I had a section of concrete removed from my garage to install a sump drain so it would be possble to wash the car in the garage in the winter.
The dirt under the concrete in like concrete, I need to go down at least 3 ft, the soil is clay, I was think of watering it down a bit.
Tom
i suspect watering will make it worse if its clay. you just need a long metal rod and a couple teenage boys with too much testosterone. make it a 'challenge'.
randy
how wide is the hole/opening for the drain? i'm thinking you can use one of those gas powered post hole diggers to get yourself the depth you need, then finish by hand/shovel.
mike............
Finished digging down 3 1/2 ft down and further down I went the easiers it was to dig, but it was harder to get the dirt out of the hole. Will try and post pictures.
Tom
"twfsa" wrote
I must be missing something here. In your _drain020.jpg_, it looks as if your floor slants towards the door, with the one side of the concrete floor rolled away from the wall. Is this an obtical illusion? I know here in my area, it's common for the floor to be poured with a 3" height difference, the lowest point at the garage door. If it's not an illusion, exactly what will the sump accomplish on a totally flat floor? Also, is this for a sump pump, or where do you plan to have the water exit?
Curious minds want to know. TX
The floor has an 8 in drop from the front of the garage to the door, The garage is 30 ft deep so no water will flow out the garage door, as there is plenty of room ahead of the drain to wash the car.
No optical illusion the floor does slant away from the wall.
I plan on useing an extra old shop vac to remove the water, then dump it in the street.
Tom
"twfsa" wrote
Ok, call me feeble minded, but now I'm really confused. It looks like you will have a grate approx. 3' in front of the door. Are you saying the water will run into the sump, but it wouldn't run to the door and out if the door was lifted 1/2"? I'm just trying to understand why you would go through all the trouble of putting in a sump if all you had to do was crack the door open.
Doesn't sound like fun using a shop vac, if you absolutely must have a sump, I would put in an electric pump with proper piping.
Beg or buy a clamshell post hole digger. That will remove dirt from any size hole down to barely bigger than the tool and as deep as the handles will reach.
Harry K
No water will escape the garage if the door is open a 1/2 inch, washing the car when the outside temp is in the single digits tend to ice up the driveway.
This is a spare garage as I have a 2 car attached on the upper level of my ranch, so other than washing the car in cold weather the garage is empty.
I think I can wash my car and only empty the sump once, as the water will not be running constant.
Tom
unless you have a shop vac bigger than 16gal., i think you'll be using more than 16 gallons of water to wash your car, even w/ the hose off, but i could be wrong.
mike.........
Mike.
Even if I have to empty it 3 times thats not so bad.
Tom
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