I’m getting new laminate counter-tops, sink, garbage disposal etc.
For our Canadian friends garbage disposal is what you call a garburator.
I have the standard double bowl sink.
My plumber recommends moving my garbage disposal from the left side to the right.
Which means I would have to wash dishes on the opposite side.
At first this seems strange. I bought this house 15 years ago. I’m used to washing dishes on the right and using the disposal on the left.
But, my moms old house and her new one has the disposal on the right.
So, maybe my house has been back asswards.
Now, I’m wondering which arrangement is most common.
Poll: Is your garbage disposal in the right or left side of the sink?
It’s funny how humans are creatures of habit. We get accustomed to sleeping on one side of the bed. We sit in the same chair in our dining room. Even sit on the same side of the sofa every day.
Until today, I hadn’t thought much about the kitchen sink. I was surprised that the idea of washing dishes on the opposite side seems weird. It’s like sleeping on the wrong side of the bed.
Old habits die hard. What the heck. I’m sitting on the left side of the sofa tonight. My wife will just have to deal with it.
If you’ve got a symmetrical double sink, it really doesn’t matter - just pick one side and use it whichever way. Though I have always seen it on the left in that situation.
If the sink is being replaced with an asymmetrical one (one large bowl, one very small one) there are two schools of thought. In one, you put it in the smaller bowl so you can scrape stuff in there and I guess wash in the left-hand sink.
In the other one, you put it in the larger bowl, where you can wash big pots etc. and dump your stuff out directly into the same bowl.
We had our kitchen remodeled about 8 years ago, and put in an asymmetrical double sink, and the contractor really wanted to put it in the smaller half. I insisted in the larger half, and was very pleased. A friend of mine did the opposite and likes it better that way.
I personally don’t care if I don’t use the smaller-half much anyway. I loved having it in the larger side.
Then we moved and we’re in a place where neither half of the sink has room for large pots :(. The disposal is on the left, and the dish drainer is on the right.
Oh, and when a friend of mine had her kitchen totally redone… she put 'em on both sides. Solving forever the problem of clueless spouses / kids dumping stuff in the wrong side!
I’ve seen in homes that have an actual dishwasher adjacent to the sink that the garbage disposal is on the same side as the dishwasher. I believe the dishwasher drain hose connects directly to the garbage disposal.
Are double sinks that common? I feel like there should be an option for single sink/disposal. I had a single growing up. My dad has a weird one. It’s technically a double, but the left (which also has the disposal) is a tiny sink, both smaller and more shallow (much higher than the right sink). It feels unnatural to throw stuff down in the small sink, while the right is just pipes.
At my house when we installed a dishwasher the only place to put it was on the side opposite where the GD was. No biggie, the drain hose is just a foot or so longer.
There is your answer. It goes on the side where it lines up with the plumbing the best.
You generally want the disposer on the side opposite where the drain goes into the wall or floor, just so there’s some space to route the pipes.
If you’ve got a rare kitcen where the drain leaves the room dead centered in the cabinet, it makes no difference, but Murphy’s Law otherwise will conspire to put the disposer right where a pipe needs to be.
Growing up, when my mom remodeled our kitchen, we got a sink with a big sink on the right and a little, shallow one on the left. The disposal was in the little sink. I’ve owned/rented several houses as an adult with double sinks and the disposal has always been on the right.
My current house has a septic tank and thus no disposal. I miss it.
According to the landlord, it’s in the building codes or something around here. Older places might be grandfathered in or something. I know my family’s summer place in NH has both as well, but it’s really old.
A garbage disposal would put a greater load on my old septic. Not a good idea. I’ve never seen a need to dispose of food scraps down the drain. Wild animals dispose of my garbage quite efficiently and silently, usually overnight. We have a symbiotic relationship.
My wife will just have to deal with it. 
I miss it.