Sugarhouse slab drain & electrical conduit

[m2salmon]

I've got trees cleared for my sugarhouse build & sub-base built-up & compacted. Planning a 4" slab w/ 2" foamboard, 6mil poly, & 1/2" rebar grid.

I want to put in at least one floor drain & 1-2 runs for electrical stub-outs- one next to the evaporator for blower fan & maybe auto-draw-off & another at the back of the sugarhouse for a small head-tank pump.

What type of drain pipe would you guys use to go in the slab & daylight ~20' away? What type of flexible conduit would you use for 12-14 ga. flexible wiring that I can pull after slab is poured? Not sure if typical indoor PVC pipe is acceptable for the drain or if I need something different.

I'm planning on prepping rebar, plumbing, sub-base, and forms. I was looking to rent a bull float & concrete hand float, edger etc & try to handle the pour myself. Not seeing much for rental options & I don't want to buy the tools just for a 14x16' slab. Paying someone to help me on the day of the pour, someone who has the finishing tools seems like money well spent. Any recommendations for someone around Chittenden Cty Vermont who may be interested would be much appreciated!

[Andy VT]

I don't know much about concrete yet but I do know that in these situations, buying the equipment, using it once, and then selling it can be a very cost effective "rental" sometimes! (but hopefully someone actually answers your actual question). Thanks for the sugarhouse update, hope I can come see!

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

Sch 40 PVC or SDR-35 for drain. SDR-35 is a little cheaper and perfectly fine. We are running 4" SDR-35 in our new shack. We will have drains on either end of the evapoartor, one or two in the RO room and another one in the open storage area of the shack. Plumbing all connected to one outlet, all under slab.

[maple flats]

For electrical conduit, PVC conduit is fine. Be sure to tie it to the rebar to hold in place, use 1 size larger than normal which will make pulling the wires through. When pulling, run a fish tape through, then tie the wires to the eye on the end, that works best if you hook 1 wire to the eye, bend that wire 180 degrees, then using good quality electrical tape to hold the rest of the wires tight to the first one. Wrap about 6-8" back all of the way from the hook. Have the wire 10" extra length, because the best way once pulled through it's easiest to cut the wire ends and scrap the ends. However if you want, you can fight it and remove the tape, it will be a real chore! You're best off running THHN rather than Romex or direct burial. When you strip the plastic insulation layer off the first one to go in the fish tape eye, strip 1.25-1.5" long, it holds far better than a 5/8" you'de usually strip.

[BAP]

Do Not use the cheap thin walled drain pipe like you can buy at Home Depot or Lowe’s. If you end up with hot water going down the drain from a hood or steam away the thin wall pipe will collapse over time.

[ToadHill]

If you intend to run a Steam Away do not use plastic for the drain. Been there, done that. Doesn't work. The condensate from a Steam Away will run 190-200 degrees. Any plastic will severely deform. Use copper or iron for the drain or just put in a separate pipe for the Steam Away.

[DrTimPerkins]

Agree regarding not using pvc if planning on hot water disposal down the drain. Also, if you are using an RO or might at some point in the future, put in a separate drain for the RO line. Probably more regulations on RO wastewater disposal coming down the road in the future.

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

That is good advice for not running hot water directly from a hood to a PVC drain. It could fail over time but many have done it. Likely a small sag in a pipe holding water if it was PVC Sch 40 or SDR-35 that completely failed. Chink any drain pipe thoroughly in crushed stone and get 1-2% pitch if you can, minimum 0.5%. Save what little bit of hot water you will generate for cleaning or just collect it in a metal bucket and dispose. Might be a few gallons every boil for your size. Check the original post though folks, 99 taps and a 14x16 slab for the sugar house. I don’t think the OP is running a steam-away and 3 post RO.
2 thoughts on the RO plumbing. We had to answer some questions before our building permit was approved. They asked about RO waste and we gave them some honest answers, permit approved. I can’t imagine not being grandfathered if you had an approved building permit then they changed regulations. Could be totally different in VT but I would argue it pretty hard here. Are they going to make every sugar shack in the state that has been around for years comply with new regulations? If you add a 2nd drain pipe for the RO, are you just setting yourself for having to comply? Just curious.

[m2salmon]

Thank you for all the great feedback! 99 taps was combined with my brother. The 14x16 I’m building will be for just 50-60 taps. I do have a bucket RO and would like a small hood mostly to make hot water in the sugarhouse. Planning on running a 2x3 Smokey Lake Full Pint pan, so not a ton of hood condensate to drain.

[VT_K9]

Before we built our new sugarhouse I stopped at a few. I noticed a couple had cracks in the floor. I learned this is where they ran conduit in the concrete. I ran the entrance/exit points 90 degrees to the floor and horizontal below grade.

Our drains are Schedule 40 PVC. We have a steam away we ran into a 100 gallon tank as we wanted to use it for cleaning. I would agree do not run the steam away directly into plastic. Maybe a large tank for use and then drain later. We installed a 4' grate type drain near the evaporator and holding tanks. We installed a separate drain in the RO room, however both drains combine into one exit.

We did the prep work (we used styrofoam forms for our forms and they act as additional insulation) and consulted a concrete company before they poured to make sure everything was acceptable to them. They were there the day of the pour and finished the concrete.

Mike