Standard price before discounts: 20% military, 15% ZPP, 10% senior. One discount per visit. Current offers.
A working garbage disposal keeps your kitchen clean, efficient, and free of food waste buildup. When it jams, leaks, hums, or stops turning on, it can quickly turn into a messy problem.
Zest Plumbing & Drain provides professional garbage disposal repair and installation in Scottsdale and surrounding communities. Whether your unit needs a simple reset, internal repair, or full replacement, our licensed plumbers handle the job correctly and safely.
If your disposal issue is causing slow drains or backups, we can also inspect your kitchen drain lines and recommend professional drain cleaning services when needed.
We service all major brands and models and handle both minor fixes and full system upgrades.
Not every disposal needs to be replaced. We diagnose and repair:
If your issue is connected to a larger plumbing concern, we may recommend targeted plumbing repair services to prevent repeat problems.
Installing a disposal properly matters. Incorrect installation can lead to:
We ensure your new unit is securely mounted, sealed correctly, and connected to your drain system for long-term performance.
If you’re upgrading your kitchen, we can coordinate installation with broader kitchen plumbing services.
If your unit is:
Replacement is often the smarter long-term solution.
We remove the old unit, inspect surrounding plumbing, and install a properly sized replacement built for your household’s usage.
A disposal is something you know you are going to buy. The only questions are which one and who installs it. Here is the whole ladder, installed, with the warranty on each.
| Garbage disposal, installed | Zest price |
|---|---|
| Bring your own disposal, installed | $370 |
| 1/2 HP disposal, unit and professional install | $479 |
| InSinkErator Badger 5, 1/2 HP | $549 |
| InSinkErator Badger 5XP, 3/4 HP | $632 |
| InSinkErator Contractor 1000, 1 HP | $849 |
| Jammed disposal, reset and unjam | $106 |
Bring your own disposal, installed: $370. One-year warranty on our labor. Any warranty on the unit itself is between you and the manufacturer.
1/2 HP disposal, unit and install: $479. That is the whole job, the disposal included, not a labor price. Continuous feed, stainless steel grind components, the unit our plumbing supply house sells to professionals. We stock it on the truck, we install it, and we back it with a two-year full Zest warranty: if it fails in two years, call us, we pull it and replace it. The unit itself is not fancy. The warranty and the plumber are what you are paying for.
InSinkErator Badger 5, 1/2 HP: $549. The same 1/2 HP job with the InSinkErator name on it. Dura-Drive induction motor, the disposal most Scottsdale kitchens were built with. You are paying for the brand, and that is fine by us. Two-year full Zest warranty: if it fails in two years, we replace it.
InSinkErator Badger 5XP, 3/4 HP: $632. Dura-Drive induction motor, stainless steel grind components. Two-year warranty on our labor, and a six-year in-home warranty from InSinkErator. The unit most of our customers pick.
InSinkErator Contractor 1000, 1 HP: $849. Our premium unit. A full horsepower, two-stage MultiGrind, stainless steel grind components, quieter than anything below it on this list. Two-year warranty on our labor, eight-year in-home warranty from InSinkErator. Built for bones, fibrous scraps, big families, and heavy daily use.
Every install includes removal and haul-away of the old unit, a new mount, drain and dishwasher connections, and a leak test before we leave. No trip charge, no service call fee.
Jammed disposal, reset and unjam: $106. If the motor is gone, we tell you before we start. On a unit past eight years, replacement is usually the better money than a repair.
Every price above is our standard price before any discount: 20% military, 15% Zest Protection Plan members, 10% seniors, one discount per visit. See all current offers on our coupons page.
Mineral-heavy water in Scottsdale can accelerate corrosion inside disposal components and nearby drain fittings. Hard water buildup can also restrict flow and increase strain on the motor.
If you’re replacing a disposal, ask about pairing the upgrade with water treatment solutions to protect your plumbing system.
Ignoring these signs can lead to drain damage or cabinet water damage. Addressing issues early keeps repair costs down.
When your garbage disposal stops working, we respond quickly and fix it correctly.
