A drain in the garage is an incredibly useful installation to have. It’s also relatively easy to install either before or after the initial garage slab is poured. A garage drain gives you the freedom to wash your car, perform engine work, practice painting, or and otherwise enjoy a washable garage floor. The circle drain is the most common garage floor drain to find. This simple circular grate connects to a pipe drain that leads to the local sewer line like all other drains in the house. And like any other drain, the garage drain can become clogged.
Some clogs can be solved with a few simple troubleshooting tasks. These are things almost any mobile adult can do. Once these basic steps are complete many drains will have cleared or will clear if the steps are repeated a few times. When this process is done, the state of your drains will tell you whether the problem is serious enough to call drain services or will resolve with one more round.
Remove and Clean the Grate
Start with the drain grate. For most models, you will need a screwdriver or nut driver to remove the circle grate from your garage floor. Find the method and release the grate. Pull it up and immediately clean it. Many garage circle grates have served as a wide-tooth filter for several years before the first serious clog.
Now is a great opportunity to clean the circle grate, with access to both sides and detached from the floor. Scrub it clean and remove anything that might be contributing to garage drain clogs.
Scoop Out Any Piled Debris
Check the drain aperture revealed by the circle grate. This is the space immediately below your garage floor along with whatever you can reach beyond. If this space is backed up with debris that has fallen down the circle grate, now is the time to remove it. Put on rubber gloves and use a trowel, if possible, to dig out all the debris that may have been backing up the flow of water (among other liquids) down your garage floor drain.
Flush the Drain with Hot Water
Now boil a pot of water. Bring the water up to simmering or almost-boiling temperature, then pour the entire pot down your garage floor drain. This is a dissolving trick that will help to break up anything trying to grow or build-up in the pipeline. The more hot water you can pour at once, the more temporary water pressure you create in addition to the dissolving benefit of almost-boiling temperatures.
Flush the Drain with Baking Soda and Vinegar
Now try a different dissolving solution, to break up another swath of clog types that can form. Start by pouring a large amount of baking soda down the drain. The powder will be caught by the nearest turn or the first clog, which ever comes first. It may also stick to the pipe walls. Then pour white vineger (or 1:1 vinegar and hot water) down the drain after the baking soda. The vinegar will react with the baking soda to create a dissolving fizz reaction. The acid in the vinegar will also break down many common clogging materials.
Snake the Drain
Finally, you can implement a household snake. Snakes are extending flexible cords that can help to push, catch, or otherwise detect where a clog is located. A spiral top can help grab a clog and pull it back out of the drain to clear the way. However, not all residential snaking is successful and done wrong, it can potentially damage your pipes.
Call for Garage Drain Repairs
Repeat the drain-flushing steps several times and test the progress of your drain. If there is no improvement or the situation gets worse, it’s time to call the pros. Contact us today for garage drain repairs, clog clearing, and other drain services.
