SHOULD I INSTALL A GARBAGE DISPOSAL IN MY RENTAL?

 

Does your rental property have a garbage disposal? Does it need it and what should you know before you install one?

Garbage disposals make your tenant’s life easier but they also come with additional maintenance responsibilities. If you are thinking of adding a waste disposer to your rental, this article will walk you through everything you should know before you make the decision.

WHAT’S A GARBAGE DISPOSAL AND WHEN DOES A RENTAL NEED ONE?

The garbage disposal is a device mounted on the underside of the kitchen sink to grind solid food waste before it is allowed to go into the sewer line. It reduces the amount of waste your tenants put into their garbage containers and helps keep the kitchen sink clean.

But does your rental property need a garbage disposal unit? There are two situations where having a garbage disposal in a rental property is unavoidable. Under the following circumstances, you will find it hard to attract tenants to your rental if there is no garbage disposal in the kitchen.

• If you own a rental unit in the top levels of a multi-story building, you should have a garbage disposal. In this situation, a waste disposer is not a luxury but a requirement. That’s because you want to reduce the number of times tenants have to make the trip downstairs to deposit their kitchen waste in the main garbage containers.

With a garbage disposal, they will have less perishable food in their refuse container and not have to empty the bin as frequently.

• If the property is a high-end rental, you should have a garbage disposal in it. It’s just one of those things tenants who pay higher rents expect. A garbage disposal doesn’t cost much (often less than one month’s rent) but the ROI, in terms of how attractive it makes the property, can be considerable.

Even if you have high-end appliances in the home, you should still install a garbage disposal. Without one, prospective tenants may feel as if something is missing in the rental.

That being said, there are also times when you should not have a garbage disposal in your rental property.

When is it a bad idea to have a waste disposer in a rental property? A garbage disposal is a complete no-no if there is a septic tank in the property. Septic tanks cannot handle fats, oils and grease, and tenants may flush these materials down the drain. Although you can instruct tenants to avoid doing this, there is no guarantee that they will comply.

MANAGING THE GARBAGE DISPOSAL

If you decide to install a garbage disposal in your rental property, the main challenge you will face is maintenance. Tenants often treat a garbage disposal as if it is a substitute for their garbage can. They will flush food items into the disposer that are not meant to go into it.

Garbage disposal units damage easily if not used in the prescribed manner. There are many things you can do to keep the unit from becoming a headache. If you fail to take these steps, you will lose all the benefits of having a waste disposer in your rental property.

1. Buy a quality product
Garbage disposal units cost between $75 and $500. Expectedly, the more affordable ones are the least reliable. But that is not to say you should buy a $500 garbage disposal. A moderately powerful garbage disposal that costs around $300 will serve you well.

In addition to the cost of the unit, you should think of how many people it will serve. For homes with 3-6 persons, you need a ½-¾ HP motor. If there are 5-8 persons in the home, get a 1 HP motor. Note that the headache of maintaining a cheaper product is not worth the money you will save buying that cheaper product.

2. Add a sink trap beneath the sink
A sink trap makes it harder for large pieces of food to travel down the pipe into the garbage disposal. This reduces opportunities for the device to jam or break down. Also, you should provide strainers for the sink, to help capture debris and keep them out of the drain pipes altogether.

3. Include a garbage disposal maintenance clause in the lease

Make maintaining the garbage disposal a part of the lease agreement. Ensure the terms and conditions for using and maintaining the unit are clearly spelled out. In addition to including those in the lease, you should educate your tenants on how to use the garbage disposal. Two important things to include in the agreement are:

• A list of items that should never be dumped into the garbage disposal. This list should include FOG (fats, oils, and grease), stringy veggies/fruits, fruit pits, starchy food, bones, and coffee grinds, among others.

• Tenants should be responsible for repairs. It is best to make maintaining the garbage disposal the exclusive responsibility of the tenant. That’s because you really can’t control how tenants use the device. If the tenant does not want this, they can opt out of using a garbage disposal.