It often happens that, owing to restore the entire bathroom, we are faced with the choice between floor sink and floor drain. In the first case, the installation of the floor drain is on the wall and the water must necessarily flow from the drainpipe positioned on the wall that supports the toilet.
Main differences: floor sink vs floor drain
For floor sanitary ware, given the structure of the toilet, it is possible to choose between two different drainage structures and very often it is necessary to deal with the plumbing system in our apartment.
What is the floor sink?
A floor sink indicates a tub with running water and drainage in a more general way. The term has been transformed, mainly in Lombardy, into a floor sink. The word “floor sink” is indicated for sanitary ware placed in service bathrooms and laundry. Still, it is also used to indicate the ceramic basin placed in hotel rooms with no bathroom in the room. Today with floor sink, we mainly refer to the kitchen, formerly identified with the term sink. It indicated the basin with running water where the dishes were washed, but now a term is no longer in use.
What is a floor drain?
A floor drain is placed at the lowest point of the floor and liquids that can settle on the floor are automatically directed to the drain from the slope of the floor. The drain empties into a drain field or is pumped into an external drain field by a sump pump. The floor drain has a grille covering the drain and preventing small objects from entering the drain or damaging the pump.
Most floor drains found inside a home are located in the basement. Typically, the basement has a concrete floor and the builder incorporates a floor drain into it. During construction, the concrete for the foundations is typically poured and troweled into a slope running from the outer walls towards the center of the floor. The drain is placed in the center of the floor and allows water drainage or any other liquids from the house.
How floor sink and floor drain work?
Many people ask us which is the most technically advantageous solution for floor draining and before giving an answer, let’s make a brief summary of the two most common and used: the floor sink and the floor drain.
The floor sink (model P trap) can be used with any type of wall-hung, floor and flush-to-wall sanitary ware and toilet. The connection to the fecal column is made through a hole located on the back of the toilet.
The floor drain (model S) is instead the traditional and most common solution on all old models of pots. This is a direct connection between the hole in the base of the toilet and the hole in the floor drain pipe.
It is a common opinion that the second solution, that of the floor drain on the ground, is more efficient and less subject to clogging due to its very conformation. It seems, in fact, that without any curve, the excrements can flow more easily.
However, the considerable diffusion of wall drains in recent years makes it easy to understand that there is not much difference between one solution and the other. In the end, it all depends on two factors: the aesthetic one and the functional one.
The aesthetic aspect concerns the type of sanitary ware that we want to install in our bathroom. For example, if we prefer a suspended sanitary ware, we should necessarily opt for the floor drain.
The functional aspect concerns the wall structure of our apartment and the disposition of the drains. In old houses, it is very easy to find floor drains and to install a more modern type of sanitary ware, one is often forced to intervene with economically expensive works.
The technical curve
If you have an old-style floor drain in your home and still want to install your newly purchased bathroom fixtures, don’t despair! It will not be necessary at all to start expensive renovations, but it will be enough to get a simple, cheap and ingenious accessory: “the technical curve. “
It is a small tubular fitting designed to adapt a toilet with a wall drain to the drain hole you have on the floor.
Usually, the technical curve is also used to eliminate small losses due to normal wear. Its application is very simple and there will be no need for interventions on the wall structure and the exhaust system.