Laundry room overflow drain ( rooms , upstairs, kitchen, water heater)

[rubytue]

Our washer is currently in the garage. We plan on framing off the back part of the garage to turn it into a real laundry room (namely so that I can separate saw dust from clean laundry ). The garage floor is about 2 inches lower than the floors in the house - so there is a slight step down into the garage/new laundry area. The sump pump is located in the back corner of the garage about 5-8 feet from the washer. Annoyingly, the garage floor slopes away from the sump pump - as we discovered when the washer overflowed while we were on vacation. The main waste line runs down opposite side of the garage, also about 7 feet from the washer. The washer drains into the slop sink. Wastewater treatment is via septic, not public sewer. Washer is a front load, currently on the ground (but give me and excuse to put it on a stand, please )

Also, lets ignore permitting issues right now. We do pull permits, thought I'm not sure we will for this one. But right now, I'm just doing the background planning.

So with that background - I have seen some laundry rooms with drains in the floor in case of overflow. Is this a requirement or a "nice to have"? Would it be legal for us to route a drain to the sump pump for overflow or do we need to tie into the main drain line? Any ideas on the most cost effective way to provide overflow protection given the setup I described?

[Sage of Sagle]

I think it should be code...but that's just me as someone who had a home built, and had one put in our upstairs laundry room. But the idea of 10-20 gallons whooshing out onto upper floor and go through the joists to the lower floor is unacceptable, especially when it's only a couple hundred bucks to rough in a drain. We're sloping tile to it, and putting a tile splash at the walls, and a 1" lip at the door.

[KristyLiz]

You should d whatever would be to code, if for no other reason than for resale. However, with that being said, we just moved into a brand new house and the laundry room is off the kitchen and the overflow pipe is directed into the garage. So, if the washer overflows, the water will come out by the garage door.

[Driller1]

Originally Posted by rubytue

Our washer is currently in the garage. We plan on framing off the back part of the garage to turn it into a real laundry room (namely so that I can separate saw dust from clean laundry ). The garage floor is about 2 inches lower than the floors in the house - so there is a slight step down into the garage/new laundry area. The sump pump is located in the back corner of the garage about 5-8 feet from the washer. Annoyingly, the garage floor slopes away from the sump pump - as we discovered when the washer overflowed while we were on vacation. The main waste line runs down opposite side of the garage, also about 7 feet from the washer. The washer drains into the slop sink. Wastewater treatment is via septic, not public sewer. Washer is a front load, currently on the ground (but give me and excuse to put it on a stand, please )

Also, lets ignore permitting issues right now. We do pull permits, thought I'm not sure we will for this one. But right now, I'm just doing the background planning.

So with that background - I have seen some laundry rooms with drains in the floor in case of overflow. Is this a requirement or a "nice to have"? Would it be legal for us to route a drain to the sump pump for overflow or do we need to tie into the main drain line? Any ideas on the most cost effective way to provide overflow protection given the setup I described?

Where I live, it would be easier to tie it in the main drain. It would be a problem with the heath department. Some older homes have "dry wells" for this. They make us consider it a 50 foot source of contamination. The same as a septic.

[Tesaje]

I'm in MD. I couldn't have a washer in the garage because of winter freezing temperatures. Mine is on the 2nd floor with a shower pan and drain. The drain exits the house outside under the deck. My home inspector said that this no longer meets code and to meet code it would have to be drained into the main septic drains.
But he also said as an emergency overflow measure, it did the job and the ground slopes away from the house so any water would flow out.

The trouble with a drain into a sump is that you have to have electricity for the pump to get the water out, so if the overflow was needed and the electricity was off, you would have a problem. Also, it would have the same effect as my set up where the waste water would be put outside and not thru the septic.

[rubytue]

Thanks for the replies! I had a sneaking suspicion I would need to go to the main drain line. Its not that far away, I just don't want to bust up the concrete to get there. I *might* be able to build up a platform for the washer so I have room to run a drain. I definitely want to be to code, permit or not. But I really, really, really don't want to bust up the concrete. I'm sure we could, it just makes the project seem far more overwhelming than throwing up a few walls

I didn't mention it, but we are on well, too. So, if the power is out, there isn't much of a chance the washer will overflow. Yeah, it possible, but it would require draining the hot water heater and the pressure tank One of these days we will install the generator to power our pumps and fridge in case of a power outage.

As for the freezing - our garage stays fairly warm in the winter. The fuel oil burners (furnace and H2O heater) are in the garage, and it is 2/3 underground. I think the water lines in the garage are below the frost line outside. Although, this brings up another thing I hadn't thought about. If I frame in walls and insulate the walls, am I now opening up the possibly that my pipes might freeze? Had not thought of that. If I am right and my water lines are over 18" below grade, am I safe?

[Driller1]

When we install a water line, we put them at least 5 foot. More if under a driveway.