Thinking about getting a garbage disposal put in. Anyone here have experience with them?

[GreenPartyVoter]

Are you happy with yours? Any problems?

[OffWithTheirHeads]

1. Get commercial grade. Costs more but it gets the job done with far less aggrivation.

[GreenPartyVoter]

6. Thanks. Will look into that. Are they any less prone to smelliness?

[ashling]

29. Cut up lemons that are getting old

and grind them up

Also oranges or any citrus ... or just the peels

helps

[guardian]

43. If you have any smell

pour in 1/4 -1/3 cup vinegar then don't run any water in the sink for an hour or so. That takes care of any problems.

[GreenPartyVoter]

44. That makes sense. Thanks!

[femmocrat]

2. We had ours taken out.

It would get very smelly and was hard to clean.

[GreenPartyVoter]

3. Hmmm. That's a point against. The reason I was thinking of getting one is my sink is forever gumming

up with bits of food and blocking the drain.

[cyberswede]

31. We took ours out.

I just use the drain stoppers with holes to catch food bits.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

11. Took mine out, too, when I re-did the counters/sink. Smelly and I had no need for it.

Never missed it. IIRC, sales on those things have been dropping for years.

[HeiressofBickworth]

4. there are pluses and minuses, take your pick

The plus, of course, is a better disposal of food waste out of your kitchen and not in your garbage.

The minus is that bits of food in the waste water system makes it harder to process the waste, raising the costs of processing and using additional energy for processing.

Personally, I've had a disposal for many years. I still put some in the garbage as it isn't suitable for the disposal. Peach pits, celery, bones shouldn't go in the disposal, but anything of a softer nature is ok.

Personal preference wins on this question.

[GreenPartyVoter]

5. Shreds of cat food and kids' milk and cereal are what are backing up the sink most days.

[The empressof all]

7. If you are on Septic they may cause you to need to pump more often.

I grew up in the NY area and we never had them. When I moved out west I quickly became lazy and addicted to using the switch. When I moved to a home on Septic I quickly learned to use a strainer and not flip the switch so much. Fine solids that don't dissolve easily can create havoc with the drainage.

[HipChick]

8. I installed mine myself..

but garbage still goes in the trash can...I don't honestly use it that much..I think I just like tinkering around...

[GreenPartyVoter]

9. Was it hard to do?

[HipChick]

21. No...I found a good Youtube video, and bought some Plumbers putty and hours later..

I called my Dad to thank him for letting me hang around and watch him tackle things around the house when I was a little girl....

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

10. It's a nice thing to have.

I compost most of the big hunks of garbage but the disposal is nice for getting rid of the little bits.

[pintobean]

12. A few years ago

I replaced our half hp cheapy with a one horse Waste King. Love it. It's pretty quiet and eats just about anything.

http://www.amazon.com/Waste-King-L-8000-1-0-Horsepower-Continuous/dp/B000DZGN7Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1351305930&sr=8-1&keywords=waste+king+garbage+disposal

[GoCubsGo]

13. Mine died earlier this year. I didn't replace it.

They're more trouble than they're worth. A lot of things clog them, like onion parts and cabbage leaves. It's really hard to unclog them when they stop up. I just make sure my strainers are in place so that nothing goes down the drains. The strainers collect all the little bits, and they go into the trash, rather than down the drain, so no stopping or backing up. Not a big deal.

[Lars39]

14. There will be silverware sacrificed to the noisy god, so it is writ.

[Major Nikon]

15. I've installed and replaced many of them

The more expensive ones do a better job, but in my experience they don't last any longer. I had a cheap one that the builder installed that lasted 15 years, and I've had big 'commercial' grade models that didn't last 2 years. The more expensive ones tend to be less noisy.

The one I have is about 3 years old and it's been the quietest model I've ever owned. I don't think they still make the one I have, but this one is a newer model for about the same price:

www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=100466655

[tammywammy]

16. I have a Waste King

Based off Consumer Reports and a guy I work with. It's awesome. Highly recommend it.

[2theleft]

17. Love mine...

I don't know the model or how old it is as it was in the house when I bought it. No problem with smells, but I do put white vinegar in it once a week or pieces of lemon if I'm using a lemon for something. Running hot water down the drain often helps keep it flushed and from gunking up as well.

[hunter]

18. Ours died and then it started leaking.

We didn't have enough money to replace it so I installed an ordinary drain. I had some fittings, and spent maybe $9.00 on the rest.

That was years ago.

We're mostly vegetarian. Food that goes bad, or table scraps the dogs won't eat, go in the compost heap.

I don't miss the disposer.

[Contrary1]

19. I think it depends on your personal environment...

I recycle everything I possibly can. I run the disposal maybe once or twice a week, and that is mainly just bits and pieces rinsed off dishes that ends up in the sink.

Anything that the various critters will eat goes out the back door. That elimates about 90% of it. I plan to get a compost pile going when we move, that will take care of almost everything else.

I usually end up with 1 kitchen trash bag at the curb per week, and that's mainly cat litter. If I could figure out a way to recycle that, I would do it.

[pipi_k]

20. Can't even remember when

when I bought mine, but it's been maybe 14 or 15 years. It's a 555ss Insinkerator. Very happy with it.

There are only two of us here so I don't know how long they usually last if you have a larger family.

I also do composting, which helps my disposal last longer.

[Kaleva]

22. My ex jams her's up all the time

She has the attitude that if she can fit in in the hole, the garbage disposal ought to be be handle it. It's easy for her to clear the blockage as she tells me to do it.

