That San Francisco-style... drain.

August 12, 2011 11:49 AM

Where can I get a replacement San Francisco-style 5" square drain cover? You know, the kind that looks like this that you see every 20 feet embedded directly in the sidewalk.

The drain cover of that style in our garage is broken, corroded, and looks generally awful. We're having some flooring work done, and now is the time to replace it. The problem: the flooring people don't know where to get them either, and I'd prefer to not have to call a plumber.

I've looked at Home Depot, but they don't appear to have them. If I search for them online, I get square drain covers that clearly aren't the same as whatever standard's been in place here for years. Yet you can't throw a stone in this city without hitting one!

Any help appreciated, thanks.

posted by eschatfische to home & garden (4 answers total)

I'd just hit up a local plumbing-supply store. Most of them will sell to the public.
posted by jferg at 11:59 AM on August 12, 2011

Is it exactly like that, with a single screw and a hinge? If so, you might see if you can get in touch with SF DPW and asks who makes them and where they get replacements.

If not, the best thing to do is to take measurements of it and a good photograph of the grate and the drain without the grate to a plumbing supply store. You will need to be able to match/align the screw holes as well as the outside diameter and depth of the grate. If it is old enough, you may need to replace the drain body in order to find a grate that fits properly.
posted by oneirodynia at 1:35 PM on August 12, 2011

Omega Salvage over in Berkeley tends to have stuff like that.
posted by padraigin at 2:16 PM on August 12, 2011

I got one. The answer may seem ridiculously obvious, but neither the local plumbing supply places or big box stores were any help at all. A small hardware store down the street had them.
posted by eschatfische at 4:19 PM on August 13, 2011