Disclaimer – Thanks to Moen for sponsoring this post. All opinions are 100% my own.
One of the most exciting things about tackling a space for someone else is being a messenger for some pretty amazing products. When we first took on the Pedraza project, we could only hope that other people would have a heart for this loving family who is putting most of their savings toward an adoption…the savings that they had previously set aside for a kitchen update. As we traveled through this journey of updates, it has been mind-blowing to see so many great companies step forward to donate their best products. It reminds me that these giants in the home improvement industries really have the biggest hearts.
Moen is one of those companies.
One of the things that happened right before we started the kitchen was a big unexpected expense. Apparently the people who had been living in the Pedraza house before them had been flushing all sorts of stuff down the toilet and pouring stuff down the sink. That’s a huge no-no when you have a septic tank (the majority of us in the south in the suburbs do have septic) because it is like angering a giant. A very disgusting, very expensive giant that can make your yard smell like poo and back up into your home. Over the years, they had normal flushing habits but eventually those past sins resulted in a tank that just quit.
The Pedraza’s tank had to be pumped and repaired to the tune of $2400. Yikes. Needless to say, they were given very specific instructions that the microorganisms in the tank can handle very small food particles (and they should put some down there to get the bacteria well fed and active) but to limit paper waste. It’s a common thing here for people to have disposals (both to limit food waste in the trash and to puree the food that gets rinsed off dishes) but the Pedraza’s did not have one. And that is where Moen came into our lives.
Moen is usually known for their sinks and faucets – we have a lot of them in our house and their reputation is one of excellent quality. So to hear they came out with a garbage disposal is really exciting news in the home improvement world. Yes, I am a DIY nerd. loud and proud baby! When a big company like Moen comes out with something new, it’s NEWS.
Moen also asked us if we needed anything else and they donated a big beefy beautiful sink and one of their MotionSense faucets.
I will give you the lowdown on installation of the sink when I talk about the countertops. It is part of that whole process so I thought I should group that separately.
The one we picked was this double bowl squared off version. And no. Never in my life have I ever felt so much sink envy. Shoot. Some people think Bachelorette finalists are hot….no….they are not….I like a completely different type of hairless chiseled stud 🙂
As far as the faucet goes – it is a motion activated one. You probably have seen this commercial….
Isn’t that ridiculously cool?! Its water conscience which is AMAZING (I swear I yell “TURN OFF THE WATER” like ten times a day so I completely understand the draw here) and it is super easy to install. The hardest part is figuring out which end of the battery has a + on it 🙂 Other than that, it is really plug and play.
The faucet we picked out was this bronze Brantford. It has all the bells and whistles – the pull down head, a traditional profile and a one hole installation for simple and clean counters….and it does that whole motion activated thing…perfect for kids! (I photoshopped the wall so that it wasn’t so distracting!)
Once we had the sink and the faucet in, it was time for the garbage disposal. I really didn’t know what to expect for this process….I assumed it would be a little tricky and I would have lots of how-to pictures and meaningful tips to share. But apparently the Moen folks wanted their disposals to literally be SO easy that anyone could do it.
The entire thing comes assembled in a box….and you have to remove the valve attachment. It quite literally involves loosening three screws and popping a tension ring off.
Once it is in place on your sink drain, you stick the drain pipe in the side (cue Jeremy)….
The top gets tightened onto the drain valve (like I said – only three screws!) and then you twist the disposal till it locks in place. The drain pipe gets screwed onto the P trap and that’s it. It’s really REALLY easy.
The great part now is that any little food pieces won’t sit in a drain or pipe or be a problem for their septic to digest. The garbage disposal will grind it up with it’s full horse power motor and the water will flush it down to keep their tank healthy and happy.
I know that some folks might be thinking – well I don’t need one….we don’t put food down the drain. But the thing is, you are probably scraping large food items into the trash and then rinsing your dishes in the sink. And those food bits need to be as fine as possible so that the microorganisms in your tank can do their job. Otherwise you could be contributing to the sludge at the bottom of your tank. And the other thing is – most people don’t know WHAT the condition of their tank is. They don’t know if it’s healthy or has a scum problem or a build up of sludge. They don’t know what previous homeowners did. This is just prevention.
