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!!
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!!