Drain Cleaning
Clearing the line, which usually has to happen before the camera goes in.
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Twenty minutes, one answer
Stop guessing about a pipe you cannot see
A camera survey turns a four-figure argument into a short conversation over a screen. You get the footage, the distances and a straight explanation of what it shows.
Recording handed over as a file. Bring it to any contractor for a second opinion.
Why it matters
The cheapest step in the whole process
Every expensive sewer decision rests on four pieces of information: what the pipe is made of, what is wrong with it, exactly where along the run the problem sits, and how deep it is at that point. A camera survey establishes all four in about twenty minutes. Without it, every quote is an estimate wrapped around an assumption.
It is also the step that most often saves money rather than costing it. A great many lines that were about to be replaced turn out to have a grease plug, a wipes mass or a single reinstated joint that a jetting visit resolves. The survey that found that is the most profitable hour you will spend on the house.
And the footage is yours. A survey that ends with a plumber saying it looks bad and then putting the equipment away has given you nothing you can act on. You should leave with a file, a set of distance readings, and enough understanding to hold a sensible conversation with a second contractor.
Book a Camera Inspection
Footage, distances and an explanation. Bookable on its own, without any repair attached.
Good reasons
Six moments worth a camera
Not every slow drain needs one. These situations almost always do.
Repeat blockages
Third time on the same line
Two clearances is bad luck. Three is a defect. The camera costs less than the fourth clearance and ends the cycle.
Before buying
Any house over about forty years old
Home inspectors do not camera laterals unless asked. On a pre-1975 Virginia house with mature trees this is the highest-value item you can add to an inspection.
Before a quote
Any proposed sewer repair
No contractor should price a lateral they have not seen, and you should not accept a price from one who has not.
After jetting
Confirming the work
Post-jetting footage proves the wall is bare and reveals defects the build-up was hiding.
Selling
Getting ahead of it
A clean recent survey removes a whole category of buyer negotiation. A bad one is far better found by you than by their inspector.
After a renovation
Or nearby construction
Heavy equipment, new footings and utility trenching all move ground. A survey establishes the line was fine after the work, and by whom it was disturbed if not.
Book a Standalone Survey
No repair required, no obligation. Just the footage and the facts.
On the screen
What the camera actually finds
A self-levelling camera head on a push rod goes in at the cleanout and travels the length of the lateral to the connection. What it reports, in order of how often we see it in Virginia:
- Roots. Fine hair at a joint through to a mass that fills the bore. The camera shows which joint, how far along, and how much of the diameter is gone.
- Grease and scale. A narrowed bore with a matt, uneven wall. Distinguishes a cleaning job from a repair job immediately.
- Offset joints. A visible step where one section has moved relative to the next. The lip catches solids on every pass.
- Bellies. Standing water in a section that should be running. The camera goes under, and the length of the submerged run tells you how bad the sag is.
- Cracks and breaks. From a longitudinal hairline to open pipe with soil visible. Soil in the picture means the line is exfiltrating into the ground.
- Material transitions. Where cast iron meets clay, or clay meets an old repair in PVC. Transitions are joints, and joints are where failures concentrate.
A sonde in the camera head transmits a signal that is tracked from the surface, so the position of any defect is marked on the ground and its depth estimated. That is the difference between digging where the problem is and digging where someone thought it might be.
Find Out What Is Down There
Twenty minutes now, instead of a trench in the wrong place later.
Ask for the sonde location
Marking the defect on the surface, with a depth, is what makes the footage actionable. Footage without a located defect is only half a survey.
Reading the report
What the findings actually mean for you
Terms get used loosely in sewer quotes. Here is what each finding implies about urgency and cost.
Ask one question of every finding: does this need doing now, this year, or at some point? A good surveyor will answer it without hesitating.
| Finding | What it means | Typical response |
|---|---|---|
| Root hair at one joint | Early intrusion, line otherwise sound | Clear and monitor, or line that section |
| Root mass filling the bore | Established intrusion, joint is open | Cut back, then line or replace the section |
| Grease-lined wall | Cleaning problem, not a structural one | Jetting, then habits |
| Offset joint, minor step | Movement has occurred, catching solids | Monitor if flow is fine; repair if it blocks |
| Standing water over several feet | A belly. The line has sagged | Excavate and re-grade; lining will not fix it |
| Soil visible through the wall | The pipe is open to the ground | Repair; this is not something to defer |
| Oval, soft-walled pipe | Deforming Orangeburg | Replacement or bursting; do not jet it |
Get Your Findings Explained Plainly
We will tell you what is urgent and what genuinely is not.
