What to Look For When Choosing Grates for a Drainage Trench

When you have a drainage trench installed on your property, it's probably going to need a grate to cover it. This is so that cars can easily drive over it and also ensures no one trips over that trench and is injured. A grate can also keep out leaves and other debris so the drain isn't as likely to get clogged, and also keep out rodents and pests and so they don't get trapped in the drain. Note a few things to consider when you need to purchase and install grates for a drainage trench at home or on a commercial parking lot.

1. Easy cleaning

How easy is it to take out the grate and clean it, and then replace it? You probably want to avoid a heavy grate that needs more than one person to lift and which is then difficult to clean underneath and also put back into place. Note the ease of cleaning for any type of grate and if it can be removed from the concrete quickly and easily just by yourself; you might even want to choose a grate that comes in various sections so you can lift each section out and clean underneath it more easily than a long trench grate.

2. Material

Aluminum may be very lightweight and easy to lift but if you need a grate for a commercial property where heavy trucks are driving, you may want to opt for aluminum that is galvanized or hot-dipped. This would be a special coating that adds strength to the material. Steel is also stronger than aluminum and can make for a good grate material, but it should be galvanized to protect it from rusting and corrosion, especially if the grate will be exposed to chemicals in the water runoff that can encourage this corrosion.

3. Angled

Angled grates can often be a good choice as the angle of the grate itself means it won't scrape as much against tires as vehicles drive over. Angle sided grates can also better protect the edge of concrete as they absorb the impact of vehicles more readily, and they act like a small ramp to ease vehicles onto the edge of concrete. Angled grates can also more readily encourage water flow into a drain as they direct fluid in a particular direction, whereas grates that are not angled may allow more water and other fluids to simply run over the grate.


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