Garburator Installation in Calgary
Garburator installation in Calgary comes down to the cabinet under your sink more than the unit you pick. How much room is in there, how high the drain leaves the wall, whether the dishwasher empties through the sink and whether suitable power is already in place decide how the job goes.
First, make sure a new garburator is the job you need. If the unit grinds and empties but the sink still drains slowly, the blockage is further down the pipe and a new unit won't shift it. In that case, start with drain cleaning.
A garburator install is $520 to $1,300 as of September 2026, and the range is the same in Calgary and Airdrie. The quote is free, and you have the price before any work starts.
We dispatch from both Calgary and Airdrie. For a quote, call 587-834-3668. If you're in Airdrie, the rest of what we do in town is on the Airdrie plumbing page.
Adding a garburator, or replacing one that's given out? Call 587-834-3668 and we'll tell you honestly when we can get there.
Call 587-834-3668
What a Garburator Installation Involves
A garburator, or garbage disposal, hangs below the sink and empties into the trap. Putting one in is a chain of connections from the sink down to the wall, and the parts and order for each model are set out in its installation manual.
Mounting to the sink
The unit hangs from a mounting assembly fitted into the sink's drain opening, in place of the ordinary basket strainer. That joint carries the weight of the unit and everything that goes down the sink, so it has to be sealed and tight.
Connecting to the trap
Water has to fall from the unit's outlet, through the trap, into the drain in the wall. If the wall drain sits higher than the outlet on the new unit, the sink won't empty the way it should, and that has to be sorted out before the unit goes on.
The dishwasher drain
In many kitchens the dishwasher hose empties into the side of the garburator. Many new units come with that inlet sealed by a plug, which has to come out when a dishwasher is connected. Left in, the dishwasher has nowhere to drain. The installation manual shows how it's done on your model.
Checked before we leave
With everything connected, water runs through the sink, the unit runs, and every joint from the sink opening to the wall gets checked for drips, including the dishwasher connection.
Power Under the Sink
A garburator runs on electricity, and the plumbing side of the job depends on that power already being in the cabinet.
What we check at the quote
Whether the cabinet already has a suitable outlet for the unit, often one controlled by a switch on the wall, or a hard-wired supply. Some units plug in and some are wired directly, so it's worth knowing which kind you're buying. If the unit is hard-wired, disconnecting and connecting that wiring is electrical work for a licensed electrician, so that needs to be done before we install.
When there's no power there
If the cabinet has no supply, or the one there isn't suitable, new wiring is work for a licensed electrician. The City of Calgary's trades permits page says: "An electrical permit is required for all new wiring installations, and when extending or altering any existing electrical branch circuit wiring." Once that's done, the garburator can go in.
Before You Buy a Garburator
If you're choosing the unit yourself, check it against your kitchen before it comes home.
Cabinet height and depth
Measure from the bottom of the sink bowl down to the cabinet floor, and from the front of the cabinet to the back wall. Compare those with the dimensions on the spec sheet, and remember the trap needs room too.
Where the outlet sits
The spec sheet shows how far below the sink the unit's drain outlet comes out. Compare that with the height of the drain where it leaves your wall. If the outlet ends up below the wall drain, the unit can't drain into it properly.
The dishwasher connection
If your dishwasher drains through the sink, the new unit needs an inlet for it. Check the model has one before you buy.
Sharing the cabinet with reverse osmosis
A reverse osmosis system takes up cabinet space with its filters and tank, and its drain line ties into the sink drain as well. Make sure the garburator fits alongside it, and mention it when you call.
Homes on septic
If the house is on a septic system rather than City sewer, read what the manufacturer says about using that model with septic before you buy it.
What Goes Down It, and What Doesn't
A garburator chops food into smaller pieces. It doesn't make the food disappear, and it does nothing about grease.
