In food and beverage facilities, one of the most important tasks is cleaning and sanitation. Trench and drain maintenance are an often overlooked – yet critical – aspect of keeping your floors clean and up to USDA standards. With the constant clean up, your trench or drain is constantly wet with water, cleaning chemicals, and waste. Unfortunately, with all that water flow, a damaged trench goes unnoticed and it may begin to leak into the surrounding soil. All of that water has to go somewhere so it runs downhill.

The leaking trench creates a void. As these voids form, it reroutes the water causing your trench to be undermined. Once this happens, your trench is vulnerable for a collapse. If a vehicle or an employee travels over the trench, not only is the trench damaged but an employee could be severely

Maintaining your trench drain in your facility is a necessity. Damaged trench drains could lead to unpleasant odors and allow bacteria to grow. With all the USDA regulations, cleaning, flooding, or rinsing your trench is a daily routine. This means there is not a lot of time for this area to be dry for repair. Fast application, rapid installation, and quick curing are three things you are going to want to reduce time out of service for your trench and to ensure a complete repair. Doing it yourself means you can make the repairs on your own time and stay on budget without having to hire a contractor. Luckily, there are materials that you can easily apply while the trench is still wet.

Here are a few myths about the materials commonly used to repair trenches:

Myth 1: “Materials can’t bond if the concrete is wet.”