# How big a job is replacing a gabage disposal?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-job-is-replacing-a-gabage-disposal/627795>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 10, 2012, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-job-is-replacing-a-gabage-disposal/627795 "2012-07-10T15:14:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 19\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\
**Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-job-is-replacing-a-gabage-disposal/627795/21 "2012-07-10T18:03:39Z")

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> [@filmore](#):
>
> Definitely change it your self. It’s pretty straightforward. The hardest part is that you’re working in a cramped space. Yes, like all projects it will take longer than you expect. It’s a 30 minute job, but don’t be surprised if it takes you an hour or two since it’s your first time. Just in case, start on Saturday morning instead of Sunday night.

Great advice. It is indeed a 30 minute job that you should expect to spend at least 2 hrs doing the first time. Then, the next time you have to do it… you’ll have forgotten everything you learned the first time, and it will still take you 2 hours! 🙂

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**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\
**Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-job-is-replacing-a-gabage-disposal/627795/22 "2012-07-10T18:08:29Z")

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It’s a big job. You’ve got to dismantle the latch hasp from the  
auxiliary drainage line. If you have a Clarkman the manual will say main line, which is a misprint.  
You could call David Puddy. He’ll talk you through it.

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**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\
**Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-job-is-replacing-a-gabage-disposal/627795/23 "2012-07-10T18:24:04Z")

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> [@pkbites](#):
>
> It’s a big job. You’ve got to dismantle the latch hasp from the  
> auxiliary drainage line. If you have a Clarkman the manual will say main line, which is a misprint.

That would be good advice if I were planning to install it in my shower drain.

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**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\
**Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-job-is-replacing-a-gabage-disposal/627795/24 "2012-07-10T18:38:55Z")

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It’s not terribly difficult. I replaced mine using just the instructions and my home tools. It’s worked fine.

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**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\
**Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-job-is-replacing-a-gabage-disposal/627795/25 "2012-07-10T18:44:58Z")

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> [@Chefguy](#):
>
> No, no, no! You need the triskaheptagonal, not dekagonal wrench. Amateurs…sheesh. :rolleyes:

Bring me the hydro-spanners.

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**Author:** ![Disheavel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Disheavel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disheavel)\
**Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-job-is-replacing-a-gabage-disposal/627795/26 "2012-07-10T18:45:40Z")

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> [@Wheelz](#):
>
> That would be good advice if I were planning to install it in my shower drain.

I’m not even joking when I say that I am considering doing this. We have a bathroom that was plumbed in the 70s and I swear that not only is the pressure to the faucet, tub, and toilet just terrible, but the drain pipes for the former two must be \<1". All we do is brush teeth and wash hands (no shaving, no hair brushes- as I’ve forbidden them near this bathroom) and I still have to snake the drain multiple times a year. But snaking is a nightmare. I think they just used T-joints and L-joints lined up next to each other. The snakes come back out kinked and bent and I can only get about 4 feet in before hitting a complete barrier. We once had a plumber come to get the backed up bathtub working and he didn’t charge us as he didn’t know exactly why it started draining because he couldn’t get his snakes or plungers or anything to work right. Putting the garden hose into the drain and applying pressure works better than anything.

All that being said, I am pretty sure that the garbage disposal is my only option left at this point. 😉

I also wanted to give a thumbs up to **Tri-Polar** ’s “buy extra plumbing packs” idea. They are only 3-5$ for an ensemble of traps/joints/pipes and if it saves just one trip in the next 10 years, it is worth it.

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**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\
**Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-job-is-replacing-a-gabage-disposal/627795/27 "2012-07-10T18:57:38Z")

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> [@Wheelz](#):
>
> That would be good advice if I were planning to install it in my shower drain.

Do you mean your not? Get with the times, man!

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**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\
**Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-job-is-replacing-a-gabage-disposal/627795/28 "2012-07-10T19:13:26Z")

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If anything goes wrong, just reverse the polarity. Or compensate!

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**Author:** ![Yarster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/7c8e57/32.png) [@Yarster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yarster)\
**Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-job-is-replacing-a-gabage-disposal/627795/29 "2012-07-10T19:48:12Z")

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I am very much NOT handy around the house and replaced ours about six months ago. It took about a half hour. I watched the Youtube videos as well. In my case, I dismantled the old disposal first and brought it with me to Home Depot.

This prevents the classic ‘Home Depot Paradox’, which is that if you just take a picture, when you get there you find out there are 10,000 variants of the item you have to replace and they all differ by 1/100 of an inch such that the picture is useless in determining the one you need. The likelihood of this happening, by the way, is directly proportional to the driving distance between your home and the Home Depot you visit. Conversely, if you bring the part in, that’s when you find out they were all a standard size and one type. Unless, of course, you are hit with the ‘Home Depot Corollary’, which is the law that states that despite your item being standard in every home in America, the people who worked at the factory that manufactured YOUR part were all taken out back and murdered immediately after it came off the assembly line and a voodoo curse sucked the factory into another dimension such that no replacement part exists on Earth and the $0.50 part now requires you to instead just buy a whole new $5,000 appliance. I have personally experienced this corollary with the plastic burner knobs on my outdoor BBQ.

But I digress…as far as I know the size of all garbage disposal sink holes is the same, and the only difference is the horsepower of the unit and whether the plug assembly is already attached. A surprising number of them are not which allows for units that must be hard-wired, so check that out when you take the old one off. Make sure you start the project immediately after you finish some meal and clean up, otherwise it is a guarantee, just like when I do auto repairs, that someone will try to use the sink/need to drive the car, the second you have the disposal off and are elbow deep into the project.

