Problem
My 3" basement floor drain has 10 pounds of... stuff in a 5 pound bag:
- ¾" air handler condensate drain (hard-piped to air handler)
- ¾" furnace condensate drain (open air gap)
- 1" washer drain pan (from upstairs)
- 1½" water heater drain pan
- ⅜" water softener main (discharge) drain line
- ⅜" water softener overflow drain line
There are a few problems:
- The concrete is not smooth and has a slight lip where it meets the (roughly cut) floor drain.
- Not all of the pipes are completely over the floor drain.
- Some of the pipes are not affixed -- the water heater drain pan pipe can easily be bumped and no longer terminate over the floor drain.
- I'm considering adding a drain pan under the water softener, too.
- I will likely be adding an additional drain for a humidifier, making the situation worse.
What is the best way to remedy this?
Proposal
I understand that most drains like these cannot be hard-plumbed, in order to prevent discharge from one appliance backing up into another.
The furnace condensate drain actually has a small air-gap where it drains into the vertical ¾" PVC. So this could presumably be combined with the air conditioner condensate drain.
Here's what I'm considering (numbered according to the above):
- Use a diamond blade on my multi-tool to cut down the lip around the drain.
- Add an elbow or tee to the end of the water heater drain line so it is directed down the drain.
- Attach the drain line to the floor with a clamp.
- Tee the new softener drain pan into the water heater drain pan line.
- Add a couple of open tees (perhaps with a short standpipe) along the water heater drain pan, into which the other lines can drain.
One slight concern is the high volume of discharge from the softener drain line. I might leave that one right in the floor drain.
