# Leveling floor/installiing laminate over drain



## RyanL (Mar 29, 2011)

Hi all,

First time poster here. I have a question in regards to a laminate floor that I am currently installing. I am at an area now where I have a small drain in the floor as well as a small dip to allow water to run into the drain.

I am wondering what the best way to handle this problem is. I am assuming that the drain is there in case of a disaster with the water heater, which is located in the nearest closet, at you can see in this first pic:







Now, there is a pipe that runs through the wall behind the water heater, and comes out in the garage, but the water heater currently is not connected to it. I believe it may have been like this since the water heater was replaced with the previous owner, and it could be easily fixed. Would this be sufficient drainage if the water heater broke?

Now, I'm assuming that covering the drain would be a bad idea and cause my house to not be up to code. It would be the easiest thing to do, but I'm not jumping at the idea, it just doesn't seem right.

My idea was to level the area around the drain, at least partially, to allow me to install the laminate around the area. As you can see in the next 2 pics, the dip appears to be far too much to just cover up with flooring without somehow leveling it.











How good an idea does leveling sound like? This seems to pose 2 problems that I can see though; the first being that if it is leveled, the water will not naturally flow to the drain if there is a break down, and second, I fear that the laminate being on top of the old floor will act as a dam and impede the flow of water towards the drain.

Damage to the flooring in a disaster is a minor concern to me. I will have leftover flooring that I could use to easily replace any damaged pieces if I had to.

So my question after that wall of text, is what is the most appropriate way to deal with this area, preferably without losing the functionality of the drain?

Any advice will go a long way, thanks all in advance!!


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## inspectorD (Mar 30, 2011)

I would shim the floor and leave the drain exposed, Just buy another cover to go over what you have there. 
The reasoning for this, is you do not want to cover something where water is a concern, it needs to dry out if it gets wet underneath. And there is always water vapor comming out of that pipe even though you do not see it.

It will be ok to attach a cover to the moving floor, just screw it in, or glue it down, just be sure there is a removable interior piece of the drain cover in case you ever need to clean out the line.


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## joecaption (Mar 30, 2011)

#1 is that laminite below grade rated?
#2 I did not where you installed the required padding with vaper barrer under it. (some laminites have the vaper barrier attached to the back side of it.
#3  Since your going below grade if you read the box of flooring it's required you glue all the joint with laminite flooring glue.
#4 All that old loose and broken flooring should have been removed and replace with new so that messed up  area would not cause the new flooring to come apart at the joints.
#5 I lay a straight edge over that drain area and measure from the bottom of the straight edge to the top of the area on the outside of the drain and cut out a piece of foam, coffie can, something to act as a dam and pore non gypsom floor leveler until it's level. What your going to be left with is exposed edges of the laminite which in a possible wet area is a very bad thing so it would be best to apply a coat of poly on those edges..
You should have used a product like Allour strip flooring instead of laminite for a basement floor, but I guess it's to late for that now.
All need repairs and prep work was suppost to be done long before ever trying to lay that floor.


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## RyanL (Mar 30, 2011)

inspectorD said:


> I would shim the floor and leave the drain exposed, Just buy another cover to go over what you have there.
> The reasoning for this, is you do not want to cover something where water is a concern, it needs to dry out if it gets wet underneath. And there is always water vapor comming out of that pipe even though you do not see it.
> 
> It will be ok to attach a cover to the moving floor, just screw it in, or glue it down, just be sure there is a removable interior piece of the drain cover in case you ever need to clean out the line.



Thanks for the reply 

Are there companies that sell shims that would be appropriate to use in a floor, or would any small wedge work?


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## RyanL (Mar 30, 2011)

inspectorD said:


> I would shim the floor and leave the drain exposed, Just buy another cover to go over what you have there.
> The reasoning for this, is you do not want to cover something where water is a concern, it needs to dry out if it gets wet underneath. And there is always water vapor comming out of that pipe even though you do not see it.
> 
> It will be ok to attach a cover to the moving floor, just screw it in, or glue it down, just be sure there is a removable interior piece of the drain cover in case you ever need to clean out the line.


Thanks for the reply 

Do you happen to know if there are companies that make shims that I could just go out and buy? Would any small wedge shaped piece work just fine?


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## inspectorD (Mar 30, 2011)

Joe, I would not pour anything which will block any water that gets underneath the floor to the drain. 
The drain always need to drain, if you pour anything, it will stop the flow of water from other areas...bad idea.

Sealing any edges is always a good idea with anything, and the shims, use plastic shims only, they usually sell it with the flooring, but you can buy them separate.
Good luck, only time will tell if it won't last long, but it will look nice.


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## nealtw (Mar 31, 2011)

I tried this last year and as luck would have it I had a small plumbing leak two weeks later and I pulled it all up and tiled the floor. You do have a drain I would tile that area and the closet wear the tank is. Wet down a peice of that floor and throw it down on the garage floor with or without the foam and see what that looks like in a week.


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