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

Voids between baseplate and grout may be discovered after grouting. These voids may be the result of obstructions, trapped air, or varying grout levels during placement.

There are basic steps to addressing these voids that are meant to ensure maximum contact between base and grout so unused forces are properly transferred to the foundation.

Step 1: Identify the Void

The most common method is sounding. Tap the plate and listen for hollow