[Kaleva]

35. And she did it again yesterday.

Tried to grind up too many potato peels at once and jammed it up good. Next one I install for her will be able to grind up bricks and chunks of cement.

[AngryOldDem]

23. If you can't/won't install it yourself...

...buy one and have someone else do it. Don't have a plumber sell you one. We had a new one put in and the asshole charged twice for the disposal from what it was going for at the local hardware store, and that did not include the cost of labor.

[HopeHoops]

25. It takes 15 minutes to install one - and that includes removing the old one.

Caveat: If the sink doesn't have a disposal ring in it that will add about ten minutes to the job.

[HopeHoops]

24. Kenmore 3/4 hp. I've installed a shitload of those. just remember to knock out the dishwasher plug

I'm serious about that last part. I installed one the day before Thanksgiving (with a very talkative customer) and forgot to knock out the plug. The dishwasher backed up. My wife and I went out Thanksgiving morning to correct the problem (free of charge, of course - I fucked up). They're really simple to install. My biggest bitch about them is that the developers don't leave a long enough service loop in the electrical line to replace their wimpy bullshit disposals with a larger useful one. Also, when you put it in, you have to make sure the lock-ring wrench gets it snapped into full place. Otherwise the damn thing's going to fall out eventually (think "HUGE MESS&quot .

[Kaleva]

34. Reminds me of a guy who installed a new sink on a new counter for a lady

He layed the sink upside down on the new counter and outlined it and then cut out the hole by following the outline exactly. LOL! The woman wasn't home so he put in the sink using makeshift brackets to hold it in place. Later that night, a very mad woman called him up and told him that when she washing dishes, the entire sink collapsed into the sink cabinet.

[HopeHoops]

37. That's a MAJOR fuck up!!!

I really feel sorry for that lady. That's going to require a whole new counter surface to adequately secure the sink.

[Kaleva]

40. The guy did have to pay for a new counter top

While what he did was funny, it was also not very ethical as he tried to hide his screw up instead of being honest about it.

[HopeHoops]

42. Agreed. I ran my own handyman business for three years. I was TOO ethical.

Seriously. I got a lot of repeat business for being honest about things, turned down some tasks because I knew they were out of my league, didn't charge for really minor repairs, admitted when I fucked up and fixed the mistake at my own expense. I was damn good at the work I did, but I didn't have the lack of ethics it takes to just run off with the money. I still enjoyed it and made a lot of people happy. That's actually why I tried it. I like helping people. I'd still be doing it if vertigo hadn't set in. I can't even get on a step stool anymore. The vertigo led to a back injury which led to me finding out I have severe osteoporosis and several broken vertebrae. I doubt I'll ever be able to get on a ladder again.

And yes, his mistake was covering it up. When you fuck up, you stop right there and say, "I fucked up" (in appropriate language). I could never do something like he did.

[NightWatcher]

26. get a dog or a goat, they'll eat all the scraps

and save on electricity costs

[Worried senior]

27. We have one

but are also on septic. Stopped using it several years ago and compost anything that would go into the disposal.

[sammytko]

28. I love mine. It's a whirlpool.

It doesn't smell. I think maybe because I use the dishwasher almost every day and the extra hot water passes through there and flushes everything out?

Of course I also compost lots of veggie parts. But I throw everything else, except bones, through the disposal. Beans that went bad - down they go. Old leftovers, down they go.

No problems yet.

We installed it ourselves.

[crunch60]

30. I got rid of mine, and give all my scraps to the birdies, they love it... nt

If you live in an apartment, well, that's different

[marzipanni]

32. We had one when I was growing up,

but our house has a septic system and eventually my mom had my brother take out the disposal. She didn't want anything extra in the septic tank.
Maybe you could try a strainer with smaller holes? This one has good reviews-

http://www.chefscatalog.com/product/20370-sink-strainer.aspx?sourcecode=DW1GG1036&gclid=CKDLnundorMCFYp_Qgod0H8Alg#BVRRWidgetID

[Scuba]

33. I raised two sons, that should count.

[Kali]

36. get chickens instead

[geardaddy]

41. Or pigs.

[mnhtnbb]

38. When we built our new house in 2011 to replace the one that burned down 2007

I elected to NOT install a garbage disposal.

You really need a double sink if you have one--or you will have NO sink
if the damn thing backs up.

So many things are not advised to go down garbage disposals. Ask your plumber.

[Rambis]

39. Plumbers do not have garbage disposals

I asked the last one that came to unclog my mother in laws. "These things are keeping me in business and I would never have one."

[TrogL]

45. Check with your landlord and/or the city

Some places have banned them because they clog the pipes.

[OxQQme]

46. Celery....BAD

the stringy part of celery will cause clogging up problems.

[mrmpa]

47. Ours was installed in 1968...........

when the condos were built. We have had 2 serious clogs in 8 years. Both happened on Christmas. Called maintenance the next day. Do not put coffee grinds down them. I'm very careful of what i put down the drain. Cabbage & onion skins go in an empty milk carton and disposed of with the trash. I don't know what kind of disposal it is, and my hip and back hurts if I bend down to look for the name.

[Curmudgeoness]

48. I have had them. Don't now. Hate them.

The ones I have had were always giving me problems, breaking, you have to watch what you put in them.....pain in the ass.

I just use a drain plug in the sink, keep it clean, and use hydrogen peroxide in the drain about once a month to fight gunk.