Floor drains are one of the materials used in home waterway decoration. Although they are small, they are very important. Often, homeowners report that the floor drains in their homes are clogged or do not prevent odors, etc. This is caused by not choosing the right floor drain. There are many types of floor drains, and each type has its own advantages and disadvantages. What exactly are they? Let's take a look with the editor:

What is a floor drain?

The floor drain is an important interface connecting the drainage pipe system with the indoor floor. As a key component of the drainage system in a residence, its performance directly affects the quality of indoor air and is of great significance for controlling the odor in the bathroom.

Analysis of the Types, Advantages and Disadvantages of floor drains:

Shallow water seal floor drain: The history of shallow water seal floor drain is long. Its major drawback is that if it is not used for a few days, the trap will not hold water, allowing the stench and pests from the sewer pipe to penetrate. Shallow water seals need to be used frequently; otherwise, they are prone to drying up. Additionally, in high-rise buildings, the high drainage pressure can cause damage to the water seal. Shallow water seal floor drains have gradually been covered.

2. Deep-water seal floor drain: Some manufacturers, in order to overcome the above drawbacks, raise the water seal by approximately 7-8cm and conduct tests with quartz sand, which shows that the water flow is very fast and the sand can be flushed out without clogging. However, in reality, there is rarely any sand in the bathroom. The sewage contains a lot of sticky impurities. The deeper the water seal, the larger the area where hair adheres to these sticky impurities, which stick to the bottom of the trap and cannot be cleaned. After a period of time, it will cause the water passage to become narrower and narrower, and the drainage will be poor. At the same time, the overall height of the floor drain has increased, making it impossible to install in many areas where the pipes are laid relatively shallowly. Therefore, when purchasing a floor drain, it is also necessary to check whether the height of the drainage pipe can accommodate an extended floor drain.

3. Wide-mouth water-sealed floor drain: The wide-mouth water-sealed floor drain is an upgraded version of the deep-water sealed floor drain. This type of wide-mouth water-sealed floor drain has a single drainage outlet, which can achieve fast drainage without clogging. Moreover, the water seal can completely block, prevent odors and insects. At present, the price of this kind of floor drain is relatively high.

Advantages: It can effectively prevent odors for a long time. Disadvantages: There are few products on it and the price is high

4. Water-sealed floor drain with a lid: The principle of the water-sealed floor drain is that a protruding part on the back of the lid forms a water seal with the inside of the floor drain body to prevent odor. However, because the water seal is particularly shallow, the truly effective water seal that works is only about half a centimeter. As long as the toilet upstairs is flushed, the positive and negative pressure in the pipe will destroy the water in the floor drain. The foul smell can enter the room without hindrance, but this kind of floor drain cannot effectively prevent the odor. Moreover, due to its own design flaws, the floor drain is prone to clogging and drains very slowly. (Note: The national Building drainage Code clearly stipulates that this type of shallow water-sealed floor drain must be phased out and prohibited for use in projects and decoration.)

Disadvantages: This type of water-sealed floor drain cannot effectively prevent odors, is prone to clogging and drains slowly. Advantage: The price is relatively low.

5. Spring-type floor drains: They are divided into top-spring type and bottom-spring type. The pop-up type is to press the cover plate, which pops up. Press it again and it will return to its original position. The lower spring type uses a spring to stretch the sealing gasket at the lower end of the sealing core for sealing. As the spring is made of boron-iron, it is prone to rust, its elasticity gradually weakens until it fails, and its service life is not long. In addition, the spring is prone to entanglement with hair and fabrics and is difficult to clean.

Advantage: It has a very good anti-odor effect. Disadvantages: Slow drainage speed and prone to clogging for household use.

6. Flip floor drain: It opens when water comes and closes when there is no water by taking advantage of gravity. It seems to prevent odors, but in actual use, the situation is quite different.

Disadvantages: These self-sealing floor drains cannot prevent odors, are prone to clogging and have a short lifespan. Advantages: There are many choices of panel styles and designs.

7. Float ball floor drain: It utilizes the buoyancy of water to lift a round ball and seal the drainage outlet to achieve the anti-odor function. When water flows into the drain of the floor drain, the buoyancy of the water decreases and the float ball rises, allowing the sewage to be discharged. When there is no water, the float ball falling will seal the drainage outlet to achieve the sealing function. It needs to be cleaned frequently.

Disadvantages: Poor drainage function, prone to clogging, and prone to retaining dirt to lift the float ball and lose its sealing function. Advantage: Long service life.

8. Plastic basket type floor drain: A plastic basket is used instead of a bowl. This is another form of water-sealed floor drain, but it is more convenient to clean.

9. Eccentric block-type sealed floor drain: The bottom of the floor drain is sealed with a plastic gasket with a lead drop on one side. The seal is not tight. Meanwhile, the metal pins are prone to rust, damage and failure, and have a short service life.

10. Magnet type sealed floor drain: It is sealed by the attraction of two magnets. Due to the extremely poor quality of surface water, such as brushing the floor and various other reasons, some iron impurities in the dirt will adhere between the two magnets and gradually accumulate, which will cause the two magnets to be unable to fully engage, and the sealing gasket will also be unable to seal completely. In addition, the magnetic force of a magnet in sewage is not as stable as that in air. The effect of the Earth's large magnetic field will also gradually weaken the magnetic force, so its performance is not very stable.

11. Mechanical gravity sealed floor drain: It adopts the mechanical gravity principle and piston structure, and uses the balance relationship between the slider inside the sealing core and the water flow to open and close the sealing gasket. Because it does not require water seals and does not rely on external force for sealing, its performance is stable and its service life is long.