Are you thinking about replacing your parking garage drains at your Chicago building? Parking garage drains are essential for funneling stormwater out of your garage and preventing large puddles and floods that could damage vehicles and temporarily decrease available parking spaces. To avoid these hazards, you’ll want to keep your drains well maintained. However, even with the best preventive maintenance program, your drains will still deteriorate due to age and corrosion. When this happens, you’ll want to start planning for a garage drain replacement. Thankfully, here at Nu Flow, serving the greater Chicago area, we can help you determine if garage drain replacement and/or pipelining is right for your property.
Reasons Your Parking Garage Drains Need Replaced
Parking garage drains are typically made out of cast iron, which can last between 75 and 100 years. However, under real-life conditions, they rarely last that long. This is because cast iron can rust, corrode and clog.
- Rusting – Cast iron pipes can rust. When water, air, and iron mix, oxidation occurs. This oxidation appears as a powdery red substance, which is also known as rust. If a cast iron pipe experiences enough rust, holes can form.
- Corrosion – The rusting of cast iron pipes can also be called corrosion. Corrosion is characterized by a discoloration of the pipes, holes, cracks, and blockages. When this occurs, the garage drain lines can partially and fully clog, leading to garage drain backups and flooding.
- Clogs – Clogs can occur due to corrosion and debris. Garage drains can develop a buildup of leaves, twigs, trash, and dirt. If the clog completely blocks the pipe, it can lead to excessive water on your garage floors. In severe cases, the floor of the garage can flood, causing a hazard to vehicles.
- Cracks – Cracks in garage drain pipes can occur due to rust, corrosion, soil settling, and chemical infiltration, like from winter salt and de-icing mixes. When cracks occur, they create rough areas in the pipes that can attract trash, dirt, leaves, twigs, and debris, leading to frequent clogs and the need to garage drain hydro jet services.
Signs Your Chicago Building’s Garage Drains Need Replaced
If you are debating whether or not your Chicago garage drains and plumbing pipes need to be replaced, consider these signs.
1. They Are More Than 25 Years Old
While cast-iron garage drain pipes can be expected to last 75 years or longer, the chemicals used to deice the roads and car fluids, like antifreeze, can cause premature deterioration of the metal. This is because these chemicals can react with the metal, causing corrosion and rust. If the corrosion and rust become severe enough, clogs and garage drain backups can occur.
2. You Are Having to Clean Your Garage Drains More Frequently Than Normal
Are the spring storms and rains causing frequent garage drain backups? Garage drains and drain pipes should be hydro jetted to clear debris every one to two years. If you are having to clean your garage plumbing system more frequently, the pipes may be nearing the end of their useful lives. The good news is that a camera inspection can help determine if your pipes need to be replaced or if they can withstand another few years.
3. Your Parking Garage Experiences Frequent Flooding
Clogs due to debris, especially in the spring and fall can lead to flooding in your Chicago parking garage. Clogs most often occur when debris collects along rough areas, which have deteriorated due to rust, corrosion, or chemical infiltration. If you notice that your garage is always wet or experiences frequent floods, it may be time to replace the cast iron drain pipes.
Parking Garage Drain Replacement with Epoxy Pre-Lining
Sometimes, the best solution to your garage drain pipe woes is the total replacement of the pipes. Completely replacing your garage drain pipes can give you decades of reliable service without worrying about clogs and floods in your garage.
If you wish to further extend and maximize the useful lives of your new garage drain pipes, our technicians at Nu Flow urge you to try preemptive pipelining. This process involves lining your garage drain pipes prior to installation. This lining process prevents water and chemicals, including ice-melt mixes, from coming into contact with the cast iron of the drain pipe. Once the pipes are lined, it prevents corrosion and rust on the inside of the pipe. Not to mention, every pipelining job that we perform is warrantied for 10 years.
Benefits of Lining Your New Garage Drain Pipes with Epoxy
- Maximize your pipes’ useful lives
- Prevent corrosion and rust from salt and ice-melt chemical mixtures
- Reduce the likelihood of clogs by ensuring the interior pipe walls are smooth.
- Save money with reduced maintenance costs.
Scheduling Pipelining With Nu Flow
Out technicians at Nu Flow understand that you want the maximum amount of useful life out of your garage drain pipes so that you can minimize costs while helping to keep your garage floors clean and dry for your residents, employees, and guests. This is why we recommend lining garage pipes before installation. To learn more about our pipelining services for garage drains, drain pipes, and potable water lines, give us a call at 815-790-9000.