About 12 months ago, our kitchen sink was on the fritz. I had planned to tell y’all about it but I got distracted. But those photos have been sitting on my computer this whole time and I thought it was high time to tell ya how we tackled it.
I’m sure most of you have seen a sink like this…
Last October we had a pumpkin painting party and we had tons of chili. I don’t know if that was exactly the cause of this clog but that’s my best educated guess because it was stopped up after that. Beans and meat do a number on most plumbing (wink wink).
I told Jeremy that since we were gonna take out the pipes and things that I would love to have a garbage disposal on one side of the sink. He agreed.
For those of you that don’t know…in general, we don’t tackle anything that deals with water or gas. My brother is a plumber and he has told us about enough DIY hack jobs that put the fear into us. But since this plumbing was exposed and not hidden behind a wall (and we had clear directions and a plumber on call) Jer felt comfortable tackling it.
Our sink has two different size bowls…one deeper than the other…and after we did a little measuring, we decided that the right hand side is where the disposal would live. Since the water from the right goes into the pipe from the left, the left hand side does not have a disposal feature at all so we are really careful just to put scraped dishes in the right and debri-free dishes in the left.
Anyhoo…this is what we ended up purchasing…it’s called the insinkerator. Ten thousand points for a cool name.
We got it at Lowes for $180. Not cheap…but roughly the cost of a plumber for an hour fix.
We also replaced the sink strainer on the opposite side.
The dishwasher connector kit cost an additional $9 but we figured that if something chunky made it into the dishwasher, we better grind that out before it hits the septic tank (we’ve had trouble with that before so that’s not reaching).
Since we were on the accessory kick, we bought the $60 SinkTop Switch…which I think they should sell with the disposal itself because it is AWESOME.
And then because we were using the SinkTop Switch, we had to get this plugin option that cost $12.
And then we had to make sure that the outlet was GFCI (it’s necessary to switch all your outlets to GFCI when they are close to water!). So this outlet from Home Depot cost about $13.
That’s a super quick switch. Here is a tutorial about switching outlets. Don’t judge me, I am wearing a robe in the video.
After the outlet was ready, we had to remove all the pipes. Demo is Jeremy’s middle name so that didn’t take long.
Shield your eyes!
Time for the sink strainers to come out….again…don’t look if you are eating lunch.
This is why sinks are disgusting. That dried up plumbers putty is like a sponge of bacteria and grossification.
Jeremy prepped the INSINKERATOR (say that out loud really dramatically and it will be your new favorite word) by punching out the dishwasher knockout plug. I got worried when the directions said that you have to hammer out a piece of my new $180 piece of awesome but it’s in the instructions…
Since we were hooking our disposal up to a plug in kit (vs. hardwiring it to the wall where a lightswitch would turn it on) we had to attach the wires in the INSINKERATOR to the wires from our plug in kit.
Magic.
The way we get the disposal to turn on is the SinkTop switch. It’s basically just a button on your counter. We already had extra holes in the granite that we had just put caps on so it didn’t mean that we needed to add anything extra.
We did however have to take the caps off…so Jer climbed under the counter and screwed off the caps.
Can you see it now?
Then it was just a matter of slipping the button in the hole.
We still have one more hole in the countertop that has a cap…but in general I think having the button makes this area feel more intentional.
Since the INSINKERATOR (!!!) was ready and the button was ready, the next step was installing the new sink flanges.
We did the regular sink drain first. It requires a little plumbers putty first and then you just smoosh it in place.
Then we repeated the process with the disposal’s drain part…
You just smoosh (that’s the technical term by the way) the putty around the outside of the rim and put it in place.
We called in reinforcements for the installation part of the disposal body.
It involves a lot of slipping stuff on the mounting assemble and fastening the mounting screws. It is really groundbreaking stuff.
After the disposal was in, Jeremy reattached the right pipes. He also attached the dishwasher attachment piece. Everything is ‘snap this on’ ‘screw this tight’ and ‘twist this again’….it’s not rocket science. Just don’t forget to put on a P-trap.
Then came plug in time. You first attach the wire from the button to the control box.
Then put the cord from the disposal to the control box.
Plugging in the control box into the outlet is the last step! Now your disposal should be done!
So far we really love it. We have lived with it for about a year now and we haven’t had any issues with clogs.
And the part I love the most is that my sink feels nice and clean and the relief of knowing that a clump of beans won’t be my downfall! At least not in my sink 🙂
Bonus points for awesome blog post title. Looks really good! Thanks for sharing all the details. Must be nice to have it all up and running smoothly again!
Whoa. Did you not have a disposal ever? That seems crazy to me, I don’t know what I would do without one!
This is my first!
xo kb
I love it when you show ‘not so pretty’ DIY jobs. Not everything is a nursery reveal after all! We are planning on buying a house soon (after moving around and renting for the last 7 years) so I am storing lots of DIY posts to refer to.
No concerns about using a disposal with your septic? We were advised not to. Wonder if it’s a regional difference?
I have to say, I am baffled that your (newer) big beautiful house did not have a disposal in the kitchen sink! I just assumed it was basically standard issue after about 1979… (so welcome to 1980!)
We installed the same exact setup and we LOVE it! The disposal can handle basically anything!
We actually took ours out because we heard you should not have them when you have a spetic (vs a public sewer system) and I really miss it! I want it back! We I get one back in, I won’t use it for my intial clean-up with the dishes but I would for the final bits and pieces that are left before sticking the dishes in the dishwasher.
