Spotting a Garburator Leak

Even a well-maintained garburator can, over time, spring a leak—and if it does, you’ll know it. You may reach into your under-sink cabinet one day and find that there’s a pool of water. That’s a pretty good indication that your garburator is leaking, but it doesn’t answer the question of where exactly the leak is located. You have a couple of options at this point. One is to simply call a plumber and have the leak fixed right away—and if you live in the Vancouver area, our team of plumbers in Vancouver are certainly available to help. The alternative is to investigate the leak yourself, and try to make a DIY repair.

Where Can Garburator Leaks Occur?

Now, there are basically four areas where a garburator leak might occur.

• There’s the sink flange, which is where the top of the disposal is connected to the bottom of the sink drain.
• The dishwasher connection is a rubber hose, connected at the side of the garburator.
• There’s also the drain pipe itself, which is where food waste and water drain out to the sewer.
• Finally, there’s the actual garburator unit itself.

Finding the Leak

With that basic blueprint in mind, you can try to spot the leak. We recommend wiping off the sink flange and the outside of the garburator itself, so that any new moisture will be evident. Then place a stopper in the sink and fill it with a few inches of water. Then, wait for a few minutes and observe the bottom of your disposal. If you see any water dripping down, it means the problem is the sink flange.

If you don’t see any leak, though, the the issue is one of the other three areas we mentioned above. Remove the drain plug and watch closely; you should see a leak in one of those three areas.

Fixing the Leak

Usually, fixing the sink flange is simple—a matter of tightening the bolts that hold it to the sink drain. A new layer of plumbing putty may also be helpful. The dishwasher hose may also be easy to fix or replace, though first you’ll need to inspect it to determine whether it’s just loose or actually cracked.

If the necessary repair is something more difficult, or if it’s something you’re just not comfortable with, we urge you again to give our team of Vancouver plumbers a call; we’ll get your garburator back up and running, leak-free, as quickly as possible!