When a garbage disposal starts leaking, the obvious move is to buy a new one. The part that fails last, though, is usually the disposal itself. The leak is almost always coming from the mounting flange at the top of the sink, the old plumber’s putty that has gone hard and shrunk, or the drain connection underneath. Swap only the unit and skip the rest, and the new disposal leaks in the same spot a month later.
That is why a job that looks like a $150 part turns into a few hundred dollars done right, and why that is the cheaper outcome. A proper replacement means dropping the old unit, scraping every bit of dried putty off the sink flange, setting a fresh flange with new putty, checking that the drain arm and trap still line up, and confirming the electrical meets code before anything gets locked back in. The video above runs through all of it on a real Oregon City kitchen, including the step most people rush: cleaning the flange seat so the new gasket actually seals.
A few questions come up on almost every call. Is it worth repairing instead? If your disposal is under five years old and just jammed or tripped, a reset or a small part is the right fix. Once a unit is seven years or older, or the repair runs past half the cost of a comparable new one, replacement makes more sense and saves you a second service call. How long should one last? Five to ten years for most models, longer for stainless units, shorter on a well where grit rides through the water.
The upgrade is also the moment to fix what sits around it. If the trap arm is corroded, the basket strainer weeps, or the cabinet base shows old water damage, handling that while everything is apart costs far less than a separate visit later.
Watch the full replacement in the video above, then call if you want it done once. Principled Plumbing installs and replaces disposals and handles the surrounding sink and drain work across Oregon City, Portland Metro, and the Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington county areas. See related work on our plumbing fixtures page.
Principled Plumbing LLC. Oregon City, OR 97045. Call (503) 919-7243. CCB #249603. Family-owned and available 24/7.
