Kitchen sinks backed up.New check valve needed?
Ok guys, I'm hoping you can help me without laughing at me since I'm a 39 y/o female not really knowing what I'm doing but have ABSOLUTELY NO MONEY to hire a plumber.
I have a double sink with an attached garbage disposal. When I would run the garbage disposal, the other sink would start filling up with water and the ground up food. When I would shut off the disposal, the first sink (the one with the disposal) would then back up too. After about a half hour, the sinks would drain. Therefore I'd wash my dishes in shifts, doing a little at a time, waiting for the sinks to drain & then resuming, being careful to dump any and all excess food in the trash so no more would go down the disposal. This was going on for about a week and now today the sinks will not drain.
When this first started happening last week, my friend's boyfriend took the pipes and disposal apart under the sink to check it out. (He is an electrician by trade and knows a little about plumbing but is not an expert.) We thought the disposer or a pipe was clogged and snaked it but he said everything's clear and I need a new check valve.
I'm not really sure if this is true after everything I've read on the internet but you know how the internet is... you can research on line of why you have a cough and a runny nose and in 15 min's you think you have some kind of strange incurable disease. I did find a question similar to this one on this website but I didn't understand most of the lingo and thought it got to technical-talking for me. I was going to go to a place like Lowe's or Home Depot and see if someone there can help me find a check valve but was afraid I'd be laughed right out of the store.
Can someone help, or attempt to help me? Please talk to me like I'm 2 years old. You may think I'm nuts, but I'm confident I can replace something under the sink if I know the right part I'm replacing. I have buckets ready for when I open the pipes and am aware it will start spilling out all over. I really do not want to ask my friend to ask her boyfriend again, especially since I have no money to offer him.
Please, please, I will take any kind of help or advice you can offer.
Thanks in advance,
Sunny