We have a small, sunken (about 2 or 3 inches) laundry closet off our hall with a floor drain.

When we bought the house, we planned to cap the drain and level the floor.

However a couple days ago we had a backup in our main line and the laundry area flooded.

Now I’m thinking about the drain in a new way, and wondering if we should keep it, just tile the area but keep it sunken.

Aesthetically it would look better to fill it in, AND if we keep it, we’ll have to run water down the drain every month or so which would be a PITA because the washer sits on top of it.

But I’m wondering if capping the drain could lead to future issues, like a slab leak or something.

Another question if we do fill it in -

Our plumber said you have to jackhammer the pipe to properly cap it off and our contractor said that’s not necessary.

If we do cap it off, I want to be sure it’s done right, so wondering about experts’ thoughts on that.