[spitzer33]

Hi, we live on the 2nd floor of an apartment building and have a nice outdoor terrace. There are two drains on either side of the terrace (see pics). The drains work fine but when it rains eventually the drain covers become clogged with dirt and leaves, and stop working. (see pics) As a result, water starts to collect on the terrace because there's nowhere else for it to go (the concrete holding up the railing creates a bathtub effect).

Does anyone have any ideas for fixing this? Either some way to prevent the drain covers from clogging or a way to pump the water off the balcony when it starts to collect.

Thanks!

 

[Bondo]

Does anyone have any ideas for fixing this? Either some way to prevent the drain covers from clogging

Ayuh,.... Clean the trash off the floor,.....

 

[wkearney99]

Besides the obvious? KEEP THE FLOOR CLEAN.

That and possibly change the grates to ones with a raised center, one kind is called an 'atrium grate'.

This way the water can still drain at the level above the leaf litter. But you'd still be stuck with the last bits of water. Which the people downstairs might not appreciate if it sits there long enough to find leaks into down below...

Some sort of domed strainer or cover would probably work. The difficulty is in finding one that will fit in place of the existing ones. I had to use a 4" nylon one from NDS and then cut out a D-shape in the bottom in order to find in place of my old drain grate in a basement stairwell.

An important thing to consider is to make sure the cover can withstand being stepped on. And that it's not a tripping hazard, especially up on a balcony.

 

[Amateuralex]

We have a similar situation. Just gotta keep the area clean. Very clean. We use a leaf blower and a shop vac depending on the situation and we monitor it. Annoying but there it is.

Thinking of setting up a wireless security camera to monitor the situation so if I am out of town and I see it getting bad, I could call a friend to go over and clean the area out.

I've also been advised to install a trench drain instead, which could help, but can still get clogged, and it's quite the operation.

 

[alexjoe]

I think the best thing to prevent floor to clean the drain regularly ....

 

[Amateuralex]

My patio filled up last night with only a small amount of stuff blocking the drain. We cleaned it just that night, but junk always finds its way to the drain. We got almost 2 inches of rain overnight. I am going to look for a domed strainer as Bill suggests...I've seen such a thing in the landscaping section of the hardware store.

 

[wkearney99]

While you're there, rent a power washer. A thorough blasting of the tile and grout would probably help water flow to the drain better. Just being mindful not to blast any one spot too hard lest the power of the water cause actual damage.

And while you have the grates off the drains check to make sure they're clean, and that the pipe from the is also.

An atrium drain will only help when the water rises above the level of gunk that blocks the lowest parts of the cover. It's bad to have standing water, for any number of reasons. But the one I'd worry about most would be the water then finding leaks down to the area below.

So don't just assume a change to the grate is the only part of the solution.

 

[Amateuralex]

While you're there, rent a power washer. A thorough blasting of the tile and grout would probably help water flow to the drain better. Just being mindful not to blast any one spot too hard lest the power of the water cause actual damage.

And while you have the grates off the drains check to make sure they're clean, and that the pipe from the is also.

An atrium drain will only help when the water rises above the level of gunk that blocks the lowest parts of the cover. It's bad to have standing water, for any number of reasons. But the one I'd worry about most would be the water then finding leaks down to the area below.

So don't just assume a change to the grate is the only part of the solution.

Hey Bill I greatly appreciate the advice. My situation is a little different from the OP. We have a bilevel house and the lower level has a walkout to a 8X8 concrete patio, and then the ground slopes up about 4 feet to the yard. In the middle of that concrete patio is a 4.5 inch diameter circular drain that goes to the drain tile and to the sump.

I've had some plumbers look at it, and they all scratched their heads lol. One suggested a trench drain, but that's very expensive to install.

You're right about making sure it's not clogged...should I think about having it snaked?

An atrium drain would be better than the current situation. If the water rises up more than about 2 inches it starts leaning against the sliding glass door and risks leaking into our family room.

Right now we keep a long-handled broom/brush there and we push the crud off it when it's filling up, and it drains quite quickly when we do.

We keep it very clean but we have mature trees and we live in the country and pollen/dust/leaves/seeds etc always find their way to the area, and then the water leads them to the drain as it flows.

 

[wkearney99]

Trees are meant to be maintained. Too many people forget this. That and people put up with non-native species or ones that drop an inordinate amount of litter. At some point the misguided love of trees has to wake up to the reality of replacing them with ones appropriate for the conditions. Just a thought to keep in mind.

I put an atrium on a stairwell drain because the gravel pit under it was no longer draining fast enough to keep up when we had significant rainfall. It seemed like it would always happen the day before my regular yard maintenance. One time it was so bad that a good 10" of water backed up, to the point I could SEE IT on the glass door. Which I'd thankfully done a good job of installing!

The problem was it would stick up enough to be a tripping hazard. We didn't use that stairwell all that often (thus the chance for debris to accumulate). But when we did someone would almost always knock it over. There wasn't a good way to secure it to the existing drain, which had a D-shaped flange embedded into the concrete.

So my concern about your putting one in the center of your patio would be the tripping issue. You'd want to make sure to deal with that. Either by setting up something that's secure, or being sure to mind it all the time.

If 2" of water is a problem then a grate may not be total solution either. Doesn't take much for debris to float up to the grate and rise to that height.

But this probably deserves it's own thread. Start one asking the question and post a link back here.