Is it your turn to do the dishes in the kitchen duty tonight? You know how disgusting it is to scrape food out of the plate from your bare (or gloved) hands, no matter how dear the member of the family is! Dealing with food waste is not something you want, or like. Then what is the quickest way to get done with it? Learning how to plumb a double kitchen sink with disposal and dishwasher!
And if the leftover food is not your concern, this arrangement can also help you to complete the washing cycle and drain the water. So that you can prevent clogged-up sinks, ensure cleaner plates and a happier state of mind during your work. Who doesn’t want that? So, let’s get started!
Benefits of a Garbage Disposal System
The benefits of garbage disposal lie in its name–you get to get rid of the garbage and get done with it! But why else should you install a double kitchen sink that has both the dishwashing ability as well as the disposing ability?
No Clogging
When cleaning, a lot of the food ends up in your sink, which further creates mismanagement in your cleaning. If they are luckily small enough, they make their way into the drain hose. When so much food, day after day, enters the drainpipe, clogging is only a matter of a day.
Compare this with the installation of a double sink. As a result of the disposal system, the food that would have eventually gotten inside the sink and the drain would now be secured separately. As a result, you will see no clogging.
Less Repairing
Since the clogging of the pipes is over now that you use a garbage disposal, the need for plumbing will be reduced. This means that you have to pay lesser fees to your plumber and engage in less repairing!
Less Waste
Watching and being more mindful of the wastes created at your house from food after you have had it, helps you to create less waste.
As you see what amount of food goes to waste every day or gets thrown out, you will be more aware of how much to cook and how to make less waste overall.
Environment Friendliness
Having the food get into the garbage disposal system is better off for the environment. Can you imagine how much food waste from every household makes it to the sewage and then to the landfill every day? When you use a garbage disposal system, food recovery is better for use, recycling, composting, and treatment.
Using a garbage disposal system also means that less of the food gets thrown out, attracting fewer rats, rodents, and wild animals around your house.
Is It Possible to Plumb a Double Bowl Sink with Garbage Disposal and Dishwasher?
Yes. If installing a dishwasher and disposal is possible with a single kitchen sink, with a double kitchen sink, it would be twice as possible!
But there are some limits to the possibility. You have to make sure of the following before you can carry on.
- You have to make sure that there is enough space under the kitchen cabinet that can allow the installation of these things.
- Also, you have to do some brain work for the compatibility of the plumbing pipe sizes of your sink, the dishwasher, and the drainage unit.
- Your sink should have a source of an electric current around it. Usually, there is electrical wiring beneath the sink for easy connections to the disposal unit. Having a source of electric current will ensure that there are necessary switches and circuits that may be required for the installation of the two systems. However, you need to make sure that the connections are secure.
- Some old-style farmhouse sinks may not be compatible with the inclusion of a disposal unit. In that case, you will need to install a new sink (or make use of extended flanges as required) before you initiate the steps mentioned in the later sections.
How to Plumb a Double Kitchen Sink with Disposal and Dishwasher
There are two major steps that you have to initiate if you want to create and plumb a double kitchen sink with both the garbage disposal and the dishwasher. They have been mentioned below:
Installing Garbage Disposal to Sink
To install a garbage disposal unit to the sink, all you need is the following items:
- Your garbage disposal unit
- Wire strippers and nuts
- Voltage testers
- Pliers
- Plumber’s putty and putty knife
- Screwdriver
- Hammer
- Utility knife
- Rug
After you have collected the necessary ingredients, all you need to do is perform the following things. Just remember that these are the basics and the steps may slightly differ depending on the fitting on your sink and drainage pipes.
- Before everything else, you have to ascertain that the cabinet below your kitchen sink is clean so that you can freely work in and around that place.
- Now, check the wiring of your garbage disposal unit and locate the circuit breaker. Switch that thing off so that no electricity passes through the wiring.
- Use the voltage tester and check for electricity in the wiring to make sure that there is none. If the tester lights up, the wires still have electric current passing through them and that means you have to be more methodic about turning off all the breakers till you see no reaction on the breakers.
- Remove the couplers with the help of the pliers. You will find the former as joining the p-trap and the drainage extension pipe with the bottom of the sink. Store these couplers safely. While doing all these, remember to use rugs to plug your drains to save the kitchen from becoming smelly.
- Under the coupling of the drain, you will find a nut. Use pliers to loosen it up. When it becomes loose, you can push it up and isolate the drainage flange and the lower portion of the kitchen sink.
- Using your putty knife, scrape off the older putty from the drainage opening.
- Now put a new putty around the garbage disposal flange and join it with the sink. Attach the mounting ring and use your screwdriver to tighten the screws and swipe off excess putty from the places. The location of the disposal unit should be securely beside the sink drain.
Installing Dishwasher to Garbage Disposal
To install the dishwasher to the garbage disposal unit in your kitchen, you can carry on following these steps with the same materials and tools that you started with.
- Before everything else and before taking the rest of the steps, you have to run off the water supply responsibly.
- Now, you have to turn off the electrical outlet that supplies power to the garbage disposal unit. In case the unit is permanently and securely attached to the circuit, you should turn off the electrical current to it from the main switch.
- Take the hose nozzle. Locate the knockout plug in it using a screwdriver and a hammer and with the help of a needle nose plier to remove it.
- Behind the sink, there should be a hole. You need to take a threaded stem from near the top of the air gap fitting and insert it into this hole.
- Now, take the runner washer. You will find it near the top of the threaded stem. Then tighten it up on the trim cap using your hands.
- Then you will need to keep moving the air gap fitting clockwise, till the angled nozzle and the garbage disposal are facing each other.
- After that, you need to push the disposal hose to the nozzle and fit the hose clamp on one end, securing it with a screwdriver
- Find your utility knife and cut it to fit the nozzle of the air gap. Now, clamp the other side of the hose and tighten it as well. And you’re connected!
Cost of Installing a Double Kitchen Sink:
Before going for the installation of a double kitchen sink with both garbage disposal and a dishwasher, you will need to buy some items, the first of which is the disposal unit itself. Depending on which brand and mode, and the size that you pick, the cost will differ. It can be anywhere between $90 to over $200.
And if you wish to customize your garbage disposal unit and the process of connecting it, the price you will need to pay will naturally be higher.
Final Words
Now you know all that there is to know about How to plumb a double kitchen sink with disposal and dishwasher. If you plan on installing two of the things by DIY, the money you would have spent on the installation would be saved!
That should not be much of a headache as you can see that the installation of a double-sink is not that hard if you have all the gadgets and tools. But if the steps are too overwhelming, and you don’t think you can make up the time or energy for it, you know when to call in a professional!