The Trench Drain For Your Garage

The trench drain

A growing trend in front of garage doors of custom homes we have built lately is a trench drain.

A trench drain is exactly what it sounds like; it is a drain for water that looks like a long trench that usually extends the entire width of the garage doors.

The trench drain has a metal grill over the top of it to stop foreign particles from falling into it or having a tire damaged or someone stepping in it and twisting an ankle. The metal grid on top is strong enough to take the biggest pick-up truck driving over it or if they parked on top of it without being damaged.

These drains can be installed on the outside of the garage embedded into the asphalt or they can be installed inside the garage placed right in the concrete floor.

The body of the trench drain can be made out of many different types of material, from fibreglass to concrete to metal or even plastic in the cheaper models.

It has a drain at the end of it usually with plumbing pipe attached to it as the drain line. The drain pipe then runs underground away from the building to a designated area where the water wouldn’t cause flooding or damage to the home.

The trench drains that are installed inside garages in front of the garage doors help stop water from pooling up at the garage door when the snow from your car melts off and falls onto the floor. It also protects the rubber seals on your garage door from deteriorating from water with rock salt pooling up against it. It will also help keep your garage floor from being stained from drying pooled water.

The trench drain that you install on the outside of your garage in front of the doors in the asphalt does a very efficient job at stopping any rain or storm water from coming in contact with the garage doors or the structure. This works really well in homes that have a slopping driveway that runs toward the home from the street.

You must install your trench drain before you pour your concrete for the garage floor if it is to go inside the building, if it is to go outside then you should be installing it before the asphalt is installed, you will have to dig out a channel in the driveway's gravel bed to make room for it.

There are so many different versions and varieties of trench drains that I cannot recommend one over another. What I will tell you is that you should trust your contractor and go with their choice if you want a trench drain; a lot of homeowners only look at the price of the drain and end up with an inferior product.

Rob Abbott
Village Builders Inc