A New Garbage Disposal

It's been two to three months. That's all. I noticed that the bottom of the cabinet under the sink was damp. It had even warped the wood a bit. I immediately retrieved a crappy towel from the linen closet and put it under the leak. My idea of home improvement...

It's not altogether terrible, though also not something about which I am proud. It started as a very slow leak. Drip..... Drip. I changed out the towel every couple weeks when it became too damp and 'fragrant' with the microscopic bits of ground food items.

As with anything that has a leak, the garbage disposal only had a finite amount of time. The Drip..... Drip became a Drip.. Drip and then a concerted Drip, Drip. I had to change out the towel a couple times a week to stop from warping the wood anymore. And then the time came. The Drip, Drip became a trickle each time I used the disposal. No amount of towelling would suffice.

Now, before I continue, let me wax unpoetically about my utter lack of ability with home improvement projects. Take, for instance, the kitchen. When we first bought the house, we knew that the kitchen needed an overhaul. The dark wood. The orange formica countertops. And all the innards of the cabinets felt sticky. It was a kitchen right out of 1981 especially since it looked as though the kitchen had not been changed since the house was built, i.e. 1981. So, Joseph and I got to work. With the help of our friend John, we tore down some drywall and tore out some cabinets. We followed up with the installation of some of the new cabinets, but we came to a screeching halt when we were faced with plumbing, electricity, and the remaining cabinets. The tension built within the household. Washing dishes in the bathtub and storing dinnerware in boxes got old rather quickly. Not to mention the constant pall of gray and brown dust that lingered in the house. We wallowed in our half finished kitchen for about 6 months until we called someone for help. Yes, that was worse.

Then there was the master bathroom. Just after we had the house re-sided and re-windowed, there came a leak in the master bathroom. It was the hose that connected to the toilet. But this hose was no ordinary hose that you could just replace. It was connected directly to the shutoff valve; in other words, we couldn't replace the hose unless we also replaced the shutoff valve. My solution? Electrical tape and a towel. Well, that didn't go far. It wasn't long before I just shut off the valve and we used the hall bathroom for all our needs. That 'temporary' fix lasted about nine months. Yes, nine months. Then we had someone come in and redo the entire bathroom. Especially since we had been told at the initial inspection that there was a significant leak coming from that master bathroom in the first place.

We thus return to the trickling garbage disposal. I put it on the list of things to do this weekend. Joseph and I would venture to Home Depot and buy a disposal of the same make and model. An In Sinkerator Badger 5. We purchased the unit and made our way back home.

The going was rough at the beginning. We staged our normal home improvement arguments. But we settled and moved forward. The hard wiring. The correct attachment of the disposal to the sink. When the time came, we turned on the circuit. And then the water valves. We tested the unit and saw no leak. The bottom of the cabinet was somewhat warped, but dry.

Joseph and I looked at each other and claimed a small victory. We had finally had the patience and wherewithal to achieve our first home improvement victory.

These are the times when I could use the old man, I'll tell ya. A jack of all trades, he.