Garbage Disposal Repair vs. Replacement Services

Garbage disposals are incredibly helpful appliances that reduce the frequency of clogs by grinding up leftovers before they block your pipes. While garbage disposals add greater convenience and are fairly durable devices, they can run into problems like any other appliance. When something goes wrong with your garbage disposal, you can choose between a repair or replacement service. 

To ensure you know the right solution for your garbage disposal, take a moment to learn more about each of these services and how to know which one you need.

What Are Garbage Disposal Repair Services?

Garbage disposal repair services can range from removing clogs or fixing leaks to solving an electrical issue or swapping out a broken part. While there’s a variety of garbage disposal repair services, they all aim to get your garbage disposal back up and running without replacing your entire unit. Since garbage disposal repairs can be potentially dangerous, it’s best to have a trained plumber inspect your unit and provide any needed repairs to keep you out of harm’s way.

What Are Garbage Disposal Replacement Services? 

As you might expect from the name, garbage disposal replacement services involve replacing an old, malfunctioning garbage disposal with a new model. Typically, a trained plumber will remove your old garbage disposal after an inspection finds that it no longer works and is past the point of repair. Once they’ve removed the old garbage disposal, they can help you select a new model and safely install it. Like garbage disposal repairs, replacing a garbage disposal can be dangerous, so it’s best to leave the work to a professional.

How to Know When to Repair or Replace Your Garbage Disposal

If your garbage disposal is leaking, making odd noises, not grinding up food particles properly, or not turning on, you probably need garbage disposal services. You can often tell whether you’ll need a plumber to repair or replace your garbage disposal by knowing about the most common problems that garbage disposals face and their severity. Learn more about these problems and their solutions below:

1. Your Garbage Disposal Leaks

When water leaks from your garbage disposal, the problem could be due to a few issues that range in severity. For example, your garbage disposal’s bolts could be loose, meaning a plumber only needs to tighten them to fix the issue. If the mounting bolts aren’t the problem, you could have an issue with a malfunctioning seal. In this case, a plumber will need to replace the seal to stop the leakage.

Though you can often repair a garbage disposal that simply needs a bolt tightened or a seal swapped out, the whole unit will likely need to be replaced if an inspection reveals cracks. These cracks often appear as a garbage disposal ages and are a major sign that it’s time to replace your existing unit.

2. Your Garbage Disposal Jams or Clogs

A jammed garbage disposal is another common problem that garbage disposals can run into. Usually, a jam or clog is due to someone throwing hard-to-grind foods or objects down the drain. A drain cleaning from a plumber can usually solve a clogged or jammed garbage disposal, making it one of the easiest-to-fix issues. You can avoid jams in the future by not putting dangerous foods down your garbage disposal, such as seeds, pits, coffee grounds, stringy vegetables, potato peels, grease, oil, bones, pasta, or egg shells. 

While jams can typically be prevented by not sending these foods down your sink’s drain, you might want to consider replacing your unit if it constantly clogs, especially when you’re avoiding putting hard-to-grind foods down the drain. A consistently clogged garbage disposal likely means your blades have gone dull, and you’ll need to replace the entire unit.

3. Your Garbage Disposal Won’t Turn On

If your garbage disposal won’t turn on, it’s likely an electrical issue. Sometimes, you may simply need to plug it back in, reset it, or check the circuit breaker to get it to turn on again. When those options don’t work, you’ll need a professional to check the writing and look for other issues you might not be able to notice. Depending on the source of the issue with your garbage disposal, you may need to repair or replace it.

4. Your Garbage Is Loud But Won’t Grind Up Food

Sometimes, garbage disposals will make a loud humming noise but won’t actually grind up the food you send down the drain. Since the humming noise means your unit is still receiving power, your garbage disposal probably has a dead motor. While you’ll usually need to replace the entire garbage disposal if the motor dies, a repair may be possible if a plumber finds solid objects or foods stuck between the shredder ring and impeller.

Choose Bonney for Garbage Disposal Service Near You in Sacramento

If you’re looking for garbage disposal repair near you in Sacramento, Bonney has you covered. Our team of plumbing experts can inspect your garbage disposal and provide a detailed analysis of whether you should repair or replace it. After you approve one of our services, we’ll repair your garbage disposal or replace it. Alongside our various garbage disposal services, we provide multiple coupons and financing options to ensure any service you receive fits inside your budget. Learn more about our garbage disposal repair and replacement services today. If you have any questions or want to schedule a garbage disposal service near you, please contact us.