Grease still clogs pipes
The City of Calgary's page on managing fats, oils and grease lists "If I use a kitchen garburator, it's okay to put fats, oils and grease down the drain" as a myth. The City explains that the wastewater system is built to manage the flow of wastewater leaving your home, "not the scraps and shreds of food leftovers."
Where grease goes instead
The City's advice is to wipe pans and scrape plates before washing, let larger amounts of grease cool until they set, and put it in the green cart.
Keep a strainer
The same page recommends a sink basket or kitchen strainer to help stop food residue going down the drain. On a double sink, the side without the garburator needs one most.
Everything else
For what your particular unit can and can't handle, follow your owner's manual. Models differ, and the manual is the one written for yours.
Replace It, or Is Something Else Wrong?
A garburator that's acting up doesn't always need replacing. These are the usual signs and where each one points.
It hums but won't turn
A unit that hums without grinding, or stops and won't start again, is often jammed or has tripped its built-in overload. The owner's manual explains the reset for your model. Keep the power off while you look, and never put your hand inside the unit.
Water from the unit itself
Water coming from the body of the garburator, rather than from a joint, generally means replacement. A leak there isn't something a new washer or a tightened fitting will stop.
Slow sink, working unit
If the unit grinds and empties but water still sits in the sink, the blockage is further down the drain. A new garburator won't clear it; drain cleaning will.
A drip at the supply or the trap
A drip at the shutoffs, the supply lines or a trap joint is a plumbing leak rather than a garburator fault. Plumbing repairs covers the fix, and if you can't tell where the water is coming from, start with leak detection.
Grey plastic water lines
If the lines feeding the kitchen faucet are grey plastic, they may be Poly-B, which turns up often in Calgary homes from the 1980s and 90s. A new garburator does nothing for them. Poly-B replacement explains what's involved.
Condos and Permits
Two questions worth answering before the unit is bought: does the City need a permit, and does your building have rules of its own?
Swapping like for like
The City of Calgary's trades permits page lists the work that doesn't need a plumbing permit, and one item on that list is to "Replace existing faucets and fixtures."
When the plumbing changes
The same page says a plumbing permit is required when a plumbing system is "constructed, extended or altered." Adding a garburator where the drain has to be reworked to suit it may fall on that side of the line. If you're unsure, call the City's Planning Services Centre at 403-268-5311.
Condo suites
Check your bylaws, or ask your property manager, before you buy a unit or book the work. The building may have its own rules about work inside suites, or about shutting off water so it can be done.
Not sure a new garburator is the fix?
If the trouble might be the drain, a leak or something else under the sink, one of these is the better place to start.
Plumbing Repairs
Drips at the shutoffs, supply lines or trap, and the other everyday fixes.
See serviceDrain Cleaning
When the unit works but the sink still empties slowly.
See serviceLeak Detection
Water in the cabinet and no obvious source.
See serviceReverse Osmosis
Drinking-water filtration that can share the cabinet under the kitchen sink.
See serviceWater Softeners
Treating Calgary's hard water before it reaches your fixtures.
See serviceAirdrie Plumbers
Everything we do on the Airdrie side.
See serviceSimple, honest, on your schedule.
Swapping one unit for another under a sink that's ready for it is a short job. Adding one where there's never been a garburator means more to check first.
Call and describe the sink
Tell us whether there's a garburator there now, whether the dishwasher drains through the sink and what else lives in the cabinet. If you've already bought the unit, give us the model.
We look, then quote
We look at the cabinet, the drain and the trap, and check whether a suitable outlet or hard-wired supply is already there for the unit, and which of the two it is. You get the price before any work starts.
Old unit off, connections checked
Where there's an old garburator, it comes off the sink. With it out of the way, the sink opening, the wall drain and the dishwasher hose are all in plain view, and each one gets checked before the new unit goes on.
New unit mounted and run
The new unit is mounted to the sink and connected to the trap, and to the dishwasher where there is one. Then we run water through it, run the unit and check every joint for leaks before we leave.
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