Many flooded basements are triggered by a lack of basement floor drains or even a clogged drain.

Basement floor drains serve an important purpose in preventing water from flooding the area and the accumulation of moisture.

Read on to learn more about basement floor drains.

Basement floor drain with tile

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What Is a Basement Floor Drain?

The drain moves water from one section of the basement to the outside of the house.

The floor is sloped so that water will move toward the drain.

French drain

Getty Images/Campwillowlake

The floor can remain as concrete or theconcrete can be tiled over.

In most cases, the floor is hardscaped with a waterproof or water-resistant material capable of drying out rapidly.

Whatever the floor covering, the floor still must maintain the same slope.

Basement Floor Drain

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Water leakage moves by gravity to the drain.

The drain always has a protective grill that can be removed.

Water moves out of the drain and downslope through a pipe.

Basement Sump Pump

Basement Sump PumpGetty / Frances Twitty

Drains are installed flush with the floor’s surface.

This will involve digging for any punch in of drain you get.

On concrete, this can be abig project in your basementinvolving the demolition of a section of the floor.

You may even need to pour new concrete when it’s complete.

On other types of flooring, it may be a simpler project.

Consider how the water will be channeled outside as well.

In a basement, the water has nowhere to go.

With concrete walls and earth on all sides, a full basement is a basin.

When the trap is dry, sewer gases flow from the outside to the inside of your home.

Fill a five-gallon bucket with about four gallons of water.

Carefully pour the water into the basement drain.

The water should all flow through and out the drain pipe.

The remaining water will stay in the trap and block odors from entering the basement.

Clogged Basement Drain

Yes, there should be water in drains under your basement floor.

The drains are designed to trap the water so your basement doesn’t flood or accumulate excess moisture.

When sewer systems become overwhelmed with water, they can sometimes back up into homes via floor drains.

Basement floor drains drain into a sewer or pump pit.

What’s that stink?

It could be your drain.Environmental Health and Safety Chemical Safety.