Brewpub floor with no slope?

[DocBob]

An existing building I'm looking at for a small brewpub currently has a nice cement slab floor with a floor drain. I plan to run a trench drain, but the problem is the floor where the brewhouse and fermenters will go is currently not sloped.

I've heard stories of slopes poured on top of an existing floor just cracking apart over time. Other than the extra work of having to squeegee to the trench, is there a problem with a level floor?

And if so, how have others here rectified this situation? Is there a way to build in a slope that will last, outside of tearing up the whole thing and starting from scratch, that wouldn't also break the bank?

Does anyone here work in a brewery with a level floor?

Thanks in advance.

CHEERS!!!

[jason.koehler]

Our floor is level, with a floorgrate as you describe. Aside from a little extra work, it has been fine for us. Most anything tends to run towards the drain as its really the only place to go anyways. Anything that escapes said vortex gets pushed in with the water hose...it is a tad less work that the squeegee

We do have a problem with spent grain clogging the drain screen, but that's just when we're sloppy emptying the grains and too much gets on the floor. The addition of a slope isn't going to fix that though.

[Michael Murphy]

The brewery where i work has a pad poured on top of another, its held up fine, there is a hairline crack through it but its not an issue. The main problem is the pad is stoped where the malt room is, and there is some water getting into the malt room from under the pad..... Its kinda hard to fix this one...

I am sent once a month to brew at a nearby brewpub here in Denmark, they never changed the floor (it was once a kitchen), well right in front of the brewhouse is where all the water likes to pool up, its quite annoying because I dont like working in rubber boots and I have to squeegee almost the whole day, plus the clean up is quite a pain too. But at least a trench drain would catch the whole squeegee load, where little 10 cm x 10cm square drains just dont do the trick, (I have to lay hoses to direct the water to the drain)

[Braxtol]

We tried to put a slope on an existing cement floor in our brewroom and the whole thing cracked and broke up in less than a month. It was a big pain in the rear to remove and now we wish we never attempted to slope the floor. So everytime I squeegee and mop up after the brew I think of the hassle it was to try to avoid such a menial task and how 10 minutes of my day isn't as bad as that month of cement hell.