Service category
Garbage Disposal Services
Repair, replacement and installation of garbage disposals, including jams, hums, leaks at the flange and units that will not run at all.
- Licensed and insured
- Price agreed before work
- A plumber who works your area
A disposal that hums is jammed, not dead, and often clears in a minute. One that does nothing at all has usually tripped its own reset button. Both are worth trying before anyone is called, and a plumber should tell you that rather than quoting a replacement.
Two things to try before calling anyone
Most disposal call-outs are avoidable, and a plumber worth using will tell you so.
If it hums but does not turn, it is jammed. Switch it off at the wall. There is a hex socket in the centre underneath the unit, and the key that came with it works the plate back and forth until whatever is wedged comes free. Never put a hand into the chamber. Then press the reset button on the underside.
If it does nothing at all, press that reset button first. It trips when the motor overloads and it is the single most common reason a disposal appears to have died. If that does not do it, check the breaker.
If both fail, replacement is usually better value than repair, because the unit itself is inexpensive relative to the labour of fixing one.
The blockage is usually not in the disposal
When a sink backs up as the disposal runs, the restriction is downstream, in the trap or the horizontal branch beyond it.
Ground waste settles there, particularly when it is mixed with fat that set as it cooled. The disposal is then pushing more material into a line that is already narrowed.
Running plenty of cold water during and after use helps, because it carries waste further along before it has a chance to settle. Hot water does the opposite with anything greasy: it keeps the fat liquid just long enough to travel to a cooler part of the pipe and set there instead.
In this category
Garbage Disposal Services jobs we handle
Garbage Disposal Repair
Repair and replacement of jammed, humming, leaking, non-draining or dead garbage disposals, with correct drain and dishwasher connections.
See what this coversGarbage Disposal Installation
Fitting a food waste disposer, including the mounting, the waste rework it usually requires and the electrical supply and switch it needs.
See what this coversGarbage Disposal Replacement
Replacing a failed disposal, including the ones that leak from the body, where no repair exists and the unit has to come out.
See what this coversJammed Garbage Disposal Repair
Freeing a disposal that hums, has tripped its reset or has stopped entirely, and dealing with the backed-up sink that usually comes with it.
See what this covers
Does this sound familiar?
Problems this covers
- A disposal that hums but does not turn
- A unit that does nothing at all when switched on
- Water leaking from the sink flange or the base of the unit
- Grinding or rattling noises during use
- A drain that backs up into the sink when the disposal runs
- Persistent odour from the disposal
Questions
Garbage Disposal Services questions
My disposal hums but will not turn. What does that mean?
It is jammed rather than failed. The motor is getting power but the plate cannot rotate against whatever is caught in it. Switch it off at the wall first, then use the hex key that came with the unit in the socket underneath the body to work the plate back and forth by hand until it moves freely. Never put your hand into the chamber. Once it turns freely, press the reset button on the underside and try again.
The disposal does nothing at all. Is it dead?
Usually not. Most units have a reset button on the underside that trips when the motor overloads, and pressing it back in restores power. If that does not work, check the breaker. If both are fine and it is still silent, then the switch or the motor is the fault, and at that point replacement is often better value than repair because the unit is inexpensive relative to the labour.
What should not go into a garbage disposal?
Fibrous vegetable waste like celery and onion skins, which wrap around the plate. Coffee grounds and eggshells, which settle in the trap beyond. Rice and pasta, which swell. Fat and oil, which set as they cool in the pipe further along. Bones and fruit stones. The disposal grinds what goes into it, but grinding does not change what happens next in a narrow horizontal drain, which is where the actual blockage forms.
Why does my sink back up when the disposal runs?
The blockage is downstream of the unit rather than in it. Ground waste has built up in the trap or the horizontal branch beyond, usually combined with grease that set as it cooled. Running the disposal pushes more material into a line that is already restricted. Clearing the branch is the fix, and running plenty of cold water while the disposal runs helps carry waste further along before it settles.
Get it fixed
Garbage Disposal Services, handled locally
Call with your ZIP code and what you are seeing. We route you to a licensed plumber in your area who does this work every week.
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- Price before work