Unpopular opinion: chasing the perfect 1 degree slope on floor drains is a waste of time

I spent the first 5 years of my career obsessing over getting every floor drain pitched exactly 1 degree until I poured a slab in Fargo that had a 3 degree slope by accident. The builder actually said it drains way better and nobody notices the angle. Now I just make sure it has some slope and move on, has anyone else stopped sweating the small stuff?

3 comments

3 Comments

henry1501d ago

Guess what happens when that perfectly leveled toilet sits for a year and then the house foundation settles just a hair. You end up with a wobble that was fine on day one but now drives you nuts every time you sit down. The real trick is leaving just a tiny bit of play in the shims so the toilet can settle with the house without cracking the porcelain. That way it stays rock solid through seasonal shifts and weird slab movements. I learned that one by finding a cracked toilet base the hard way after a wet spring.

joseph481d ago

Man I once spent two hours leveling a toilet and it still wobbles.

adam1861d ago

Honestly I used to be one of those guys who thought leveling a toilet was no big deal, just shove some shims under it and call it a day. But after I rebuilt my whole bathroom floor and realized the subfloor had a slight dip I totally get why you'd spend two hours on it. Tbh it's way more about finding the sweet spot where the bowl sits flat and doesn't rock even a tiny bit, otherwise that wax seal is gonna fail eventually. Ngl it's frustrating because you think you're done and then you put the tank on and the weight changes everything. I've definitely been there where I had to pull it back off three times and I was ready to just leave it crooked out of spite.