How to add utility sink to garage metal shop?

Got my metal lathe and mill in the garage - Significant Other is tired of me washing my oily hands (and parts) in her kitchen.

Has anyone installed a utility sink in the garage? The issue I have is the gas water heater, gas furnance, and access to the drain sits on a

16" high platform. No room on the platform to set the sink, so it would need to go on the floor with a pump for drainage. I'm on sewer - not septic.

Has anyone done this type of installation? Type of pump? Total cost? Should I have a pro install it?

Ed

Reply to
cascadiadesign
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Maybe I'm not understanding so well. You already have the hot waster tank and a drain in the garage?

A fiberglass laundry sink works out quite well for a shop sink. I would need to double check, but I think they can make the drain at

16" above finish floor. If you do have plumbing in the wall now, it has to be going down hill. It is fairly simple in this day and age of PVC piping to cut into the wall and add a fitting lower if need be. They come as singles and doubles. Here is an example:
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legality, code issues abound, but a shop sink is often piped to a drywell as gray water. I tried one of the small electric inline hot water heaters - never again, total waste of time/effort/money, though it sounds as if you have hot water available. If not, a 2.5 gallon electric is common and fairly easy to plumb. I sure like having a sink in the shop for hands, coffee, and a million other uses. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DanG A live singing Valentine, the most romantic thing you can do with your clothes on snipped-for-privacy@okchorale.org (local)
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(national)

Reply to
DanG

If it's not pretty obvious to you, it might be better to hire a pro, in the hopes of not missing something that should be "obvious". And/or your local inspection authority (probably applicable if you are on a sewer) might make your life expensive if you don't, and connect something to the sewer in a way they don't like. It's not rocket science, but there are some subtleties to plumbing, particularly the drain end of things. Slopes, vents, trap types, length limits. However, there are also books; try your library. As an educated amateur I've been a bit aghast at some things I've come across done by uneducated amateurs, such as the house with no traps at all, which must have been a delight to live in with all the sewer gas venting into the house.

If the "access to the drain" is 16 inches off the floor, my first thought is that you might not need a pump at all - simplifies things a great deal. Just use a sink that's shallow enough that the drain coming out of the trap ends up that far off the floor, plus 1/8 of an inch per foot (to allow for proper drainage to the drain, from the sink drain).

If you do need a pump, they are commonly available at real plumbing supply houses, though the BORGs of the world may not have them. We've got a few in the basement, I don't recall the brand, but they are basically a little canister with a big pump in it that lifts the water from floor level to above the sewer drain (some 4 feet off the floor). No doubt morally equivalent to a sump pump in a bucket, but actually packaged for the task at hand, rather than actually being a sump pump in a bucket. There's a check valve on the output, and the drain from the high point to the sewer line is sloped as usual (between 1/8 and 1/4 inch per foot).

Reply to
Ecnerwal

Before you go hogwild, I suggest you get some hand cleaner and rags and use hand cleaner without water to get 95% of the dirt off before you come into the house.

When I remodeled my basement 2-car garage plus machinery room into a shop, I put both a utility sink AND a toilet into the machinery room. Oh, what a relief it is .. I was getting real tired of that bottle labeled MEN. :-)

GWE

snipped-for-privacy@comcast.net wrote:

Reply to
Grant Erwin

snipped-for-privacy@comcast.net wrote: The issue I have is

When you mention "access to drain" above, what sort of drain are you taking about? The only drain required by the hot water heater is an overflow drain, and this is not a sanitary drain, i.e., hooked into the sewer system. Most more modern sink drains (older houses may vary!) are roughed-in at about 12" above the floor. The pipe will be 1-1/2 or 2" PVC or cast iron (sometimes galvanized) depending on the age of the installation. Make sure the drain is, in fact sanitary, before going any further.

If it is, cost to have plumber put in a pump, and required electrical, is probably around 2K, varying a lot by region. Might be easier (and a DIY job) to extend the platform, install the sink on the platform, and stand on the platform to wash your hands. Verify the type drain first, then study the plumbing under your kitchen sink to help determine what elevation the garage sink should be, and if it is feasible.

Reply to
Gary Brady

I should have clarified - the access to the drain plug is 18" above the

16" high platform, so it looks like I need a drain pump.

Thanks for all the inputs - I think I'll contact a plumber and wait for the sticker shock.

Ed

snipped-for-privacy@comcast.net wrote:

Reply to
cascadiadesign

snipped-for-privacy@comcast.net wrote: > Thanks for all the inputs - I think I'll contact a plumber and wait for

Let us know how it works out, including price and geographical location. If I picture the situation correctly, a plumber may be able to come up with a workable solution without the pump. Of course, it's hard to see through this keyboard. :)

Reply to
Gary Brady

You can find that type of setup at Home Depot or Lowe's. Not that big of a deal to install, as long as you vent it and pipe it properly. Not sure what the current cost is. Google ejector pump, you should find some examples of a combo pump and poly tank.

Reply to
ATP*

Pretty easy to do. They make deep sinks with pumps aleady for this type of application. The pump just plugs in so no wiring to do. You can pick these up at Home Depot, Lowes, etc. THe plumbing piece is pretty easy also, two outlets, one for the water and one for the vent. I put one in my shop. Pretty straight forward.

Reply to
pccruiser

You mean the pump is built into the sink or are you talking about the basin that goes into the floor with the ejector pump in it?

Reply to
ATP*

Not necessarily - all you really need is one of the basin and pump systems like at the top of this page:

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No connection, I just Googled and gave the first relevant link. You can order these through your local Home Depot, Lowe's, Etc. Then go up and into the drain cleanout you have up on the furnace platform.

Be sure to connect a vent line between the basin and the plumbing vent system up to the roof, and a P-trap between the sink and the pump basin - keep any noxious/poisonous gases (H2S) safely contained.

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Reply to
Bruce L. Bergman

I really don't know the constraints that you have but if room is one of them, you could make a folding sink that would go against the wall when not in use.

Flex tubing is readily available and cheap.

b.

Reply to
buffalo

Even if they do not, he may well be able to extend that 16" high platform on which the water heater etc is mounted to make room for the sink.

But a shallow stainless steel sink, adequate for handwashing, will surely fit with room underneath for th trap and drain.

Reply to
fredfighter

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