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My garage floor drain backed up during the big rain two weeks ago and I learned a hard lesson
I was out in my shop on the east side of Amarillo when that big storm hit. Water started coming up through the floor drain, and I had about an inch of water everywhere before I could even react. I spent the next three hours with a wet vac and a push broom trying to save my tools and some lumber. The problem was, I never even thought to check if that drain had a backwater valve. A plumber friend came over the next day and showed me it was just a straight pipe to the city line, so when the system got overloaded, it all came right back to me. Now I'm looking at putting in a proper valve myself, but I'm not sure if I should cut into the concrete or try to work from the cleanout outside. Has anyone in town dealt with this and found a good way to add protection without a huge concrete job?
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reese_hayes719d ago
Hold on a second - are you sure a backwater valve is actually legal on your street? I only say that because some parts of Amarillo have restrictions on those things due to the way the storm and sanitary lines are set up in certain neighborhoods. @juliarodriguez I get what you're saying about the look of it, but believe me, an ugly valve is way better than a flooded shop floor. You might want to call the city public works department first before you buy anything. It would really stink to put all that work in and then find out you have to rip it out because of some ordinance you didn't know about.
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umar492mo ago
Actually, that cleanout outside is probably your best bet for adding a valve without breaking concrete. A plumber can often install an external backwater valve right there on the line. It saves a ton of mess and cost compared to cutting the floor open.
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juliarodriguez2mo ago
Oh perfect, just what I want. A big ugly valve sticking out of the ground next to my flowers. Classy. Guess I'll just tell guests it's modern yard art.
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My buddy in Canyon had the same mess and his plumber put the valve on the outside cleanout, worked great. Ever check if your cleanout is big enough for that?
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