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Kitchen plumbing in Portland
Lovett repairs and installs garbage disposals in Portland homes, including the drain and dishwasher connections that fail with them, on a written price with a 1-year workmanship warranty.
A disposal that hums, a disposal that does nothing, or a slow drip into the cabinet underneath. Each one points somewhere different. Lovett identifies which one it is before deciding what the unit actually needs.
A disposal that hums without turning is jammed. Power is reaching the motor and something is wedged between the impellers and the shredder ring, which is usually a fruit pit, a bone fragment or a piece of cutlery that went in without anyone noticing. Leaving the switch on while it hums is how a jam becomes a burned-out motor, so the first instruction is always the same: turn it off at the wall.
A disposal that makes no sound at all has lost power rather than seized. The reset button on the underside of the unit trips when the motor overloads, and pressing it back in resolves a fair number of calls with nothing else required. If the reset does not hold, or the breaker is tripping, the fault is electrical or the motor has failed, and that is a diagnosis rather than a guess.
Water in the cabinet is the third case and the one that does real damage. There are three places a disposal leaks: the sink flange at the top, where the mounting ring has loosened or the putty has dried out, the dishwasher inlet connection on the side, and the discharge tube at the bottom. Which one it is separates a ten minute reseal from a unit that has cracked internally. Cabinet floors and the subfloor beneath them absorb a lot of water before anyone notices.
Garbage disposals are the only appliance Lovett services. We are a plumbing, drain and underground infrastructure contractor, so the disposal falls to us because it is part of the sink plumbing rather than because we are an appliance company. Dishwashers, refrigerators and ranges are not work we take on, and we would rather tell you that at the phone call than at the kitchen door.
Disposals are simple machines with a short list of ways to go wrong. The list is worth knowing.
The most common call by a wide margin. Something hard has wedged between the swivel impellers and the shredder ring, and the motor is straining against it. We free the flywheel from below with the correct wrench rather than forcing it from the drain opening, retrieve whatever caused it, and check the impellers and ring for damage before the unit goes back into service.
Silence at the switch means power is not reaching the motor, or the motor is finished. We check the reset button, the switch, the outlet under the cabinet and the breaker, then test the motor for continuity. A unit that trips its reset repeatedly after the jam is cleared has told you what it needs, and we will say so rather than resetting it one more time.
Three joints, three different repairs. The sink flange at the top gets reseated and resealed when the mounting ring has loosened or the putty has failed. The dishwasher inlet connection gets a new clamp or hose. The discharge tube gets a new gasket at the elbow. A crack in the housing itself is not repairable, and that unit gets replaced.
When a disposal fills the basin rather than clearing it, the problem is usually downstream in the branch drain rather than inside the disposal. Ground waste combined with grease is one of the most common causes of a blocked kitchen line. We clear the line properly rather than replacing a disposal that was working correctly the whole time.
The technician tests the unit safely, checks the reset and the switch, inspects the flange, the dishwasher inlet and the discharge connection for moisture, and checks the branch drain if the basin is holding water. The point is to separate a disposal problem from a drain problem, because the two look identical from above and cost very different amounts to fix.
You get the finding in plain language and the recommendation with it: clear the jam, reseal the joint, replace the unit, or clear the line. The price is agreed before any work starts. If the honest answer is that the disposal is sound and something else caused the symptom, that is what you will be told.
Repairs and installations both finish the same way. The unit is mounted square, the mounting ring pulled up evenly, the dishwasher knockout dealt with correctly where one is being connected, and every slip joint checked. Then hot and cold run through the unit under load while we watch the connections. The cabinet is dried and wiped out, and the old unit and packaging leave with us.
Turn it off at the wall switch before anything else, then tell us what it was doing. Most disposal calls are a single visit.
4.9 Google rating from 500+ verified reviews · 1-year workmanship warranty · Free on-site estimates
Three decisions. Everything else on the box is marketing.
Runs for as long as the wall switch is on, which is what most households want when they are clearing plates after a meal. It is the more convenient of the two formats and the more common one in Portland kitchens. The trade-off is that the grinding chamber is open while it runs, so anything that falls in goes in.
Will not start until a stopper is locked into the opening, which physically closes the chamber before the impellers can turn. That makes it the safer choice in a house with young children, or for anyone who has already lost a spoon to a disposal once. It is slower to work with, because it handles one load at a time by design.
A 1/3 to 1/2 horsepower unit is built for light use and soft scraps. A 3/4 to 1 horsepower unit handles heavy daily cooking, tougher scraps and denser waste without stalling, and the larger units generally carry better sound insulation as well. A disposal that jams constantly is often simply undersized for how the kitchen gets used.
4.9 Google rating from 500+ verified reviews.
“Tyler came out today to inspect / replace my garbage disposal and it was such a great experience! He made the interaction very personable and we yapped the majority of the time. He also explained different things about the process along the way and I really appreciated that along with how clean he was.”
Homeowner, Portland, OR
“Tech Justin was very good to work with. Friendly , knowledgeable , good communication through out project. Left job site tidy.Will use Lovett for future projects”
Verified Google Review
“Lovett was dispatched to fix a leaky bathtub faucet in our rental home, and the service I received was top notch! Jill reached out to me quickly and was able to schedule us for the next day.”