Pre-purchase
Buying an older Virginia house
A sewer survey is the single best-value addition to a home inspection on any older property, and it is routinely skipped because nobody suggests it.
Which houses. Anything built before about 1975, anything with mature trees between the house and the street, and anything in an established neighbourhood in Richmond, Alexandria, Norfolk, Roanoke, Lynchburg, Fredericksburg or Winchester where clay laterals are the norm.
What it costs relative to the risk. The survey is a small fraction of one percent of the purchase price. The repair it can reveal is frequently a five-figure item, and it is far easier to negotiate before closing than to fund afterwards.
Access. The survey needs a cleanout. On some older houses there is not one, and access has to be taken through a pulled toilet or a roof vent, which is worth knowing before the appointment is booked. Seller cooperation is required, and it is a reasonable thing to ask for.
Timing. Within the inspection contingency period, alongside the general home inspection where possible, so one visit covers both and the findings arrive together.
Add a Sewer Survey to Your Inspection
Scheduled to fit your contingency window, with footage sent the same day.
No cleanout, no easy survey
If the property has no accessible cleanout, establish that early. Installing one is a modest job, but it is not something to discover on inspection day.
Deliverables
What a proper survey leaves you with
If you receive less than this, you have bought a look rather than a survey.
- The recording. A video file of the full run, handed over or sent, not just shown on a monitor in your driveway.
- Distance readings. How far along the line each defect sits, measured from the access point used.
- Surface locations. Significant defects marked on the ground with a sonde, and a depth estimate at each.
- Material and diameter. What the pipe is made of, and whether it changes along the run.
- A plain summary. What is wrong, what is urgent, what can wait, in language you can repeat to another contractor.
- No pressure. A survey is a diagnosis. Any repair should be a separate, unhurried decision made afterwards.
Book a Survey With Full Handover
Footage, distances, locations and a written summary as standard.
Common questions
Sewer camera inspection, answered
As a standalone visit it is a modest flat fee. Comparable to a routine service call and a very small fraction of any sewer repair. Added to a visit already booked for drain cleaning or jetting, it is cheaper still. Anyone offering it free is generally selling something afterwards, and free surveys have a way of finding expensive problems.
Usually twenty to forty minutes for a typical domestic lateral, plus time to review the footage with you. A long rural run, or a line that has to be cleared before the camera can pass, takes longer. If the pipe is blocked it must be cabled or jetted first, because a camera cannot see through a blockage.
No. The camera goes in through an existing cleanout. Where there is no cleanout, access can sometimes be taken through a pulled toilet or a roof vent, and occasionally the sensible recommendation is to install a cleanout, which is a modest job and makes every future service easier.
Yes, always, as a file you keep. This matters: it is your evidence when comparing quotes, your record at resale, and your baseline if the line is surveyed again in five years. A survey that leaves you with nothing to take away is not worth paying for.
Approximately, yes. The camera head carries a sonde transmitter that is tracked from the surface with a locator, which gives both a position to mark on the ground and a depth estimate. Depth is the largest single factor in excavation cost, so it belongs in the survey rather than in the quote.
On any Virginia house older than about forty years, or with mature trees between the house and the street, yes. Standard home inspections do not include it. It is a small addition to inspection costs and it is the item most likely to uncover a five-figure liability while you can still negotiate on it.
No. Sewer cameras work in drain lines, which are not pressurised. Finding a pressurised water leak is a different discipline using acoustic, thermal and pressure equipment. See leak detection.
That is a good outcome and a common one. It rules out the expensive possibilities, points at something simpler, a venting fault, a fixture problem, a one-off obstruction, and gives you a dated baseline recording of a sound line, which has real value when you come to sell.
The house line and the run out to the tank, yes, and that is often exactly where the problem is. The tank and drain field themselves are the province of a licensed septic contractor. See septic system plumbing.
Related work
What the footage leads to
A survey is a decision point. These are the three directions it usually points.
Sewer Line Repair
Where the footage shows something structural.
Read moreTrenchless Sewer Repair
Rebuilding the line without a trench, when the pipe suits it.
Read moreBuying, selling or blocked again
Twenty minutes ends the guessing.
A recorded survey with distances and surface locations, handed to you as a file. One call reaches an experienced local professional with a camera on the van.
(866) 683-0244Book a Camera Inspection
Standalone surveys welcome, statewide, no repair required.