At Zest Plumbing & Drain, garbage disposal replacement in Scottsdale is priced per unit, installed: a 1/2 HP disposal is $479 with the unit included, professionally installed, with a two-year full Zest replacement warranty, an InSinkErator Badger 5 (1/2 HP, two-year full Zest replacement warranty) is $549, an InSinkErator Badger 5XP (3/4 HP, six-year in-home warranty) is $632, and the InSinkErator Contractor 1000 (1 HP, eight-year in-home warranty) is $849. If you supply your own disposal, installation is $370 with a one-year warranty on our labor. Every install includes removal of the old unit, a new mount, drain and dishwasher connections, and a leak test. Unjamming a disposal is $106. There is no trip charge and no service call fee, and these are standard prices before discounts: 20% military, 15% Zest Protection Plan, 10% senior.
A humming disposal that will not spin almost always means the grinding plate is jammed. The motor is receiving power and attempting to run, but something is preventing the plate from turning. Common causes are a piece of food, a small bone fragment, a fruit pit, or a foreign object like a bottle cap wedged between the grinding plate and the disposal wall. Most disposals have a reset button on the bottom of the unit and a hex socket for manually turning the grinding plate free with an Allen wrench. If the jam clears but the motor continues to hum without spinning, the motor itself may be failing. If the disposal trips the reset button immediately after being cleared, there is likely an electrical or motor issue that requires professional diagnosis rather than repeated resets.
Most garbage disposals last 8 to 12 years under normal household use, though Scottsdale’s hard water can shorten that lifespan. Mineral scale from water running at 16 to 20 grains per gallon accumulates inside the disposal housing and on drain fittings over time, increasing corrosion and strain on the motor and seals. Disposals that are used heavily, frequently run without adequate water flow, or regularly process fibrous or hard food waste tend to reach the lower end of that range. If your unit is approaching or past 8 years and requiring frequent resets, running louder than usual, or leaking from the housing rather than a connection point, replacement is usually more cost-effective than continued repairs on an aging motor.
Yes, and it is one of the more common ways kitchen drain problems develop. A disposal that is not grinding food waste properly, whether because of a jam, a worn grinding plate, or a motor running below full power, passes partially ground food particles into the drain line. Those particles accumulate in the P-trap and branch drain line more quickly than fully processed waste would, leading to slow drains and eventual blockages. A leaking disposal body can also allow water and waste to pool under the sink and create drain connection issues over time. If your kitchen drain has become slow at the same time your disposal has started performing poorly, both problems are likely connected and should be addressed together.
It depends on the age of the unit and what has failed. Repairs make sense when the disposal is relatively new, the issue is a jam, a failed reset button, a loose mounting assembly, or a leaking drain connection, all of which are mechanical rather than motor-related. Once the motor is failing, the grinding plate is worn significantly, or the housing itself is cracking or leaking, replacement is almost always the more cost-effective decision. Repairing a motor in a unit that is already 8 to 10 years old typically costs more than the repair is worth given the remaining service life. We will give you an honest assessment of whether repair makes financial sense before recommending replacement, and we will never push a new unit when a repair is the right call.
Garbage disposal motor size is measured in horsepower, and the right size depends on how heavily your household uses the unit. A half-horsepower unit handles light use in a one or two person household but tends to jam more frequently under heavy use or when processing tough food waste. Three-quarter horsepower is the most common choice for a standard family household and handles most everyday food scraps without difficulty. One horsepower units are appropriate for households that cook frequently, process larger volumes of food waste regularly, or want the most durable long-term option. For Scottsdale homes where hard water already puts additional strain on the motor and internal components, moving up one size from what you think you need is often a worthwhile investment in longevity.
Persistent odors from a garbage disposal are almost always caused by food residue and biofilm buildup on the grinding plate, inside the splash guard, and along the underside of the rubber baffle at the drain opening. The baffle in particular traps grease and food particles on its underside where water does not reach during normal use. Running cold water while the disposal operates helps flush waste through, but it does not clean the surfaces where odor-causing buildup collects. Cleaning the underside of the baffle with a brush and degreaser, running ice through the disposal to scour the grinding chamber, and flushing with baking soda and vinegar periodically addresses most odor issues. If the smell persists after cleaning, the unit may have internal corrosion or a crack in the housing that is trapping waste beyond what surface cleaning can reach.
No. Zest Plumbing & Drain does not charge a trip fee, dispatch fee, or fuel surcharge to come to your home. Whether we are diagnosing a disposal that stopped working, repairing a jam or leak, or installing a replacement unit, there is no charge just for the visit. Upfront pricing is provided before any work begins so you know exactly what you are agreeing to. This has been our approach since 2008.
