What is a trench drain and why do you need one?
Water, we depend on it for life. But like everything in excess, can cause problems for homeowners and business owners alike. What can you do mitigate pooling? Welcome to the world of trench drains
Trench drains are straight drainage applications used to collect water from a point and transfer it to another desired location. A trench drain system is usually composed of a few different parts including:
- a channel
- a grate,
- an end cap,
- an end outlet
- frames (optional)
- catch basin (optional)
Composition and Makeup
Cast iron grates on an hdpe channel (Left) Galvinized Steel perforated grates on a concrete channel (Right)
Most of these parts are beneath the surface and after they are installed shouldn’t be seen from or heard from if installed properly. Channels can come with attachments for re bar on the side which secure the channel to the concrete bed which will be poured as shown in the following clip.
Trench Drain Channels are long, tubular u shaped conduits.
The channel can be made of:
- HDPE/ Fiberglass / Polymer
- Polymer Concrete
- Fiber Reinforced Concrete
- Cast iron,
- Stainless steel
Plastic derivative channels are more than sufficient for most residential applications. One of the main things to consider when determining channel material is load bearing.
Load bearing is how much weight the drain can and is expected to hold. In most residential situations, the heaviest thing that will be going over these drains are delivery trucks, oil and gas trucks and typical “highway rated traffic”. In most instances a polymer channel should be sufficient. Higher grade materials wouldn’t add much functional or structural integrity to the system. Polymer channels are budget friendly, last long and easy to assemble.
There are some differences between channels. As previously mentioned, some have anchors for re bar to prevent the drain from floating during installation. The Dura Slope has anchors that are pre fabricated, circular place holders for re bar. This thoughtful and measure allows the installer to fasten re bar beside the channel every section and the concrete will be poured around the re bar to prevent it from “floating” or moving during the installation process.
In lieu of re bar, other manufacturers have chosen to have articulated channel bodies so the concrete can form a natural “wet blanket” around the rivets as its poured. These indentations allow the poured concrete to form better and also gives an added layer of foundation.
Concrete channels have vented articulated designs to conform with concrete pour