Licensed, Bonded and Insured in Washington◆Owner-Operated◆Repairing Appliances Since 2013◆Open 7 Days, 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.◆No Weekend or Holiday Surcharge◆Military Discount◆4.8 Google Rated◆Licensed, Bonded and Insured in Washington◆Owner-Operated◆Repairing Appliances Since 2013◆Open 7 Days, 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.◆No Weekend or Holiday Surcharge◆Military Discount◆4.8 Google Rated◆
If the disposal under your sink hums without turning, has stopped responding, or has simply reached the end of its life, SD Appliance will swap it for a new one, and will tell you before the visit if the fault is really plumbing.
SD Appliance is Sergei Dergunov, working out of the South Hill since 2020 and repairing appliances since 2013. The scope on this one appliance is narrow on purpose: a like-for-like swap of an existing disposal for a new one. Not a repair, not a new installation where there was not one before, and not the plumbing around it.
Knowing that before you call saves you a visit that was never going to help.
What people are actually saying when they call
Four situations cover nearly all of these calls, and two are for a plumber rather than for us.
The call comes to Sergei
and he brings the right disposal with him
“It hums, but nothing turns.”
Power is reaching the motor, but the grinding assembly is not moving, which suggests a jam or the motor is at the end of its life.
“It does nothing at all.”
No hum, no noise. Often just the reset button underneath, which is worth pressing before you call anyone.
“It is leaking.”
That is a plumber’s job, not ours, and we tell you up front rather than after a visit.
“I want one installed where there is not one.”
That is also a plumber’s job. New installations are not offered here; a like-for-like swap of an existing unit is.
What fails, and who should fix it
Worth being direct about how these are handled, because it differs from every other appliance on this site.
SWAP, NOT REBUILD
Appliance job, or plumber’s job?
01
Disposals get replaced here, not repaired
He replaces the unit rather than rebuilding it. On an appliance this inexpensive, a swap is the practical answer, and a strip-down is not offered.
02
Jams and seized motors
The two things that actually end a disposal. A jam that will not clear and a motor that will not turn are both replacement territory.
03
Leaks, and why they go to a plumber
A leaking disposal is usually leaking at the sink flange, the mounting, or the drain connection. Anything that leaks or needs modification goes to a plumber.
Before you call anyone
Two free checks are worth doing first, because they resolve a good share of these without a visit. If it is completely dead, look underneath for a small reset button and press it; disposals trip their own overload and stay dead until reset. If it hums but does not turn, kill the power at the breaker rather than the wall switch, keep your hands out of the grinding chamber, and use the hex key that came with the unit in the socket underneath to work the plate back and forth. A jam that has been humming will have tripped the overload, so press the reset button before restoring power. If either brings it back, you have saved yourself a call. If neither does, it is almost certainly a replacement. Service runs well out from the South Hill in every direction, including across the state line, and Idaho is charged at the same rate as anywhere else.
What this covers
The disposal work we take on
Like-for-like replacement of an existing disposal
Removing the old unit and fitting the new one to the existing mounting
Testing the new unit before we leave
What we do not do
Repair of a disposal
The motor and grinding assembly are sealed and are not rebuilt in the field. A failed unit is swapped for a new one.
New installations
Adding a disposal to a sink that has never had one means new drain and electrical work, which is a plumber’s job.
Any plumbing work
Leaks at the flange, the trap or the drain line, and any change to the pipework. That is a plumber’s job and you will be told so.
Electrical work
If the unit is hardwired and the wiring or the wall switch needs attention, that is an electrician.
Drop-off or in-shop work
Nothing is taken away to a workshop. All work is done in your home, under your sink.
Commercial units
Restaurant and commercial disposals are a different class of machine and are not covered here.
A swap
not a rebuild
Repair or replace?
There is no repair-or-replace debate here. A failed disposal is replaced.
The only decision is who does it. If the plumbing around it is sound, a like-for-like swap is straightforward and is offered here. If there is a leak, a modification, or no existing unit to swap, calling a plumber first gets you there faster.
The same $89 whether the answer is a swap or a referral to a plumber. It covers travel, inspection and diagnostic time, goes toward the work if you go ahead, and stands on its own if you decide not to.
After that, it is the unit plus fitting it. Because this is a swap rather than a diagnosis-led repair, the number is clear early.
No call center and no dispatcher. Say what it is doing, whether there is any water under the sink, whether there is an existing unit in place, and whether it plugs in or is hardwired. Those answers decide whether this is our job, a plumber’s or an electrician’s.
2
Try the two free checks first
The reset button and the hex key. Worth doing before you book, and he will usually ask on the phone whether you have.
3
The swap
The old unit comes off the mounting, the new one goes on, and it is run and tested before anyone leaves. Parts and labor are warranted for 30 to 90 days, as stated on your invoice.
4
If it turns out to be plumbing
You get told, and pointed at a plumber, rather than sold something that will not help.
Which?
appliance or plumbing
Where the appliance ends and the plumbing begins
On most appliances the answer is repair it. On this one, you often want a plumber rather than us, and that is worth saying before you pay anyone.
This is one of the few kitchen appliances where the line between an appliance job and a plumbing job runs straight through the middle of the unit. The sink flange and the drain connection are plumbing components; the motor and the grinding assembly are appliances. When someone says the disposal is broken, it is a coin flip as to which side the fault is on.
Being vague about it would generate more service calls, and a share would end with somebody paying $89 to be told to call a plumber. So the line gets named instead.
The practical version: water under the sink means a plumber. A unit that hums, grinds badly or has gone dead, with dry sound plumbing around it, is a swap and we can do it.
Real customers, real repairs
Here is what people across the Spokane area say about the work.
Common questions
No. They get replaced rather than rebuilt.
Sometimes, and it is worth trying yourself. Kill the power at the breaker, keep your hands out of the chamber, and use the hex key in the socket underneath to work the plate back and forth. Press the reset button afterward.
The reset button underneath. Disposals trip their own overload and stay dead until it is pressed.
No, that is a plumber. Leaks on a disposal are usually at the flange, the mounting, or the drain connection.
No. New installations are not offered; a swap of an existing unit is.
No. Seven days a week at the same rate.
Where we go, and how to book
Garbage disposal replacement across Spokane and the South Hill, Spokane Valley, Liberty Lake, Cheney, Mead, Colbert, Airway Heights, Medical Lake and out to Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls, Rathdrum and Hayden. Idaho is charged at the same rate, with no distance surcharge.