Homeowner, Portland, OR
“I’ve now had two very positive experiences with Lovett, one with Cody and one with Cameron, both of whom were very helpful and efficient. Most of all I appreciated their communication and how they helped me understand the plumbing issues.”
Verified Google Review
“Dan from Gladstone was prompt, courteous, and thorough in diagnosing our plumbing issues and finding a good solution. He was experienced and knowledgeable and offered good advice for maintaining our bath/shower plumbing going forward.”
Verified Google Review
“Gary was phenomenal. We received a call from Lovett the night before to confirm, and from the moment he arrived (right on time), Gary was able to diagnose the issue, find the water cut-off (our property management is useless), work with us to get the water turned off to our unit, and fix the issue…”
Verified Google Review
“I live on the first floor of a condo, where the plumbing line is shared with the upper floors. I contacted Lovett for assistance when my kitchen sink overflowed, and Diego was outstanding in determining that I wasn’t responsible for the backup.”
Verified Google Review
“We had an emergency last night at our community. I called Lovett and got an actual person on the phone right away. The plumber Sarah showed up in short order with a fantastic can do attitude, ready to get to work right away.”
Verified Google Review
“Brandon was a lifesaver. In just two hours, he figured out what our rental maintenance team and another contractor couldn’t—the leak was coming from upstairs. He didn’t stop there either.”
Verified Google Review
“I had a kitchen sink issue. Lovett came out, and Greg was my tech. very smart and informative. He was efficient and clean. He answered questions. And my sink was cleared up in an hour. I was so thankful for the service and reasonable price.”
Homeowner, Portland, OR
Dispatch reads every request and the right crew calls you back. For an active leak or backup, call instead.
Read by our dispatch team, normally answered within one business day. For an active leak or backup, call 971-204-8148 instead.
971-204-8148. A live dispatcher answers 24/7, including weekends and holidays.
info@lovettservices.com
6920 NE 42nd Ave
Portland, OR 97218
Mon to Fri 7am to 5pm
24/7 Emergency Dispatch
The motor is getting power and the impellers are jammed. Something hard has wedged between the swivel impellers and the shredder ring, most often a bone fragment, a fruit pit or a piece of cutlery. Turn the unit off at the wall straight away, because running it while it hums is the fastest way to burn out the motor. Then call, and let a technician free the flywheel properly.
Most disposals have a small reset button on the underside of the unit. It pops out when the motor overloads and cuts power. Press it firmly until it clicks, then run the disposal with cold water flowing. If it does not respond after the reset, or the reset trips again, the jam has not cleared or the motor has failed, and it needs a technician rather than another reset.
There are three common leak points. The sink flange at the top, where the mounting ring has loosened or the plumber’s putty has dried out. The dishwasher inlet connection on the side. And the discharge drain tube at the bottom. Where the water appears tells us which one it is. Catching it early prevents damage to the cabinet floor and the subfloor underneath, which is where the real cost sits.
Fibrous foods such as celery, asparagus and onion skins, because they wrap the impellers rather than grinding. Coffee grounds and eggshells, because they accumulate in the trap. Grease and heavy fats, because they cool and set in the branch drain. And large bones. Run cold water during use and for about fifteen seconds afterwards, which carries the ground waste properly through the line.
Repair makes sense for a jam, a tripped reset or a leaking connection on a unit that is otherwise sound. Replacement is the better call when the motor has burned out, when the housing itself has cracked, or when a unit over ten years old keeps developing new problems. You get the recommendation after the diagnostic, and you decide before any work starts.
We service and install all major brands, including InSinkErator, Moen and Waste King, across the full range of residential models from compact 1/3 horsepower units to heavy duty 1 horsepower continuous feed disposals. If you have a preferred brand, tell us and we will source it. Otherwise the recommendation is based on how your kitchen actually gets used.
Continuous feed runs as long as the wall switch is on and is the more convenient format for clearing up after a meal. Batch feed will not start until a stopper is locked into the opening, which physically closes the chamber first. Batch feed is the safer choice in a house with young children. Continuous feed is faster to work with. Most Portland kitchens have continuous feed.
With normal use and reasonable care, a good residential disposal generally lasts ten to fifteen years. Lower horsepower units, or units that get regularly overloaded with fibrous waste and grease, can wear their motors out or corrode internally in as little as five to seven years. A disposal jamming every few weeks is usually telling you it is undersized rather than old.
No. Garbage disposals are the only appliance we service, because the disposal is part of the sink plumbing. Lovett is a plumbing, drain and underground infrastructure contractor, so dishwashers, refrigerators and ranges are outside what we do. We will say that on the phone rather than send a technician out to look at something we are not going to be able to fix.
Yes. Lovett backs disposal repair and installation with a 1-year workmanship warranty covering our labor and installation. Where we supplied the unit, the manufacturer’s own warranty applies on top of that. If any issue arises with our repair or installation inside that period, we come back and put it right.
Lovett has been sorting out Portland kitchen plumbing since 1997. Jams cleared without wrecking the motor, leaks traced to the actual joint, and a 1-year workmanship warranty on the work.
4.9 Google rating from 500+ verified reviews · 1-year workmanship warranty · Free on-site estimates