So if you are in the market for a new disposal then I would highly recommend this one because it was so easy to install. Nobody has time for disposal drama. And definitely check out the full line up (so many options!) and what they do….plus, they have a stout warranty.
And now lets talk tank drama….I know you guys probably have some epic septic tank stories….let’s hear them. My personal favorite is my parents house….that had a toilet that was flushing waste into the backyard….the previous homeowners decided that it would be cheaper to bypass the tank altogether….thankfully it didn’t take long to realize that the basement bathroom was creating a poo scented mosh pit and my parents brought in a pro to fix things! Talk about drama!
QUICK LINKS –
- MOEN GX100C
- MOEN Brantford Faucet with MotionSense
- MOEN Double Bowl Square Sink
- Tips for how to take care of your own septic tank
Did you connect the dishwasher to the disposal? I think it is to handle any food if the dishes aren’t well rinsed before loading the dishwasher. We have a bit of chaos under our sink since our disposal is in the right-hand sink and our dishwasher is to the left of the sink.
I’m loving this project – big thank you to you, Jeremy and your sponsors for gifting this family!
Can’t legally have this in most areas of Long Island, NY because of ground water supply from Pine Barrens.
Relatives in neighboring states that bought homes with one already installed don’t find them as useful as you do.
Vacation to the Michigan cottage owned by my husband’s extended family. There was already weirdness going on with the plumbing – the hot water pipe had a leak, but instead of fixing it, they turned off the hot water. With a wrench. So if you wanted a hot shower, you had to turn on the hot water (with a wrench) and hope the pipe didn’t leak too much. 1 day into the trip, one of my kids came out of the bathroom and said, “The toilet is flushing funny.” My husband thought maybe a clogged toilet…but entered the utility room to find septic tank water GUSHING out of the floor drain. In a matter of moments, it was inches deep on the floor. I stood on the stairs while my husband threw our belongings at me before they could get covered by poop water. Meanwhile, he was standing ankle, then shin-deep in the poop water. We had to find an emergency motel in high season rates with no internet or phone service at 9pm on a Saturday night (over $300 for a standard MOTEL ROOM). It turns out, the whole family was leaving cottage maintenance up to his elderly aunt, and at the top of her undone to-do list was septic tank maintenance.
Good luck with the motion sense faucet, I’ve been thru 2 already in just a few months and have already given up and replaced it with a regular faucet. It’s a great idea but they haven’t perfected it yet! Speaking of septic we are in the middle of a tropical storm and my yard is under at least 6 inches of water which has flooded our tank. I haven’t figured out what to do yet about flushing toilets and showering until things dry out some and the bad news is that the actual storm isn’t hitting until this afternoon!
Our septic drama came after my first pregnancy. Late in the pregnancy I developed some issues down below and started using Prep H wipes which CLAIM to be flushable and septic safe. When the toilets stopped flushing whilst I was home with a new born I had the septic guys come out.They removed a nice wad of what they thought was paper towels from the inlet pipe into the tank and told me to stop flushing paper towels. I was puzzled , as I had never flushed a paper towel, but it didn’t take long for me to make the connection. NEVER flush anything other than toilet paper!! I don’t care how “flushable” the packaging says it is!
Our house was a foreclosure, and so many things were not disclosed to us…like the entire neighborhood (30 houses) septic tank was in our front yard. A 60,000 gallon tank, well, technically three. We didn’t know until it started backing up into the yard. Turns out, it hadn’t been cleaned or pumped out in over 20 years. We had to fight with the neighbors who didn’t think it was their responsibility to chip in to have it cleaned out (or pay dues to the home owner’s association for maintenance that we also didn’t know we were a part of). It took 18 hours of continuous work to get in drained and cleaned. Dis-gusting. (And as a funny aside…our house got hit by the stomach flu during the day of the pumping and when I went outside for the very helpful worker to tell me something, the smell was so bad, I vomited behind a tree in front of everyone.)
