Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Update: A year later and no issues... great disposal! Original review: I'm a 33 year old woman who has never done a plumbing or electrical project. Ever. That said, this disposal (Badger 5) came with clear instructions and was installed by me without help in about an hour. I was replacing an old Badger 100 (now badger 1, I think) that the previous owners had installed that we really liked. Not sure how old it was but we've been in the house for 5 years or so and it wasn't new when we moved in. The mounting hardware was still the same and I could have just replaced the unit (I checked), but it came with a new mounting unit so I figured I would use it. The B5 is more powerful that the B1 for about the same price. My best advice is to make sure you have what you need ahead of time that doesn't come in the box: Plumbers putty (small container) and a scraping knife if you are replacing the mounting attached to the sink. A hammer if you need to attach the dishwasher drain (mine drains into the other side of our double sink, so I didn't need to do that). 2 wire nuts and a cable connector, which I reused from the previous disposal. Or an electrical cord if yours has a wall plug. Pliers large enough to loosen the drain nut if needed. Mine wasn't tight enough to require pliers. A Phillips head and a flat head screwdriver. A saw if you need to shorten the included drain tube. I got lucky and mine fit perfectly in the space. I did end up with a leak. The badger comes with one gasket for the drain tube where it connects to the disposal, but no longer comes with the smaller gasket for the other end of the tailpipe. A lot of reviews claim that the one is enough but it wasn't for my sink. I cleaned up my old one and stuck it back inside. It comes with a service tool. I recommend taping it to the side of your disposal. If your disposal gets stuck in the future you can stick the little hex wrench into the bottom, turn a couple times to loosen the blades, and push the rest button on the bottom. It'll save you $100 to replace it. ...yes, I probably could have done that with mine. No, I did not know that ahead of time. It's all part of the joy of being a first time homeowner who is too stubborn to call a plumber.