Ernestine Posted December 31, 2013 Report Share Posted December 31, 2013 I'm building a studio with a cement floor (12 x 16 feet). I will be able to hose and squeegee the floor. What kind of drainage system is recommended and how should it be installed? How should the floor slope--to the center? to one of the walls? There doesn't seem to be a lot of information on how to capture the clay in a floor and still allow the water to drain off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcia Selsor Posted December 31, 2013 Report Share Posted December 31, 2013 If I were starting with anew floor, I' d make a drain trap in the middle with access to clean it on occasion. Maybe someone here could provide a design. Marcia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benzine Posted December 31, 2013 Report Share Posted December 31, 2013 Maybe something like a sink trap, a box type area, where heavy bits can settle, with the outflow pipe towards the top of the box, so that only water is going into the line? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJR Posted December 31, 2013 Report Share Posted December 31, 2013 Ernestine; You don't say where you are located-as in country, state,etc. I built my dream studio two years ago. It is a purpose built professional studio-25' by 25', or the size of a two car garage. I have hydronic heat in the floor. These are coils of anti-freeze connected to a tiny electric boiler. I did not go with a central drain, as I just wet mop the floor periodically. I had to seal the floor with an acrylic ,water based floor sealant, otherwise the mop drags. I did dig a 4ft deep trench from my house to the studio, with the intention of having water and a drain going back to the house. Didn't complete the sink, as I found I can just bring buckets of warm water from the house. I am worried about this dranage line freezing, even though I wrapped it with an electric coil. I wouldn't bother with the floor drain. I would look at heat instead. Mine is lovely. Current temperature here on January 31 is minus 35, Celsius. Colder than a mother-in- law's kiss.Inside the studio, it is plus 15. TJR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mart Posted December 31, 2013 Report Share Posted December 31, 2013 I'll leave you with this drawing (From outer space? No!) ------___________------ |__: :___| | | | | Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted December 31, 2013 Report Share Posted December 31, 2013 I do not have dream studio but would favor the sealed smooth cement and mop it. If you go for drain put in a large settling box with a the drain above box bottom to catch clay as it settles.You can center it or offset it but slope all floor areas towards it. This is job for profesionall conctete folks. There was some older thread on this vary same thing in the past few years-search those out. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diane Puckett Posted December 31, 2013 Report Share Posted December 31, 2013 My fantasy studio is waterproof and has a drain in the middle. I would occasionally take a hose to everything. I would advise against draining toward a wall. You want the walls and things against them to stay dry. Mold is a real nuisance to deal with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benzine Posted December 31, 2013 Report Share Posted December 31, 2013 TJR's idea of no drain, and just mopping is a good one. Just set yourself up a nice studio sink, with a trap which you'll want anyway, and just mop, then pour the mop water in there. I will not comment on TJR's description of his mother in law's kiss however...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtRoads Posted December 31, 2013 Report Share Posted December 31, 2013 I had another business where we needed the floor to drain. Someone advised me against a center drain and instead we put a slight slope on the floor and drained it at one end. With a small trench at the end and it drained directly outside through a pipe. This trench was about 6 inches from wall. It also sloped downward towards the drain pipe. We never had any problems at all with this and soaked down the complete area on almost a daily basis. Check building codes for your area and see if you are allowed to drain directly outside and not into a sewage system. Also increase the size of your drain pipe would reduce possibilities of clogs. But I don't think I would want to use a hose in my work space. For sure not around my drying goods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJR Posted December 31, 2013 Report Share Posted December 31, 2013 TJR's idea of no drain, and just mopping is a good one. Just set yourself up a nice studio sink, with a trap which you'll want anyway, and just mop, then pour the mop water in there. I will not comment on TJR's description of his mother in law's kiss however...... You just did! T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JBaymore Posted December 31, 2013 Report Share Posted December 31, 2013 Something to think about as you plan this studio.... health and safety. If you let clay and glaze junk accumulate on the floor to the extent that it would require some serious hosing down and squeeging into a central or wall floor drain or trench drain, then between the times that you actually do that.... the floor is constantly covered with some nice dry clay and glaze materials. As you then walk around the studio, as you move buckets and equipment, and as any air-moving heating or cooling device works.... you are then putting that fine (unseeable) dust into the air. Where your personal dual air filtration units are scrubbing it out of the air. (lungs) Better to make the floor and lower walls waterproof, and clean up the mass very frequently with the convenience of a mop and bucket (becasue it is relatively easy), rather than making a big involved project out if it as a "major event". You often see these kinds of floor drains set up in school stuidios and in industrial places. There is a reason for this. The generation of "mess" in those kinds of places can be large and fast.... and the hosing down and cleaning idea works in that context when it is done very frequently. But for a one person kind of studio......... it can lull you into letting the mess accumulate a long time before it is feeling like it is "worth" the big cleanup. My $0.02 on the subject. best, ....................john Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pres Posted December 31, 2013 Report Share Posted December 31, 2013 I happen to have a single garage, that had a central drain. It drains to of all things a river under the garage! This is a pain, that I keep pretty well sealed up. As to the floor I think I will seal it with a sealer to make clean up easier. I have a floor that slants toward the central drain so everything has to be shimmed to be level. The other problem with a drain is that things really should not be on the floor as they will gather dirt, or get wet when hosing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denice Posted January 1, 2014 Report Share Posted January 1, 2014 I was going to put in a center drain in my studio floor but the city nicked that plan, our house is in an area with a high aquafer and they were worried about and chemicals being that close to it. They didn't know to much about ceramics studio's so they would have to research it before giving permission, we told them to forget it. Denice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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