Tip: Run the water for 15 seconds after the garbage disposal is done grinding. Learned the hard way with a large plumber’s bill.
Septic tank mishap: On construction site I worked on – being the only woman on the job, I “noticed” it first. Seems the guys were all used to that “smell”. I promptly called the professionals to clean and fix, but it took days for the smells to evaporate. I didn’t go to the construction site offices until it was gone…gross!
The situation at your parents sounds like a nightmare!! We just built and I picked a Moen motion activated faucet for our kitchen too! I love it however I do have one tip…the power pack will drain the batteries in NO time. We went through tons of batteries in the first two weeks of moving in and it’s not like we over-used the kitchen sink. I highly suggest purchasing the AC adapter and installing that. I looked into it and if you use an AC adapter other than the Moen one off their site, it voids all warranty of your faucet should something happen. I didn’t want to take that chance because with a faucet that was pretty pricey (just above $300 where we live) and one that had the motion feature, which is more parts that can have issues than just a regular faucet has, I thought the warranty may be needed. Shipping time was sort of long, however installation of the adapter was easy peasy. Especially since we have a disposal, the outlet was right there ready to go. I think the adapter was around $20, well worth it if you ask me. Just wanted to share!
My comment isn’t about disposals (although I do have a new one on order because our older disposal is leaking)–snag a piece of leftover vinyl flooring (there’s probably a scrap in the garage or somewhere) and cut it to fit under the sink. Water can appear from several places under the sink; bottles of things can tip; you know the story; and you don’t always notice it until it’s done some damage to the wood under there. You will NEVER regret having a protective surface there! (Bathroom vanities, too!)
Love our disposal – even if we scrape most of the food in the trash and we are connect to a sewer instead of a tank.
I’m reallllllly curious to see the finished kitchen because I cannot see the vision with the countertops there. They don’t match the chocolate brown cabinets beneath them. Remember the tile from the previous post, not seeing that either. But maybe it’ll work and I’ll be shocked! Right now, a less brown, more chocolate or even just straight black cabinet seems like it would’ve made much more sense with that counter. The counter is “high I’m trendy and reclaimed colored” and the cabinet is like “high, I’m older and safer tradition and normally I prefer a sandy, heavily grained granite on top of me.”
You didn’t put a GFCI plug in a wet area below the sink?
Was renting a house years ago and my son came running in while I was rushing to get ready for work and said there is poop in the tub. I went running to the hall bathroom and sure enough, there was nasty water etc. coming up into the bathtub. I called the land lord and told him it had to be taken care of that day or I was moving. When I got home from work, landlord was there and a pump truck. They were pumping the tank and by the opening was this big pile of disposable diapers. First thing I said was “Don’t look at me. My kids are 8 and 15.: Seems the prior tenants had a baby and were not from the South (we are a Navy town so get folks from all over) and didn’t know about septic tanks. They were just flushing the diapers. Nothing worse to me than septic tank problems.
True story: One month after we moved into our house, our septic tank caved in…it left a GIANT hole in our back yard that we had to fill in. Then we had to connect the plumbung to the city connection our the front of our house. Fun times…and one reason we are renovating our basement. We need to put in a Disposal and I really love Moen, so I will have to check theirs out. I did not even know they made them until I visited the booth at Haven. I cannot wait to see more about that gorgeous sink though!
That plug is run off of one other plug which is a GFCI. That is code here.
xo – kb
We did not connect it….they told us that they are rinsing people…so all the dishes get the grand Bella treatment (aka they feed the dog-safe scraps to their Great Dane) and then they rinse off her slobber before putting it in the dishwasher.
xo – kb
Hmm…interesting! I wonder why that is!
xo – kb
O.M.G. That is disgusting…and you win.
xo – kb
OH NO! Stay safe!
xo – kb
Amen!
xo – kb
Oh my gosh…that is terrible. Did they ever chip in?!
xo – kb
Oh good tip! And yuck…I don’t know what is worse..the fact that the guys were used to it or the smell!
xo – kb
Oh good to know! I will do that! thanks for the tip!
