How Can a Garbage Disposal Improve Your Home?

How can a garbage disposal improve your home? In many ways! It will improve the value of your home. It will improve the value of your life because your home will be cleaner and more organized. You’ll have more time to spend on more important things than cleaning up your kitchen and taking out the trash often.

Using a garbage disposal can be helpful to the environment as well, as your trash gets compressed and you are contributing less waste. Although a garbage disposal can handle a lot of organic matter, there are certain things that you should never put down there, simply because they could break the disposal’s blades.

Things like nuts, shellfish shells, pineapple, pumpkin, coffee grounds, bones, and eggshells may all be too hard or fibrous, and the blades might break. Here is just a selection of the benefits of having a garbage disposal at home.

Clean Pipes

When your pipes house debris, food or otherwise, you are far more likely to experience plumbing clogs. Not only are clogs messy and inconvenient at the moment.

They can cause other problems in the long term too. Chronic clogs can cause your pipes and drains to weaken, which means that you are more prone to plumbing leaks, which are even messier and more inconvenient.

What’s more is that water leaks can cause a lot of costly damage. If you have a garbage disposal, you don’t have to worry about food scraps falling where they are going to cause problems. Instead of getting lodged in the drain and in the pipe, they get flushed away through the disposal.

Easier to Clean Your Dishes

Do you scrape your plates into the garbage can and then have to make your way back to the sink to rinse the plates before they go in the dishwasher or before you wash them by hand?

That’s inefficient and time-wasting. In addition, there is a good chance that you are dropping food and other debris on the floor in the process, creating additional messes to clean up.

With a garbage disposal in place, you can have a “one-stop shop” of sorts. You’ll be able to scrape and rinse all at the same time.

Better Smelling Kitchen

Nobody likes a smelly garbage can. Even if you use scented garbage bags, that may not do much to contain the smell as it makes its way through your home.

As your waste storage is greatly reduced with a garbage disposal, you can expect those smells to disappear.

Are you curious to learn about how other plumbing tweaks and additions could improve your home? In Stuart, FL call us today.

Tips and Tricks for Connecting a New Refrigerator

So you’re ready to upgrade your refrigerator in your Stuart, FL home. That’s great. Many modern fridges now include features that were once considered luxuries. Devices such as water dispensers and ice makers now come standard on a number of models.

These require a plumbing connection in order to use them but fear not because you don’t need a degree in kitchen plumbing to install them. Setting up a new fridge takes a bit of work, but it’s nothing most homeowners can’t handle. Here’s a guide on how to install your new refrigerator.

Connecting the Water Dispenser

Before you can make any connections, you must find the nearest cold-water supply. Kitchens often have these under the sink or by the dishwasher.

If you’re lucky, there may be a supply already set up in the area where the fridge is meant to be set up, in which case you just need to connect it to the appliance with flexible piping.

Once you find the water supply just follow these steps.

Step 1: Map Out the Piping

This changes with every kitchen. Depending on where the water supply is located in contrast to the fridge, you may be able to run piping through the cabinets, or you might be forced to install it underneath the floor. Either way, you need to take exact measurements and make sure you have an appropriate length of piping. Also be sure the pipe fits comfortably and rounds any corners comfortably.

Step 2: Shut Off the Water Supply

Turn off the water at the supply valve and run a faucet until no more water runs. This will minimize any leaking.

Step 3: Attach an Adapter to the Supply

There are three common adapters you can use to connect your fridge with the water supply: a soldered tee-fitting, a compression tee-fitting, and a saddle valve. Many DIY kids include saddle valves, but we strongly recommend against using them. They’re of inferior quality and in many states, licensed plumbers are forbidden from installing them.

Instead, we will describe how to install a tee-fitting. Soldered tee-fittings, which are made by hand, are stronger than pre-made compression tee-fittings, but either one will do just fine. Disconnect the faucet from the water supply; connect the tee-fitting to the supply before reconnecting the faucet. This will allow both the fridge and faucet access to the water.

Step 4: Connect Water Piping to Tee-Fitting and Refrigerator

Attach your piping to the final connection on the tee-fitting and run it along the path you set out all the way to the back of the fridge. Make the final connection with the appliance. Turn the water back on and check for any leaks at the tee-fitting and along the piping. If everything checks out, run a few gallons of water and make a couple buckets of ice to make sure water is flowing smoothly.

Connecting the Ice Maker

The latest refrigerators with water dispensers and ice makers only need a single water line for the devices.

By following the instructions above, you should be able to operate both.

Benefits of an Expert Installation

There’s no shame in asking for help if you’re confused about kitchen plumbing or don’t possess the DIY spirit.

Sometimes it’s best to have a new appliance installed by an experienced professional. In the case of setting up a new fridge, just planning out the piping can be daunting.

Hiring some help will ensure the job gets done right the first time. You can sit back and relax while they take care of everything.