Floor drains are not just square or round. For us, the most familiar ones are definitely (small) square or round floor drains. This is due to both cost and price reasons as well as issues related to building standards.

The floor drain is actually the ultimate manifestation of an indoor drainage system.

Strip floor drain

As the name suggests, a strip-shaped floor drain is a long strip-shaped floor drain. This kind of floor drain looks very regular and blends well with the floor tiles, giving a strong sense of technology. In addition to its fashionable appearance, it also excels in practicality.

It gets into the water faster and doesn't flood your feet

Compared with square or round floor drains, strip floor drains drain faster. Firstly, their water collection area is larger. Although the area of the drain pipe remains unchanged, the amount of water discharged increases.

② Not prone to clogging

Because of its large water collection area, it is not easily clogged by hair. If the floor drain is relatively small, with just a small round hole, hair will pile up here and it's very easy for water to flood. If it were a large strip-shaped floor drain, it would probably take losing all one's hair to block it completely.

③ The slope for leveling is small and the construction is convenient

The drainage slope of a general strip floor drain facing the floor drain only needs to be 1%, while that of a common floor drain is between 1.5% and 3%, which is also much simpler in terms of construction.

There are also various different shapes available for selection in the strip floor drain:

Solid cover plate type

Hollowed-out cover panel

Water-breaking trough type strip floor drain.

The water-blocking trough type floor drain is longer than the ordinary strip floor drain. It is installed at the junction of the dry and wet separation in the bathroom. It not only has the function of a floor drain but also can block the water flow on the floor, achieving the effect of dry and wet separation. It is much better than the water-blocking strip.

The water-breaking trough type floor drain can also be designed in a circle around the glass shower enclosure, achieving a better dry-wet separation effect.

Invisible floor drain

Invisible floor drains come in various shapes. The only difference from ordinary floor drains is that they can be embedded with tiles. The cover plate of a general invisible floor drain is dual-purpose, with the front being a common solid metal cover plate, which gives it a more technological feel. When the cover plate is turned over, tiles of the corresponding size can be embedded, keeping in line with the bathroom floor and achieving an invisible effect.

Wall-mounted floor drain

Wall-mounted floor drains are the most aesthetically pleasing in my opinion. They only leave a gap at the junction of the wall and the floor as a drainage outlet, and their invisible effect is even better than that of the aforementioned invisible floor drains. The biggest difference between wall-mounted floor drains and ordinary floor drains lies in that the drainage pipe runs through the wall, which is the same principle as wall-mounted toilets and wall-mounted washbasins.

Wall-mounted drainage pipe

Floor drain with floor MATS

The design of the footpad floor drain is also very ingenious in terms of function. The slightly raised floor drain acts as a slotted plate, while the lower part around it becomes a water channel, which can not only prevent slipping but also drain water quickly. Such drainage designs are not unique to foreign countries; they have long existed in China. For instance, the marble grooved floors that we often see in hotel bathrooms.

Regarding the issue of odor return from floor drains

In fact, the root cause of the floor drain odor problem does not lie with the floor drain itself.

Where does the stench come from? Sewage pipe.

According to the standard, the sewage pipe (the pipe used for the toilet) and the drainage pipe should be separated. However, in reality, in a large proportion of residential buildings, the sewage pipe and the drainage pipe eventually converge into one main pipe, so that the foul smell from the sewage pipe can be released through the drainage pipe from the floor drain. Most of the houses that develop a bad smell occur under such circumstances. Normally, there should be three main pipes on the facade of a building, namely the drainage pipe, the sewage pipe and the exhaust pipe. However, many residential buildings only have two. So, generally, the pipes at the downspouts are equipped with built-in traps to use accumulated water to isolate odors.

Nowadays, many homeowners are afraid of clogging and thus do not use water traps during decoration. Under such circumstances, floor drains are prone to emitting a foul smell. Even with a trap, it is not foolproof. Because once the water in the trap is insufficient, the foul smell will escape through the accumulated water layer. When will the water supply be insufficient? When you flush the toilet or use the sink, the air pressure in the drain pipe changes, which will suck out a little of the water in the trap. If people keep flushing the toilet but no one takes a bath, and there is no water replenishment in the trap under the floor drain, when the water volume is insufficient, a bad smell will occur.

Therefore, to ensure the normal operation of the water seal, experienced installers will add a return pipe section after the convergence point of the sewage pipe and the drainage pipe (by raising it to make this section only contain air). In this way, once the air pressure in the drainage pipe changes, the air in the exhaust pipe will be immediately replenished, and the water in the water bay will not be sucked out. If the water in the reservoir is always sufficient, the smell will naturally not return.

Return gas pipe

The benefits of the return pipe not only extend to the floor drain, but also ensure the normal operation of all water traps. In other words, with it, there is no need to worry about the problem of odor return at the toilet, the drain of the washbasin, or the floor drain.

To sum up, to solve the problem of floor drain odor from the root, two points should be achieved:

1. Add a trap at the floor drain.

Some people are worried about the clogging problem. In fact, it is the toilet that is prone to clogging, while clogging is rarely seen at the floor drain. The only foreign object that can cause blockage at the floor drain is hair, which is usually filtered out by the drainage cover plate and the hair-blocking net.

2. Equipped with a return air pipe

If the above two points are not achieved, the floor drain will be the only barrier to prevent foul odors.

Anti-odor is a basic function of floor drains. Nowadays, most of the floor drains popular on the market have anti-odor functions.

Floor drains can be classified into two types based on their anti-odor principles. One is the water-sealed floor drain, which mostly looks like this.

The water in the water seal is used to isolate the foul smell. The principle is the same as that of the water trap. Once there is no water in the water seal, it will fail.

So it should be noted that if the depth of the pipeline permits, deep-water sealed floor drains must be chosen. Floor drains sealed with shallow water hold less water and are prone to drying up and losing their odor.

Another type is the self-sealing floor drain. There are many types of self-sealing floor drains, some relying on magnetic force and some on gravity. In short, the principle is that after draining water, the floor drain can automatically seal under the action of an external force.

There are two common ones:

Compared with water-sealed floor drains, the greatest advantage of self-sealing floor drains is their fast drainage speed. This is because the water flows straight up and down, unlike water-sealed floor drains where the water needs to be buffered for a while in the water seal.

Of course, its drawbacks are also quite obvious. Due to various reasons such as water erosion, over time, the sealing core will age, resulting in weakened magnetic force or mechanical failure, and thus losing its sealing function. Most of these floor drains need to rebound to seal and prevent odors. Once foreign objects stay between the sealing core and the pipe opening, they cannot be closed and thus fail.

As for which one to choose, it depends on a comprehensive consideration. For instance, if your home has a large water flow ceiling sprinkler, you should select a floor drain that drains quickly, such as a strip floor drain or a self-sealing floor drain. If it is used in the dry area of the kitchen or bathroom, then a water-sealed floor drain should not be purchased. This is because the floor hardly needs to drain water, and the water in the water seal will dry up quickly, thus the floor drain will lose its effectiveness.