I’ve been seeing an increased interest in stainless steel trench drains for shower applications.  This trend is said to be associated with the aging of the baby boomers.  As the boomers get older, there is a growing need for rim-less showers (or boundry-less showers) for better wheel chair access.  

Standard showers have an edge of ceramic or plastic flooring at the base of the shower door to help hold the water in while bathing.  However, this edge is a problem to a person in a walker or wheel chair that wants to take a shower.  It would be easier just to roll in and not have to worry about the ledge.  Some clever architects are designing showers to have trench drains in front of the doors or covering the entire floor of the shower.  In this way, water can be confined to the places you need without that pesky little ledge that can lead to a life threatening trip and fall. 

Two photos of the stainless steel drains available to use in this application are below.

Stainless Perforated Slot Grating - This is a 4″ wide trench that is 6″ deep.  The 3/8″ wide slots can be replaced with 3/8″ holes on a closer pattern, if desired.

For most shower applications, the drain is made to a 3′ 1″ length.  (Showers are 3 feet wide).  However, these products can be made to any length or width.

Stainless ADA Bar Grating - I’d say, this is my favorite grating.  Again, it can be made to most any width.  This particular photo is of an 8″ wide product.  It will fit into a stainless steel channel of your design (as long as our manufacturer can make it). 

I spoke to one architect that wanted to have an entire bathroom floor to be a drain so it would be easier to bath a wheel chair user.  For this application, a portable hand held shower would be used for the washing.  When water would fall to the floor, it would be easily be drained away.  The ADA steel bar grate would be perfect for this application.  The size of the grate would have to be 4′ x 6′, or so.    This is very common in the entry way of some commercial buildings now.  Why not in the home?

The architect’s request reminded me of the bathrooms I had seen in South America.  In my wife’s apartment (in Brazil), you can actually use the toilet and take a shower at the same time.  The all ceramic bathroom and concrete construction of the building lends itself to this design concept.  With the use of large area drains, this same design can be safely utilized in wood framed structures.

There are some stainless steel products and sizes that are commonly made by our manufacturer.  But, don’t be afraid of requesting a custom product.  Give me a call @ 610-882-3630 if you are thinking about a stainless steel trench drain for a shower (or any other) application.  I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

Thanks for visiting TrenchDrainBlog.com.  Log on to TrenchDrain.Biz in your spare time.

Michael

My daughter, Ligia, was in from Brazil to visit in March.  We took one weekend and went to Washinton DC to see some sights.  The weather was sunny, but cool.  (I think I got sun burn and wind burn at the same time.)

 While checking out the monuments (and getting a little sentimental), I was able to look at some trench drain.  Let me show you two that were interesting to me.

Trench Drain at the Lincoln Memorial Steps - These drains must have looked beautiful when they were originally installed at the base of the granite steps leading up to the Lincoln Memorial.  Now they sport a handsome green oxidation coat- the original finish must have been a brilliant bronze or brass.   These 4″ wide drains are filled with dirt and sediment, an indication that they probably are not pre-sloped.  (Maybe, also, an indication of the maintenance budget.)  I’m not certain they are really needed here, any way. 

No matter, the monument would look nicer if these drains were again put in service.  Any volunteers to help clean these out?

Trench Drain at the Native American Museum - If you like Native American Culture and artifacts, this museum has something for you.  I was impressed with a number of aspects of the buildings architecture.  The granite trench drain grates running through the courtyard and water sculpture areas caught my eye.

These grates are probably the most expensive pedestrian grates I’ve ever seen.  Let’s not even talk about the percent open space for efficient water drainage……  You can see they are ADA approved, but I’m not certain if they are heel proof.  Are those holes 3/8″ diameter or smaller ???

No matter, the weekend was beautiful and educational.  Maybe you have a unusual trench drain system or grate you want to share.  Let me know.  Thanks……………….Michael 

Trench drain has many residential, commercial, industrial and transportation applications.  The most common question I receive from home owners (residential) deal with driveway drainage problems.   (I had this question today, so I’m writing about it, now.) 

(Q)  When a driveway slopes down from the road toward the house, there is the propensity for rain water to flow into the garage and lower house during heavy down pours.   How can this be corrected? 

(A)  Any drain system installed in the driveway will help.  However, you need to know how much run-off water to expect on a heavy down pour.  A simple 12″x12″ square drain might be adequate.  However, watch out for the clogging of small drains by leaves and trash which will put your garage and basement ”back in the drink”. 

If you are going to install a drain in an existing driveway, I recommend putting in a trench drain.  You will need to cut and patch the concrete or asphalt driveway no matter which system you use.  There will be more cutting and patching with the trench system.  However, with the trench drain system, you will receive far more drainage for the amount of work applied to the project. 

Again, the size of the trench drain will depend on the driveway dimensions and anticipated rain fall.  For small driveways with light automobile traffic, a 4 inch wide (inside dimension) trench drain with a Class B grate should be adequate.  For longer driveways that generate scary amounts of water, use an 8 inch wide trench with a cast iron grate.  Make the length of the drain 80% - 100% the width of the drive. 

You are going to need to drain the rain water away from the trench drain, as well.  To do this, you will have to dig a trench in your yard and place a drain pipe from the drain system to the nearest storm sewer or hillside.  Use the flexible perforated 4″ diameter black pipe that is commonly used in french drains.  Be sure to place coarse gravel around the drain pipe so that you don’t fill the perforations with dirt.  This drain pipe will help keep your  yard drier, as well.

                                                                                Michael