"Prof Wonmug" wrote in message
...
My son detected a foul smell coming from somewhere under the kitchen.
Suspecting a dead animal in a vent, they called an exterminator. The
exterminator said that it was a leak in a sewage pipe.

They then called a plumber who said they had a hole the size of a golf
ball in the sewer line from the kitchen sink. The plumber said it was
caused by not running enough water while using the disposal. The
material then sits in the pipe and eats a hole.

I assume the pipe is PVC, but I'm not sure as I got the information
second hand. Does this makes sense?

The cost was $1,200. Seems high.

My wife seems to think that a garbage disposal is like a trash can. You
wait until you can not cram anything more in there, then you turn it on.
One can go in there and just about be overcome by fumes and stench, but like
some old Okie Midwesterner who survived the Depression, she's not going to
change.

You had a problem. You got an answer. You got a fix.

Are you going to let that happen in the future? If you used your garbage
disposal that much, and used it so improperly, you should either adjust your
methods or just get rid of a disposal. If you are on a septic tank, the
insides of your tank should be corroded to a breaking point by now. The
pipes past the fix are probably in bad shape, too.


Steve

"My wife seems to think that a garbage disposal is like a trash can.
You
wait until you can not cram anything more in there, then you turn it
on.
One can go in there and just about be overcome by fumes and stench,
but like
some old Okie Midwesterner who survived the Depression, she's not
going to
change."

So she should not use a garbage disposal any more than someone who
doesn't know their left from their right should drive a vehicle. Or
someone who doesn't know how to strike match should try to light a
fire. etc. etc.

Machines are designed and manufactured to work a certain way. If
someone wishes to change that they either need a different or bigger
machine (if available), or it will break or not operate correctly! A
family with a lot of children, for example, may decide to buy a bigger
clothes washer or dryer.

Also you would not send one small taxicab to pick up a whole baseball
team and all their equipment, would you? You'd send a bus of suitable
size and capacity! Or another example; you wouldn't make one small
pudding for say, Christmas and then expect it to feed a family of 5
and 15 visitors/relatives!

Size and capability matters. If not considered then costs increase
rapidly!

SteveB wrote:
"terry" wrote in message
...

"My wife seems to think that a garbage disposal is like a trash can.
You
wait until you can not cram anything more in there, then you turn it
on.
One can go in there and just about be overcome by fumes and stench,
but like
some old Okie Midwesterner who survived the Depression, she's not
going to
change."

The women in my house think they can do anything, but are actually
dangerous.

Case in point:

Vacuum cleaner won't clean. I take it apart, and find the bag is
fuller than full, and the bag is the wrong bag. Outside the bag is
packed with dirt and hair, too. When asked, the attitude is, Hey, I
was able to get the bag in there, and it started and ran, what's the
problem.
I take it all apart, blow it out with the air compressor, clean
everything, unclog the tubes, and tell them to get the right bags,
which I give them the number of. They have been to Walmart several
times since then.
Fast forward to this morning: Vacuum not working again, but now,
they have learned to simply press the thermal overheat when it does
this, and they can go on vacuuming. I pull the panel, and there is
NO bag in there. Just full of dog hair and dirt. When told about
this, and I show them the inside of the vacuum, wife retrieves a
non-standard wrong vacuum cleaner bag and sez, This will work. So, I
roll the top down two folds, the bottom up three folds, and the hole
fits over the interior nozzle, but sloppily. The vacuum works, but
as the last time, I know that there is a lot of stuff going out the
poorly fitting hole, and into the interior of the vacuum.
So, I guess I just have to go get the right bags to be sure they
don't do this again. They are as clueless as a couple of teenagers. If they
can get the thing started, they just run it until it quits. Then want to go
buy another one when this one fails. This is a
Riccar 8955, a spendy very good vacuum. When you use the right bags,
and take the carpet strings out occasionally from the roller to keep
from smoking the belt.

You could try to convince them that vacuuming with no bag (or the wrong bag)
just distributes the dust all over everything. It's worse than not vacuuming. Do
they ever wonder why everything gets dusty so fast? Chances are if you look at
anything they vacuumed an hour later, it will be dusty.

But I suppose the only real alternative is for you to watch over the vacuum and
maintain it, buy the bags, etc.