Last entry discussed differences and commonality between extruded channel drains manufactured by NDS and Stegmeier. I wanted to continue along this path and discuss two other very similar extruded products – NDS’s Spee-D Channel and Stegmeier’s Flowmaster. The Flowmaster is marketed as a professional grade channel drain for swimming pool decks. The Spee-D Channel is sold as a general purpose drain for residential applications that include driveways, paver patios and pool decks. Let’s first look at the two products side by side.

NDS Spee-D Channel is to the left while Stegmeier’s Flowmaster is to the right. As you can see, both products have a similar cross section and have similar geometry. Both are about 5 inches wide and 3 inches deep. Both products are made from extruded PVC. Two things stand out in the photo above. First, the wall thickness of the plastic is greater in the Stegmeier product. They also have a smaller amount of open air space than does the NDS product. This makes the Flowmaster channel much sturdier than the Spee-D channel. You can feel the difference when you hold the product. Normally, I don’t like to recommend extruded channel drains in regions that see frigid temperatures because of my concern for cracking during freezing and thawing. I think the Spee-D channel is susceptible to rapid deterioration in this environment. The Flowmaster channel drain stands a much better chance of holding up in colder regions because of the more rugged wall design.

The second apparent difference between these two products is the design of the grate rails. The Stegmeier product has a curved rail that requires a specially designed grate. The NDS product has a straight rail. This may not be much of a difference. But, I think the NDS design makes grate replacement and removal easier. Their design also lends itself to easy adaptation by other grate manufacturers.

Let’s look at some of the grating options of the two products. Below you see the Flowmaster with an aluminum slotted grate. It snaps into place wonderfully. You can buy this in three colors (silver, tan and white). This grate also comes in plastic (again three colors). However, if you wanted to use this product for anything other than a pool or deck application, you would have a difficult time with the grate. I feel the grate would compress or crush a little under car tire applications, for instance. Maybe I am trying to “over apply” this product.

On the other hand, The NDS Spee-D channel has a variety of structural foam grating that is capable of small automotive traffic. If you want ornamental cast iron grating, it is available from Ironage Design (www.ironagegrate.com). Maybe, the Spee-D channel doesn’t look as good as the Flowmaster in a pool deck application, but it has a broader residential appeal due to the grating options.

Another difference between these two products is in the way they couple. The photo below shows NDS (right) and it’s well engineered channel coupler versus Stegmeier’s simple design internal coupler. I don’t know which is best. I think the Stegmeier coupler is simple and gives a sturdier connection. I think the NDS system is neat looking, though. And my gut feeling is that the Stegmeier coupler will allow water to seep into the wall cells easier than the NDS coupler. It’s just my gut feeling folks!!

I guess the last thing to talk about is pricing and availability. List prices of both channels are comparable. However, the popular home improvement stores usually carry the Spee-D channel at well below list pricing. Grating is where the pricing differences will be felt. The Flowmaster grates are generally more expensive than the “off the shelf” Spee-D channel grate. However, you will most likely have to special order any Spee-D channel grate if you don’t want gray plastic. Cast Iron grates for Spee-D channel can be ordered on-line (www.trenchdrian.biz) for about $25 per foot (freight not included). The Stegmeier channel products are sold in pool supply stores and by special order. Their distribution network is not as well developed as NDS. No matter, if you like the Flowmaster product line, and can’t find a dealer, you can purchase this product over the internet.

Last month, I wrote an article about a plastic channel drain product marketed by NDS under the “Pro-Series” brand. This neutral channel product line is manufactured by injection molding methods. Injection molding is great for making intricate shapes. However, there are manufacturing costs associated with injection molding that drive the product costs up.

Extrusion, as a plastic manufacturing method, is well suited for high volume, simple shape production. There are design and mold costs associated with all formed plastic products. However, an extrusion die is a less complicated and a less expensive die to make. The product’s cross-section is the important feature in the die design. The die is designed to form this desired cross-sectional shape, so when hot plastic is passed through the die (extrusion process) a continuous stream of product is made. Plastic PVC pipe in manufactured by this process. In the case of channel drain, this “stream” of molded plastic comes out looking like a plastic roof gutter. It is cut into 4, 6 and 10 foot lengths for marketing. Being a continuous method, the extrusion process is continuously producing products (more units per hour) and drives down unit of the finished part.

This article will address extruded plastic channel products. In part 1, I will discuss pool deck drains products manufactured by NDS and Stegmeier because of common features. I also discuss the NDS Mini Channel product.

NDS Micro Series vs. Stegmeier Deck Drains

The NDS Micro and Stegmeier deck drains are narrow channel products designed specifically for swimming pool decks. Generally speaking, these extruded PVC channels are 1.5” wide and 3.25“deep. The channels are used to form a perimeter around a swimming pool to create a drain for incidental pool water. All the products are designed to be installed in concrete. However, channel anchoring techniques during installation differ between the two brands. Below you can see the NDS Micro channel (left) compared to Stegmeier’s standard deck drain. Both products are extruded “box” channels. Later, slots are cut into the top surface to form the drain holes. NDS seems to use a small mill to form this slot while Stegmeier appears to use a carbide saw blade. The NDS Micro is actually more narrow (1.25”) than the Stegmeier products (1.625”). The Stegmeier product also has a more rigid feel to it.

