General Specialties Flood-Guard for 2" Flood Drains

This is an essential item for my home. I highly recommend it. . I have had a 2" version for the last ten years in an outdoor basement stairwell. During that time, my only complain was that it was slow to drain in the forward direction (more on the later). The rubber finally hardened up and it stopped doing its job. I took it out and hoped my problem would magically be gone, but no. Time to buy another. This time, I modified it to increase the forward flow. I opened the three holes on top with a die grinder. But the most improvement came from removing about 3/16" from the long rubber. This allows the valve to open more. It still functions perfectly to prevent back flow, but allows much more volume in the normal flow direction. Again, highly satisfied with this item!

We had our basement flooded with city sewage water three times because the city of Rexburg, ID inspector signed off on an improperly installed back flow preventer. I was quoted over a thousand dollars to install a new floor drain with backflow preventer. A friend recommended this which works perfectly. No more problems.

I was at my wits end trying to figure out why my floor drain kept backing up. And wasted a lot of money on things that did not work., and opinions from so-called plumbers that also didn’t work. This product works beautifully and I’ve never had a backup since I installed it.. super easy to install!

My application is a basement utility room floor drain with routine drainage from air conditioning condensate and overflow from furnace humidifier unit. This drain is not expected to handle any additional routine flow. Unit is sturdy and fit perfectly. Initially concerned because valve travel is zero straight out of the box and basically stuck closed but upon installation tightening the 3 screws that expand the spacer that seal the unit within the drain cause overall height to decrease. Initially tight but I pushed it down the drain pipe passed the small restriction where pipe connects with floor drain fixture and drain pipe diameter slightly larger. Expansion spacer crushes enough to allow in its installed state about 1/4-3/8" vertical travel in the cup that provides the seal against drain backflow. Docked it a star because I think the valve will not handle flow from an event such as a major leak from adjacent hot water heater and there is no documentation to make me think otherwise. This is new house for me and during general inspection discovered prior unit was installed too close to floor drain grate which would have prevented it from functioning and drain was also stuck open. Don't know why it has backflow prevention but basement is partially below grade with septic system and sump pump lifting effluent to the septic system so I assume this is protection in case of pump failure. From that perspective I think this device will work in my application though will require periodic inspection because rubber valve cup/seal on same model of prior valve was significantly degraded for unknown reason. The directions call for grease on valve rod. Be sure to use grease that does not attack rubber. From the documentation and my experience with the old unit I was replacing it sounds like the cupped rubber valve has a tendency to unscrew from its retaining rod. You may want to consider double checking this prior to installation.

Please don't buy any other friction plug other than this. I installed one in the late nineties after many sewer backups and it's worked well. If I had removed it and cleaned and oiled it periodically (as recommended) it would still be working. Even at that, I removed it after a sewer backup a few weeks ago because a lot of lint and dog hair had clogged it and I broke the screws (they're stainless) because I hadn't removed it in 20 years. In spite of that I was still able to drill and tap new screw holes until my new plug arrived. I didn't have stainless screws so I was concerned with a steel screw rusting and breaking. My only problem with both was that I put them into a 2 inch pipe floor flange (2.375 in OD) and the threads were so worn and rusty I had to wrap a piece of rubber strip around it to give it a good grip. I couldn't find this type initially and purchased a stainless one from one of the local big box home centers. Whyle looking around I also found a bronze one from one of the local hardware supply houses. You'll see these on Amazon also. They have four screws instead of three. Looked good in the picture but both had similar construction. Instead of the screws being inside the fitting not touching the rubber the screws actually went through the rubber. The diameter of the rubber was a little under 2 inches, same as this one but, once I started screwing it down it kept getting harder and harder to turn the screwdriver because the rubber was pulling against the screws. This also resulted in the rubber not expanding by the screws as much as the rubber where the screws weren't. The result was like a rounded square. I tested it and the water gushed out the fitting. It would probably have worked if the opening was 2 inches exact but both were listed for 2 inch pipe. They both were also made from stamped sheet metal which probably might have worked if the design allowed the rubber to expand evenly around the fitting. The fitting above is made from machined aluminum with no thru holes from the screws. This prevents water from coming through the screw holes but is also why I had to shim it because the screws bottom out in the lower piece of aluminum. If they were through holes I could have tightened the screws more to allow for the worn threads. I know that because the old one I had to drill and tap were through holes and it tightened perfectly without the shim. All in all I prefer this design because it does seal and potentiol water coming through the screw holes. The only thing I've noticed (because I have a wierd drain that drains slowly) is that, although it blocks the water, the suds from the washing machine come out a little because they're not enough to move the float. This is the one to buy.

I tried this product on two floor drains. It didn't fit the first at all; in fact, none of the sizes made by this manufacturer would fit and there was too much extra space to shim. So, I bought an automotive expansion plug and plugged the first one altogether. (Didn't want to do this, but there was no other option.) The second drain was about 1/4" bigger than the device would fit, so I bought a neoprene fitting at the hardware store, cut a slice out of it, and made a shim. This let it fit the opening. However, the device didn't close firmly when the drain backed up, and water seeped up through it. The manufacturer should make a full range of sizes to fit different floor drains and should make the valve seal more firmly against backed up water.

Bought this backflow preventer 5 years ago. We have a floor drain for our kitchen ice maker which connects to a common drain line for two kitchen sinks and the dishwasher. When the common drain line clogs, water backs up out of the ice maker floor drain. I installed this backflow preventer to stop that from happening. Today we had a repeat flood event with water coming up throgh the backflow preventer. How did it fail and why do I say its guaranteed to fail? The design relies on a stainless steel pin that slides through an aluminum frame. Think of it as a bearing surface. If anything stops the pin from sliding the valve cant shut and the backflow preventer cant to its job.. When stainless and aluminum are immersed in water it results in galvanic corrosion turning the aluminum into aluminum oxide which is physically larger than aluminum. So the aluminum corrodes and swells and the pin can't slide throught the aluminum anymore. The valve is stuck open. Had they used the same alloy stainless steel for the frame all would be good. Note I own a number of boats used on salt water so I am no stranger to the problem of galvanic corrosion between dissimalar metals. Bottom line? Either replace this valve regularly or look for a more reliable solution. I am currently looking for a more reliable solution, if you have one please respond.

This thing is well made, not an ounce of plastic and it’s manufactured in Pennsylvania, USA. No reason to consider any other brands, this thing works! Have used the 2” model on PVC drain pipe and it’s stopped flooding every time.

Stopped our recurrent backflow problems immediately. Can now shower in basement without water from kitchen sink coming up through drain! Very easy to fit and well priced. Only wish I had known it was available before.

WORKS WELL

Excellent to prevent back up flow of water from the shower drain when I drained the water from the bath tub. Works perfectly.

Works well. Purchased for my shower drain works very well.

It seems good quality although I did not install it yet.