How do you keep your drains in tip top shape?

Discussion in 'Car Detailing Product Discussion' started by kdude, Dec 20, 2010.

  1. kdude

    kdude Jedi Nuba

    A big if not huge problem for commercial detailers is " keeping those drains from clogging"

    Especially in the North East where there is so much road kaka (salt, sludge, sand, small stones) mixed in with all the snow...

    I am constantly aware of the pit of my drains and have a monthly preventive program just to clean out the pit of all the grease etc that comes out of it when cleaning...

    Anyone else have drain issues and how do you take care of your drains?
     
  2. TLMitchell

    TLMitchell Birth of a Detailer

    When I built my shack I specified box drains where the outflow pipe is about 1/4 of the way from the top. Most of the crud sinks to the bottom which stays full of water necessitating an occasional cleanout. I usually check about January and then again in the Spring. The rest of the year is no issue. If I was doing commercial I'm sure it'd have to be a monthly ritual.

    When I scoop out the bottom of the box I also snake a smaller diameter hose as far as it will go down the outflow pipe and do some blasting to try and prevent any sediment that got by the pit from building up. In order to prevent a PITA clog I try to avoid washiing crud down the drain in the first place. I either squeegee as much wet crud as I can before spraying off the floor or let it dry and sweep it up. 15 years and so far, so good.

    For those with run-of-the-mill small, round drains without traps about the only thing you can do is try to avoid crud going down the drain in the first place. Yeah, most codes say the outflow pipe should have a P-trap under the floor... but they frequenbtly don't which makes a clog a distant proposition sometimes.

    I'm sure those with inadequate, slow running drains in the garage are the envy of those with no drains at all. My first house had small drains that clogged. I made up my mind if I ever built to do it right with decent drains, hot n cold running water, multiple hose bibs, outlets everywhere and heat. I spent more time thinking about details for the garage than I did for the rest of the house. In retrospect, I should've built an 1800 sq ft garage and 900 sq ft house instead of the reverse... I spend more time in the garage. For some strange reason wives don't have the same sort of priorities. They want stoopid, useless stuff like kitchens and bathrooms. Go figure. :crasy:

    If I woulda fired her before I built instead of after the place woulda turned out a lot different. Woulda only had to pay for the place once too. :shakehead:

    TL
     

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