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**Author:** ![jdc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@jdc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jdc)\
**Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-job-is-replacing-a-gabage-disposal/627795/30 "2012-07-10T22:18:27Z")

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When installing a heavy disposer, I find it handy to get the scissor jack from my car and use it to hold up the old disposer when I am opening the clamp and to raise the new disposer into position before tightening the clamp. This make the job much easier and faster.

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**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\
**Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-job-is-replacing-a-gabage-disposal/627795/31 "2012-07-10T22:25:40Z")

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Done!  
It wasn’t too hard. Took about an hour, mainly because I was deliberately proceeding verrrrry slowly, following the directions to a T, while also following along with the dude on the video.

No major snafus to report, and the only cursing happened while trying to hold all the pieces of the mounting collar in place while getting the snap-ring thingy to go on, and even that was pretty easy once I figured out the right angle to go at it.

Quick aside – I couldn’t find my old model, or even one that looked much like it, so I decided to go for broke and upgraded from 1/2 to 5/8 hp, and got one of those nice new anti-vibration models. Everything ended up lining up exactly anyway, and holy cow, is that thing quiet. I almost thought it didn’t work at first!

Thanks again for all the advice and encouragement.

ETA: The wife is due home in about a half hour. I think she’ll be impressed! 😉

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**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\
**Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-job-is-replacing-a-gabage-disposal/627795/32 "2012-07-10T22:52:53Z")

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I did it, and if I can do it, anyone can.

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**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\
**Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-job-is-replacing-a-gabage-disposal/627795/33 "2012-07-10T23:00:59Z")

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> [@Wheelz](#):
>
> Done!  
> It wasn’t too hard. Took about an hour, mainly because I was deliberately proceeding verrrrry slowly, following the directions to a T, while also following along with the dude on the video.
> 
> No major snafus to report, and the only cursing happened while trying to hold all the pieces of the mounting collar in place while getting the snap-ring thingy to go on, and even that was pretty easy once I figured out the right angle to go at it.
> 
> Quick aside – I couldn’t find my old model, or even one that looked much like it, so I decided to go for broke and upgraded from 1/2 to 5/8 hp, and got one of those nice new anti-vibration models. Everything ended up lining up exactly anyway, and holy cow, is that thing quiet. I almost thought it didn’t work at first!
> 
> Thanks again for all the advice and encouragement.
> 
> ETA: The wife is due home in about a half hour. I think she’ll be impressed! 😉

Most of that stuff is all standard sizes. Good to hear it worked out OK.

If you’re not doing anything later, mine could use replacing. 🙂

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**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\
**Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-job-is-replacing-a-gabage-disposal/627795/34 "2012-07-10T23:02:17Z")

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Yours is already done - congratulations! - but for anyone else contemplating this, take the money you save by not calling a plumber and upgrade the disposer. About three months ago, I replaced a wimpy 1/3 horse thing with a 1 HP unit with stainless steel guts, auto-reversing, noise insulation, and power, power, POWER! to chew up anything that fits through its mouth. Completely worth the $250 or so price.

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**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\
**Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-job-is-replacing-a-gabage-disposal/627795/35 "2012-07-11T17:10:09Z")

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> [@gotpasswords](#):
>
> Yours is already done - congratulations! - but for anyone else contemplating this, take the money you save by not calling a plumber and upgrade the disposer. About three months ago, I replaced a wimpy 1/3 horse thing with a 1 HP unit with stainless steel guts, auto-reversing, noise insulation, and power, power, POWER! to chew up anything that fits through its mouth. Completely worth the $250 or so price.

Agreed. I had a “get what you pay for” moment in the store. I was starting to make my way to the register with the basic no frills 1/2 HP unit for under $100, when I stopped and turned back for the better-constructed, quieter, more powerful and more expensive model. I don’t think I’m going to regret it.

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**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\
**Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-job-is-replacing-a-gabage-disposal/627795/36 "2012-07-11T17:48:06Z")

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> [@Wheelz](#):
>
> Done!
> 
> ETA: The wife is due home in about a half hour. I think she’ll be impressed! 😉

what did you grind up to impress her?

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**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\
**Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-job-is-replacing-a-gabage-disposal/627795/37 "2012-07-11T18:06:57Z")

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> [@johnpost](#):
>
> what did you grind up to impress her?

I’d grind up the following items, to maximize her astonishment:  
eggshells  
carrot stems  
apple core  
lemon peel  
cherry pits  
pistachio shells  
whole chicken  
lightbulb  
marbles  
golf ball, and finally  
fistful of dimes

Then you declare “These are so easy to replace, I’m going to get another one!”

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**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-job-is-replacing-a-gabage-disposal/627795/38 "2012-07-12T02:25:10Z")

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You’ve already followed the advise I was going to give, but I’ll spell it out for anyone else considering this project.

Make sure to get at least the mid range noise reduction. You can be talking on the phone with it running and whoever is on the other end won’t have a clue.

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**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2012, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-job-is-replacing-a-gabage-disposal/627795/39 "2012-07-13T22:39:26Z")

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If it is the same brand, and the old one wasn’t too old, it can be a 1/2 hour job.

If it is a different brand, it can take a couple hours. If it is the first time you have done it, expect it to chew up most of a weekend.

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