NDS has the one product shown above in 3 different colors. That’s it. Stegmeier’s deck drains come in 4 colors and 4 styles. Two of the styles are like the above “box” channel with the integral drain grate. However, they have two other products that have an awesome “press fit” grate that make channel clean out very easy. Stegmeier’s Frontier Deck Drain has plastic “press fit” grates that come in 4 colors. Stegmeier’s Treadmaster Deck Drain has an aluminum grate for the more commercial swimming pool look. These grates come in tan, white and silver. I’m sorry I don’t have photos of these now. In the interim, check out their web site www.stegmeier.com.

NDS Mini Channel - The next “size up” in extruded plastic channels is the NDS Mini Channel. This is a unique product that is both economical and sturdy enough to be used in light traffic areas. The 3” wide and 3” deep channel allows for larger water flow than deck drain while giving the home owner a greater selection of grating options. As with deck drains, the Mini channels are connected with couplings and are available with a broad selection of special junction sections. The highlight of this product is with the grating options. You can select from any of six color of plastic “light traffic” grates. These come in 3 foot lengths and can be screwed into place. If you want a more durable or ornamental product, you can have a slotted brass or cast iron grate. The brass grates are available in polished or brushed finishes and come in one foot lengths. And, by the way, these have a list price of around $80 each….ouch. The cast iron grate is available in one pattern (Minione) through Ironage. It sells for around $25 per linear foot. You can also get the Minione pattern in brass. Call for a price.

If you have any questions or comments on these products, please email them to michael@trenchdrain.biz. You can also visit www.trenchdrain.biz for more information on the NDS or Stegmeier product lines.

NDS has a channel drain product line they call the “Pro-Series”. These channels are injected, molded from polyvinyl chloride, and have a neutral slope. (no slope). They come in a variety of widths ( 3”, 5”, 8” and 12”). According to NDS literature asterisk notes, this product is technology licensed from the Italian trench drain manufacturer First Corp. (www.firstcor.com) Check out this website. It’s in Italian.

This product line really has many options, just as long as you don’t want pre-sloped channels. From a manufacturing point of view, pre-sloped channels would require that the NDS production facility have a bunch of expensive injection mold dies laying around to make channels at various depths. (Injection mold dies are EXPENSIVE!!) With the Pro-Series, NDS opted to make 4 channel widths to account for different flow situations. And, on top of that, three of the widest products have two depths (shallow and deep channels). So, in effect, there are seven (7) different channel options when selecting from the Pro-Series.

The above photo shows three of the four width options (I didn’t show the 12” wide option). The 3” and 5” wide channels come in 40 inch lengths (1 meter) The 8” and 12” wide channels come in 20 inch lengths (1/2 meter). However, a key feature of the Pro-Series trench drain product line is the ability to cut the channels to any desired size. The channels come with a “double ridged” cut line every four inches (4”) along the length of the channel. This makes it possible to trim, for instance, 8 or 12 inches from the channel in order to custom fit the drain into a tight area. See below.

Trim the channel by using a simple hand saw. By making your cut in the slot formed by the double ridges, you can easily change the length of the drain while retaining an edge that allows all the standard hardware (end caps and other channels) to be attached . There is no patching of the channel in a custom length situation. Also a nice feature, every channel has a bottom knockout. This gives you flexibility when it comes time to place a bottom discharge. Now, you can place a bottom outlet where ever you want.

Grating options are not extensive with this brand and they vary with channel size. For instance, the 3” wide Pro-Series channel only has a gray plastic grate suitable for pedestrian or light vehicle traffic. This may be adequate for home owners that are looking for a budget driveway drain. The 5” wide Pro-Series drain, however, has the most grating options. Plastic slotted grates (class B loading) are available in six (6) colors. Perforated plastic grating is available, but only in gray. A cast iron grate and a high impact resistant plastic slotted grate are also available in 5” width. (See some options below).

The 8” and 12” wide Pro-Series products have fewer grating options. With the 8” wide channels, you have a choice of three plastic grates (one perforated) and one cast iron grate. The 12” wide channel only has a plastic slotted grate (light vehicle traffic) and a cast iron grate for heavy traffic. All grates, no matter the width, come in 20 inch lengths.

With the Pro-Series product line, you have flexibility in trench design. You have the ability to cut a channel to a specific length. However, specialty channels are available for making 45 and 90 degree bends in the drain. Also, side outlets are available in 5” and 8” wide channels.

One thing I like about the Pro-Series product line over other NDS brands (such as the MINI or Spee-D series) is that it offers more durability and life to your drain system because of the grate to channel width relationship. I feel it is important to have your grate wider than the channel of the trench. This is particularly important in plastic trench drain products. If the grate is wider than the channel, then the concrete that surrounds the trench will be giving added strength to the channel. Systems that don’t have this added support have to rely solely on the strength of the plastic channel. In this later case, if the ledge that supports the grate breaks, the load capabilities of the grate fail. More on this when I cover other NDS channel drains.

List prices of the NDS Pro-Series cover a broad spectrum. The least expensive is, of course, the 3” wide system. Wider channels cost more money. Grates with higher load capabilities also come at a premium. Below are some sample list prices. (Note: you can usually get these products for much less then the list price. Check with your local NDS dealer or www.trenchdrain.biz)

Below Prices represent list price per linear foot. These are the manufacturer’s 2007 recommended prices and do not necessarily represent the prices of a given NDS distributor.

Grate Type

Pro-Series Slotted Plastic Perf. Plastic Cast Iron

3” wide $18 na na

5” wide (deep) $31 $44 $ 75

8” wide (shallow) $62 $58 $95

12” wide (shallow) $167 na $205