How to Replace the Bathroom Floor Drain: Cleaning and Replacement Guide
The drainage system of the family bathroom is composed of many bathroom accessories, among which the floor drain is an essential part. The installation of the floor drain not only affects the decorative effect of the bathroom but also affects the indoor air quality.
Floor drains are installed in multiple places around the home. Although the shower and laundry rooms are some of the most common places where drains are installed, you can install floor drains at any place where you conduct water business.
What should I do if I want to replace the floor drain after using it for a long time?
Ⅰ. How to replace the floor drain?
1. Before replacing the floor drain, it is necessary to pay attention to the basic information such as the panel, size and specification of the old floor drain currently in use.
Generally, square or round floor drains ranging from 2-6 inches are commonly used in home toilets. As for the size of toilet sewer, the diameter of household sewer is generally 50mm.
Note that the size of the new floor drain panel to be replaced shall be consistent with that of the old floor drain.
2. Use a screwdriver or other tools to pry up and separate the joints between the old floor drain panel and the tile slowly, use a slotted screwdriver to lift the cement around the floor drain, and then use a small hammer to gently tap the floor drain to separate it from the cement before taking it out.
Use tools to clean the cement layer around the old drain pit, and at the same time, pay attention to temporarily plug the drain outlet to prevent debris from falling into the drain pipe and causing blockage.
3. After cleaning up, cement shall be plastered around the new floor drain to make it firmly combined with the ground, and the excess cement shall be cleaned up.
Before installing a new floor drain, it is necessary to take out the odor proof core to prevent cement sand and other impurities from entering the core and affecting the use effect.
The newly replaced floor drain panel shall be aligned with the tile, and the height shall not be higher than the tile. The glass glue or white cement shall be applied around and dried.
After installation, install the floor drain deodorant core. It is recommended that the deodorant core can be taken out and cleaned once a month or so, and the use effect will be better.
Ⅱ. How to refit the floor drain?
If there is no floor drain in our life, it seems that many things will be blocked. There is no floor drain in the bathroom, so it is difficult to drain, and there is still a bad smell. But what if the floor drain core is broken? We don’t know about the floor drain core, so even if it is broken, we don’t know how to do it. Here’s how to refit the floor drain.
1. Add floor drain
There are two ways to add floor drains where there is no floor drain: One is to add sewer pipes on the high surface, which will easily affect drainage; The second is to pierce the floor and re-lay the sewer pipe, which is troublesome and requires downstairs construction.
2. Refit floor drain with drain pipe
Use the drain of the bathtub or wash basin to change it into a floor drain for shower. Such a drain pipe is usually 40 tubes. Now there are many small caliber floor drains on the market.
3. Refit the thin floor drain
Install a thin floor drain (water seal 1~2cm). The drainage is good, but the height of the water seal is not enough. The water will evaporate easily and the odor will overflow easily. Therefore, the floor drain should be filled with water or covered with a damp cloth frequently to prevent water evaporation. The solution is also easy, just replace the built-in floor drain core.
4. Refit the old floor drain
At present, the old floor drain seal in many homes is invalid. If it is troublesome to replace the floor drain, there are many pipe diameters and specifications without water seal, which can be directly inserted into the floor drain to play a sealing role.
Ⅲ. How to maintain and use the replaced floor drain?
1. How to unblock the floor drain
(1) Cut a small piece of silk stockings (the thinner the better, otherwise it will affect the drainage), stretch it as far as possible, and fix it on the floor drain.
In this way, the hair will be gathered on the silk stockings. When cleaning, the silk stockings and hair will be thrown away together, so that the hair will not enter the floor drain.
(2) Wipe the dirt on the cover and drain outlet with a brush. Wipe all part that can be reached by the brush, and then wash with water.
If the pipe is blocked inside, it can be cleaned with pipe dredging agent, which has effect on kitchen garbage such as grease, hair, vegetable leaves, toilet paper, toilet block and other clogs. Fill the floor drain with water and use the sanitary pump to pass it up and down several times.
(3) Connect a hose close to the corner raft that is sufficient to reach the blocking point, put the hose into the floor drain until it cannot be plugged, then try to block the floor drain with a towel, and then open the corner raft water volume, while pressing the towel at the floor drain as hard as possible to prevent the water from flowing out. Repeated one or two times will lead to success.
(4) Soda and vinegar dredging method: First pour half a cup of cooked soda powder into the sewer, and then pour half a cup of vinegar. After the soda reacts with the acid in the vinegar, the grease substances attached to the pipeline can be removed.
(5) Log dredging method: First insert a log with a diameter close to the drain into the water pipe, and put a certain amount of water into the pool. Rapidly pump the log up and down without interruption. Under the effect of suction and pressure, the dirt in the pipe will be washed away.
2. How to deal with the leakage of the floor drain
(1) If there is no waterproof requirement around the toilet floor drain, the problem of water leakage will occur after a long time. The solution is to knock off all the tiles on the four sides of the floor drain and make it waterproof again.
It is necessary to cut a notch about 1 inch deep, wash it with clean water, and then clean the garbage inside with a brush.
(2) Select a cement-based waterproof agent to fill the notch, and then the calender. After drying, it can prevent water seepage. If the leakage is caused by damage to the surrounding sewer pipe, you can pry off the floor tile beside the floor drain, apply the leak-stopping spirit to the water pipe, and finally sit down for the water closing test. Check whether there is water leakage. If the pipe is seriously damaged, it is better to replace the pipe.
3. How to clean the floor drain
(1) Put tea bags in the corner of the bathroom. Clean the bathroom floor drain at ordinary times, and place some used tea bags in the corner of the bathroom. The tea bags have the function of absorbing odor, can remove odor, and achieve the effect of fresh air.
(2) Mix baking soda and vinegar. Sodium bicarbonate is alkaline and vinegar is acidic. Neutralization of sodium bicarbonate and vinegar will produce chemical reaction, which can remove the stains stuck in the pipeline for the purpose of dredging.
The specific method is to prepare half a cup of soda powder, pour it into the floor drain pipe, then pour a cup of vinegar, and pour some hot water after full reaction.
(3) Put bamboo charcoal bags in the bathroom. In addition to absorbing harmful gases such as formaldehyde and benzene in the wardrobe, bamboo charcoal bags can also be directly placed in the bathroom to absorb the odor from the floor drain.
Bamboo charcoal bags have limited adsorption capacity and are easy to saturate, so they should be replaced every 7 to 10 days.
Drains are often ignored, simply because these fixtures are hiding in plain sight. Floor drains do not require much attention because we never seem to focus on them. They only come to life when a toilet or sink overflows and then we need that drain to take away the water before it becomes damaging.
Many problems with floor drains can be avoided with pre-planning and simple care. Following these easy maintenance tasks will make sure your floor drains do their job when you need them to and prevent overflowing and the expensive water damage left behind.
It’s important to keep your floor drains in working order. These are meant to keep your location safe and clean. If you spot your floor drain not draining, it’s time to try some of these eco-friendly drain cleaning tactics or call a professional.