Garbage Disposal Repair & Installation in Lakewood, CO

The hum-versus-silence distinction does most of the diagnostic work. A hum means power is arriving but the flywheel can't turn — usually a jam, freed from below with the right wrench, and the unit lives on. Dead silence usually means the internal overload tripped, and the reset button on the bottom brings it back more often than people expect. Neither of those failures needs a new disposal, which is why the honest first step is diagnosis rather than a replacement quote.

Leaks decide differently depending on where they're from. The sink-flange seal at the top and the discharge and dishwasher connections on the side are all repairable joints — new putty, new gaskets, properly seated clamps. A leak from the disposal body itself, seeping from the bottom housing, means the internal seals are gone, and that's a replacement: there's no serviceable part inside. Thirty seconds with a flashlight tells me which story yours is, and only one of them costs real money.

When it is replacement time, sizing is worth the two-minute conversation. A half-horsepower builder unit serves a light-use kitchen fine; a household that cooks daily is happier with three-quarter or one horsepower and the better sound insulation that tends to come with it. Batch-feed models exist for households that want the extra safety. The install itself includes the details that get skipped: fresh plumber's putty, the dishwasher knockout removed when there's a dishwasher to drain, and a full leak test.