PS – I am loving your bean/plumbing humor 🙂
When we moved to our current house, there was a disposal, but since we have a septic tank here, I was paranoid about using the disposal. So when we changed the sink out, I had the guy take out the disposal. I do miss having one, but am too afraid of septic tank issues down the road.
My brother told me that it is just a back up plan for food that could have gotten down there. We still scrape all the food in the trashcan and then rinse in this side. We know that putting any kind of clog-clearing chemical is terrible for the septic too.
xo – kb
My brother is a plumber and he hates when people have disposals because people think it’s a free pass to have all food scraped into the sink. He advises that all food be scraped in the trash and then any bits that make it down the sink when you rinse, that you grind up.
xo – kb
This is crazy! We just sold our house and before we can close, we have to install/replace non-functioning GFCIs in our kitchen and bath. As in, we bought them today . . . and then we saw your incredibly timely post . . . with a link to your very awesome bathrobe video. This is the last repair we have to make, and we were a little unsure of how to do it. But now, THANKS TO YOU, we know just what to do. Wahoo! Thanks for the timely tip!
Hey, Katie. I just wanted to take a second to tell you that I think you’re great. Seriously. I’m thankful to get to read your shenanigans. Would you mind passing along a big hug to the Petersiks as well? Sure do miss them.
I just learned about the counter button yesterday! The plumber showed us how it can get water in it and you won’t get shocked. Very handy for us, since our new sink will be on the island (no wall for a switch). Thank you for sharing!
There’s also a product (I *think* it’s called Biocharge) that can attach to certain disposals that are on septic. It’s sort of like a Rid-x for your garbage disposal. I don’t know if it can attach to all insinkerator disposals, though. Ours was specifically for use with a septic system. This is the amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000G86NUW?pc_redir=1411777294&robot_redir=1
Can’t say I’m sad to not be on septic anymore!
I was going to ask this same thing. We were told not to have a disposal too. I would LOVE to have one though.
I have the same sink and am having a hard time finding a faucet to reach both sides of the sink. (Our faucet is offset to one side). What faucet do you have on the sink? Thanks!
Let’s just address the fact that this home built in the modern age, a highly upgraded custom home with beautiful features DID NOT HAVE A GARBAGE DISPOSAL TO BEGIN WITH!!! This boggles my mind.
Mind blowing. Your first ever? I grew up with one and didn’t have one for two years when we were first married living in crummy married student apartments. Honestly cannot fathom this. At all. haha!
It’s funny how different our standards/expectations are! I live in Germany and have never ever ever encountered a garbage disposal in any sink I ever saw (I lived in 8 different flats in four different cities plus all my friends’ and relatives’ places and been to other European countries). We just use the little sieve things on the drain and empty it regularly (usually right after doing dishes).
But on the other hand septic tanks appear so outdated to me. – I don’t think we have them in private households anymore…
The one and only time I’ve been shocked while unplugging something was on a GFCI plug and it was at a hotel. My parent’s have had a disposal for years and we have a septic tank but when it was put in during a big remodeling phase my dad had the sink drain ran out to the back of the property instead of running into the septic tank. I think it’s pretty standard for some super country places b/c the house we are currently renting, the sink and washer both drain out into a pasture not the septic tank.
Here’s the post on it.
xo – kb
Will do 🙂 I miss their blog too!
xo – kb
Wow, so the wastewater really actually just goes into the ground unfiltered? I’m not sure, I understood your post correctly (English isn’t my first language).
Imagine all the chemicals and whatnot that just sink into the groundwater!?!? I can’t fathom that an industrialised country would ever allow that! – I mean from what I learned on YHL and BowerPower you guys in the states have some pretty strict regulations about housing, but you are allowed to have wastewater just drain into a pasture? – I am not blaming you, Dawn, since you just rent it. But c’mon that can’t be allowed!
SinkTop Switch? I didn’t even know such a thing existed until reading this and now I am in full on lust mode for one! Stuff like this gets me going and I am SO getting one installed. My switch is out of sight on the frame of the cupboard and I’m always convinced that I switch it on and because my hands were wet will get electrocuted (I think if I could see it I could see the sparks and step away – yes, I know stupid…), and then the cat, who has no patience for his meals, will feast upon my corpse and perhaps they only reason they’ll find my skeleton is the dog’s barking from fear of being next on the cat’s menu. Swear, every single time I flash through that scenario!!
I believe they call it graywater. It is technically wastewater generated from wash hand basins, showers and baths, which can be recycled on-site for uses such as toilet flushing, landscape irrigation and constructed wetlands. Greywater often includes discharge from laundry, dishwashers and kitchen sinks. It is water that doesn’t ever come in contact with poo. You definitely can’t drain just anything into a pasture 🙂
xo – kb
I have the push button too!! I love it!!
We stayed at my sister in laws over the summer and she did not have a garbage disposal. It was so hard to clean dishes. We did not have one in our pre kids apartment, but it never bothered us then. Ours went out about a year ago and it was the longest few days of my life until we replaced it. And by the way, my 13 year old heart did a little flutter when I saw NSYNC in the title. Embarrassing, but pre teen crushes never fade.
It’s just sink water from where we wash dishes, most food particles are scraped off before I wash dishes and the washing machine water drains out to the pasture too. Most people call it gray water b/c it’s not clean water but it’s not sewer water either. There are a lot of people who use this set up to keep a bunch of water from going into the septic tank.