Hi all,
We are getting ready to expand our cider facility and need advice about floor drains. We'll be pouring new concrete so it's a blank slate.
The new space will be about 26x70, with about 26x50 of this space devoted to tanks. (The remaining space will be a kitchen area, at one end of the building.
My impression is to go with some form of trench drain running lengthwise down the middle of the floor, with a 2% grade meeting the drain on each side.
Here are a few questions:
1. Is a trench drain the best way to go? Down the middle of the floor? What other options are there?
2. Should the drain drain into plumbing beneath the slab? Or, should it drain into plumbing that begins outside the building? (The former option allows a space between multiple drains, the latter doesn't...).
3. I assume the trench will need a grate of some sort, if only to allow pallet jacks and/or a forklift and/or a walk behind stackers to cross it.
4. Will a pallet jack/forklift/stacker be able to pass over the grate easily? (A tiny pebble in the way stops my
jack AND stacker in its tracks). It would be a disaster to have a trench in the floor and be unable to cross it with the stacker!!!!!
5. Will a 2% grade on each side, meeting the drain be sufficient? Will this sort of grade pose problems for the stacker/fork/pallet jack? If so, what solution is there? Again, potential disaster here.
6. As a cidery, we don't have the same usage of hot liquid as breweries. But, cider is very acidic. It's eating away at our young floor already. What should we do to protect the new concrete (from cider, sulfite, etc)? And, what should the drain be made out of?
7. Should it drain into our septic tank/septic field?
Ok, lots of questions but would appreciate any help you can offer! Thanks!
Mike
We are getting ready to expand our cider facility and need advice about floor drains. We'll be pouring new concrete so it's a blank slate.
The new space will be about 26x70, with about 26x50 of this space devoted to tanks. (The remaining space will be a kitchen area, at one end of the building.
My impression is to go with some form of trench drain running lengthwise down the middle of the floor, with a 2% grade meeting the drain on each side.
Here are a few questions:
1. Is a trench drain the best way to go? Down the middle of the floor? What other options are there?
2. Should the drain drain into plumbing beneath the slab? Or, should it drain into plumbing that begins outside the building? (The former option allows a space between multiple drains, the latter doesn't...).
3. I assume the trench will need a grate of some sort, if only to allow pallet jacks and/or a forklift and/or a walk behind stackers to cross it.
4. Will a pallet jack/forklift/stacker be able to pass over the grate easily? (A tiny pebble in the way stops my
jack AND stacker in its tracks). It would be a disaster to have a trench in the floor and be unable to cross it with the stacker!!!!!
5. Will a 2% grade on each side, meeting the drain be sufficient? Will this sort of grade pose problems for the stacker/fork/pallet jack? If so, what solution is there? Again, potential disaster here.
6. As a cidery, we don't have the same usage of hot liquid as breweries. But, cider is very acidic. It's eating away at our young floor already. What should we do to protect the new concrete (from cider, sulfite, etc)? And, what should the drain be made out of?
7. Should it drain into our septic tank/septic field?
Ok, lots of questions but would appreciate any help you can offer! Thanks!
Mike
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