The time I tried to fix my garbage disposal for 4 hours.

So my sink started draining super slow last Tuesday. I figured it was just some gunk and grabbed my plunger. But then it got worse and started backing up into the other side. I spent the next 4 hours taking apart the pipes under the sink, pulling out this nasty sludge that smelled like a dead animal. Turns out the problem was a tiny plastic bottle cap that got wedged in the disposal blades. It was like a 30 second fix once I actually found it. I must have looked like a crazy person under there with a flashlight for almost half my day. Has anyone else spent way too long on what should have been a quick plumbing fix?

2 comments

2 Comments

thomas2911mo ago

I saw a video on YouTube where a plumber said 90% of disposal issues are from bottle caps or utensils. That's got to be true because my cousin had almost the same thing happen with a fork his kid dropped down the drain. He spent like 3 hours cussing and taking everything apart before finding it just sitting there in the blades. The worst part is you feel so dumb after when it takes like 30 seconds to fish it out with some pliers. Same thing happened to me with a gatorade cap a few years ago, drove me up the wall.

the_beth1mo ago

@thomas291 nailed it honestly. Those 3 hour tear downs are brutal because you're cussing and sweating and then pop, there it is just sitting there. Bottle caps are the worst because they'll wedge in there just right and make that grinding noise that makes you think the whole motor is shot. Fish it out with pliers and it's like nothing ever happened. I swear every single person who owns a disposal has done this at least once, it's like a weird rite of passage. Saves you a lot of headache if you just remember to shine a flashlight down there first before you start yanking pipes apart.