is done and put a big filter basket in the chosen one. It adds maybe $200 in parts and an hour of labor, but it saves a huge headache. Has anyone else set up a system like this to keep the drains clear during construction?

3 comments

3 Comments

bettyfox23d ago

Wow, that's smart but you're still trusting the crew to use the right sink. I'd go a step further and just cap ALL the basement drains until final clean, no exceptions. It's cheaper than a flood and you remove the human error factor completely.

paul_patel4023d ago

Caps can pop off under pressure though.

terry_carter1519d ago

Honestly, Betty is totally right about capping them all. Saw exactly what Paul mentioned happen on my buddy's job last year. A cap blew off a floor drain because someone ran a sink on the wrong line. Ended up with two inches of water in a finished basement. Cost way more to fix than a few plastic caps would have. Just cap every single drain down there, it's the only safe move.