General Specialties Flood-Guard for 2" Flood Drains

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!

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.

Easy to install and quality hardware. This was a replacement for what was previously installed. It's very forgiving. Previous house owner incorrectly installed it and also the inside of the drain pipe has bumps/deformaties and yet it still worked for at least a few years. I put it in my basement drain that's next to the furnace and water heater. Pointers - use a large zip tie in the holes so its easier to positon the drain guard and tighten the screws. Slotted screws are used for a reason and not allen screws. The screw head slots give you a reference when tightening to expand the gasket. Tighten the screws a little each at a time to keep the pressure even and drain guard centered (1/2 turn each screw, then 1/4 turn each screw until they are all tight). Also my drain guard didn't work everytime the first time I installed it because the floater part was a tiny bit long and sometimes rubbing the inside of the pipe where my drain pipe curves. The drain would flood when a bubble bath drained. I cut 20% off the bottom of the floater, reinstalled and it works perfectly. The basement bath also has a drain guard and it works fine, but since I don't know how old it is I'll replace it. I'll probably replace them every three years even if they are working since its easy to do and cheap. Although I think they would last longer. I'll also spray some silicone lube on the floater metal rod once in a while which is easy to do since it's right on top of the drain guard.

My problem was the first floor kitchen sink, one floor over a basement floor drain. If you let the water out of the kitchen sink drain too fast, it backed-up through this drain, leaving the floor soapy and dirty. Tried snaking the line downstream, even had a plumber see what he could do. The drain line just doesn't take water fast enough.( at least not a kitchen sink full of soapy water) Bought this item, and the problem is fixed! Water doesn't back up from the basement drain anymore, so I'm happy. Other reviewers have mentioned a couple of caveats, which I agree. Water from the floor has to drain through the holes in the top of this device, so I might be in trouble if a washing machine hose breaks, because this device will not drain off water as fast as a wide-open hole does (duh!) (I should really replace those old washing machine hoses anyway!). Also, the unit is a little on the small side for my drain hole. It fit, but I had to screw the screws in all-the-way to compress it enough to fit. But, it DOES fit, so I am Ok with it. Just wish they made a 2 1/4 inch size for drains like mine. All in all, money well spent. I would recommend it to anyone with this type of problem.

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 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!

Love the concept of this and really wanted it to work but need more size options between 2” and 3” the 2” was just a bit too small and I thought maybe the 3” would start out smaller than 3” and then expand larger and might work but no.

I will update this as time progresses (once the product is tested). I have a stream in my front yard and an ancient floor drain in my basement drains to it. Stream goes up, so does water in my basement. I installed in an old cast iron 2" floor drain. FYI if you have this type of drain..... Mine is exactly 2" inside diameter. This unit has a pretty much exactly the same OD. It was so tight i had to try and rasp down any high areas in the pipe, but it was still too tight. I ended up taking off just a few thousandths from the lower aluminum ring and it fit perfect. Not a big deal but for those of you with an old drain, if you do not have tools to do this, be aware it COULD happen. It would probably fit fine in a new drain, but if you have an ancient one, expect the diameter could have reduced over time due to corrosion.

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.