Waste disposal unit in new house has destroyed me

[Bloodyhellthishouse]

I’ve just moved house. Old owners were very into gadgets (I am not, so I’m struggling as no instructions left for anything) however, they have an “Insinkerator” waste disposal unit.

I used it twice and tonight came home to a pool of water underneath it.

So I googled and flushed it with some hot soapy water thinking it probably had a small blockage.

Certainly did, and the weight of the water meant the fucking thing literally fell off the bottom of the sink. So now the sink and dishwasher can’t be used because there is just a sink hole where this fucking thing used to be!!

I want to just get it taken off. I don’t even know (beyond a plumber) what to do about it! I don’t know how to unblock it, don’t know how to attach it and don’t know why it was blocked anyway.

Long and the short of it is I’ve cried. I can’t make any sense of the hive heating here, I’ve got no internet for another week and they removed the tv aerial so I’ve got no telly, a pipe under the utility room sink pissed water everywhere a day after I got here and now this stupid, bastard waste disposal has fallen off, very nearly taking all the plastic pipes with it.

This was a new start for me and it’s just been one thing after another since the day I moved in.

So, does anyone know anything about these units? It’s full of water so that’s why it fell. Clearly sooner or later that was going to happen.

Could you find a video on YouTube on how to empty it.

I can't answer your question OP but just wanted to say I sympathize. The people I bought this house from were very into their gadgets too. It can be very annoying. The more complicated something is the higher the likelihood something will go wrong 😩

I possibly could, but it’s connected to pipes,(although not the sink any more!) and I don’t even know how to reattach it. I’m not even sure it should fall off if I’m honest.

Have a plumber come and remove it. It's really not that big of a deal.

Everything is a gadget. I loved the house, but not for all that stuff.
I want most of it taken out because it shouldn’t be so hard to run water down the sink should it?

It all sounds a little bit ew. I think I'd be looking at getting rid and putting in a normal sink.

Oh that sounds stressful.

Moving house is expensive but can you afford a plumber to just do this task? You don’t have to be super human and fix and learn everything yourself.

Yeah, you need an emergency plumber, I'm afraid. It's going to be £££.
And your sellers were absolute CFs for taking the TV aerial. Is that not a fixture?

Can't help you but my washing machine, Hoover and dishwasher have all packed in this week ( and something is leaking from the car!) So I empathise with your despair.

Haha! Tell us what gadgets you have.

They didn’t take it with them, they just removed it at some point for some reason, so there is no way to connect to the TV.
Im hoping I can keep the sink and just get the unit removed, which I would assume could be done

I have hive heating, aircon (which I didn’t want) weird light switches that can be controlled through the internet (that I don’t have yet) and these weird light panels that can change colour, plus the waste disposal.
Its a lovely house, but they’ve tried to be so modern it’s ridiculous and I am trashing all of it

I can't really help either but we have an insinkerator and they're pretty expensive so the plus side is once you've had it removed you can hopefully sell it . Hope you get it sorted.

Are they easily removable? I’m figuring a bit in the middle of the sink and then the pipes connected?

Hello OP, do not despair! Just call a plumber and tell him your garbage disposal needs to be removed. It's no big deal. And you can keep the sink.
Every home has them in the States and they are quite useful to be honest. But you can probably sell yours; they last forever.

I am just wondering how in the world did yours fall out? Never heard of that happening! Probably the former owner wanted to take it with them and then realized it wouldn't fit the sink in their next house. My guess.

As for all the other gadgets, I don't like them either. Moving to a new house is always tough. There's always something!!! Your new place sounds up to date with no major renovations though, that's lucky!

Happy housewarming!

Hi OP, I have an insinkerator and I love it. Sounds like your unit was blocked and the fastenings that hold together the top and bottom sections of the unit had worked loose. You can get a plumber to just remove it, but I'd recommend trying to salvage it. I also love the Hive!

That’s what I thought about it falling out. I had looked at it yesterday and thought it didn’t look right. I think they’ve taken it off for some reason and not attached it right, because my understanding is that even if it’s full of waste and water then the water should just back up. This just fell off the bloody sink.

Out of interest, if I did keep it, how would I clean it out? I think the pipe from it has some blockage, but I think it’s a nearby blockage, but I think the unit may have stuff in it

How do I (or they) unblock the unit?
I was looking at it and thinking it didn’t look right.

I have no idea how it could get blocked unless someone put oyster shells and a few knives and forks down there! Sounds like a plumber would be your best bet for sorting this out. It shouldn't take long or be too costly. .

Regarding Hive, one thing that took me far to
long to work out/find out (and I consider myself tech able!) was just because the previous owner had hive, you can not use it without a brand new subscription. This means that all we have is a ‘hive’ branded thermostat that is one big pain in the arse as it often goes offline and we have to reset the boiler which is in an outbuilding. So if you are struggling to connect/use it, that will be why.
If you can get the insinkerator repaired, it will be worth it later. Gadget lights usually require an app, either alexa or something similar and to connect you have to repeatedly flick the switch until the lights start to flash. Or you could simply put a normal bulb back in. Fear not, it will all be ok in the end. Hope you can start enjoying your new place soon.

We have an insinkerater inherited from the previous owner too OP. We’ve had it 16 years now with almost no issues (had to replace it once - see below) although to be fair we don’t chuck lots of food into it like they do in the US so we’re probably not using it the way it’s supposed to be used. I probably wouldn’t have purchased one myself but I don’t really mind having it. I was a bit paranoid about its safety when the kids were small but less so now.

In terms of what blocked it - it’s possible that if the previous owners were cleaning when preparing to move out they could have washed crap into the unit without running it. We had builders in a few years back who were less than careful and washed plaster and screws etc into it which broke the blades when the unit was turned on and destroyed it.

Is your push button switch working ok? Sometimes the tube can get disconnected which prevents it from working.

I suspect you will need a plumber but you can find the Installation instructions here which might show you which part has broken.

If you disconnect the unit from the mains electricity (mine has a plug so easily done) you can reach your hand inside and pull out whatever might be blocking it. If it was still attached to the sink I would then run water through it after turning it on but not sure I’d do that in your situation unless you’re confident you won’t have a flood.

Food such as pineapple skin, rhubarb, peelings and any bones can't go down there as block it. Had you put any food down it before it blocked? Once fixed always make sure have tap running before you run it.

I'm afraid I don't know how it was fitted or how it works. The only think I do know is I blocked it once when it was new as I misunderstood the instructions (my husband said don't run hot water down it when it's running, I thought he said don't run water down it when it's running ) and jt got completely blocked with a punnet of slimy mushrooms. I remember him taking it apart to clean it and although gross it wasn't complicated and didn't fall apart like you describe.

It's a pretty useful gadget as long as you stick to its rules. Depending on the model you have affects what you can put down it. We have the one down from the top of the range and it can't take sweetcorn kernels but it does take bone. Weird.

I’ve got no internet for another week

😐