xo – kb
We actually do the same thing with that foam padding stuff…it’s in the section with contact paper but it protects too….I wonder if they make under sink protectors though.
xo – kb
I hope it all comes together too! Ha! I think it will once the backsplash is in…but yes, definitely say a little prayer 🙂
xo – kb
OH NO! That is terrible.
xo – kb
Seriously. I was pumped that they are in the disposal category now! And isn’t that sink so beautiful! UGH! I want it!
xo – kb
I’ve only lived without a garbage disposer for one year and I hated it. And oddly it was because the house was on septic, not sewer. Apparently some people believe in not putting food into the septic tank? I despise things like straining the liquid off leftover cereal or soup bowls then scraping the dry scraps separately into a trash can. I would NEVER choose off the grid or rural living. I like all the modern conveniences!
How the heck do you flush a diaper??!!!
I can’t imagine not having a garbage disposal. They are awesome.
All but one family who continues to say its not their responsibility. But jeesh.
Oh what a shame. It’s wonderful that the other families stepped up for their community though 🙂
xo – kb
There are people in this country that don’t have garbage disposals???? I can’t imagine not having one!
I can’t believe your parents’ house! We had the exact same thing. The previous home owners added a master suite addition and never attached the plumbing to the existing tank, they just piped it out into the yard. We bought the house when it was still snow-covered and what a surprise spring brought! Smelly-mush-pit in the back yard. And I took a bubble bath one day, and white bubbles ended up in the yard….so gross. Thankfully we’ve fixed that all up now, but yuck!
After smelling something “fishy” under the kitchen sink and checking the dish towel I went to use a bucket I keep there to clean and it was almost half full of stuff that had been leaking from the drain-saved the cabinet and no mold! Now I purchased a clear shallow tote that I use like a drawer under the sink so if it ever leaks again, no mold.
No septic stories to tell of (thank goodness)! But I grew up with a disposal and took that baby for granted. For the past 5 years, we have not had one and my husband refused to install one because our inspector told us not to on a septic tank (what?!) Now we’re moving to South Carolina and our new house has one. I was SO excited. Our realtor even commented that it was rare to find someone so OK with an electric range but so excited about a garbage disposal. Oh…woops.
Haha– praying! I actually kind of like the look, though. It seems more fresh than the traditional, expected combo would be.
We saw these at Haven and they look so awesome! I never had a disposal growing up so it was SO novel to me to get one when we bought our house. I can’t imagine life without it now!
Did they used to have a shallow sink in that spot? Backstory to my question…our home had a shallow sink and the plumbing exit to the outside was already in. They did have a disposal. However, when we replaced our sink and put in a new disposal, it kind of messed with the water flow out of the house. Since everything sits way lower. We have had a lot of problems with our “jimmy rigged” plumbing under the sink. The water keeps getting stuck in the p-trap since it’s too low compared to the exit pipe. Any advice?
Ummm…that really shouldn’t be a problem. If you have a pic, email it to me and I will see if I can help.
xo – kb
I will take one and email. THANK YOU!
Was there any issues with standing water in the disposal? Judging by the photos the drain from the disposal is lower than the main drain pipe coming from the wall which based on gravity alone would cause the water not to properly drain.
We thought we would have an issue with that too…so after this post went up, we actually called a couple of our friends that are plumbers and we added to-do’s to our list….namely, adding a new drain line. It was actually a point of contention with them because there were two arguments…one being that if the main drain was higher then it would allow for sitting water…but the other side argued that if the disposal was working properly, it would act like a pump and the water would exit either way and if used daily, it wouldn’t matter if a small amount would stay in the trap. In the end, we decided to just go for it and added the new drain. Better safe than sorry. This is all the stuff that is behind-the-scenes and generally doesn’t interest most of my readers but I’m glad at least one person asked 🙂
xo – kb
I dunno how the heck I lived without a disposal when I was a kid. My childhood home was very old fashioned, we didn’t have any of the things that are pretty much ubiquitous nowadays like a garbage disposal or even a shower (bathtub only). You don’t really appreciate the convenience of having a disposal until you live so long without one!