Sewer Camera Inspection

What the inspection is

A sewer camera inspection pushes a self-leveling, waterproof camera head on a stiff cable or a crawler through the line from a cleanout, a pulled toilet, a roof vent or a manhole, recording as it goes. A counter logs the distance, so every defect is tied to a footage mark, and a transmitter in the camera head lets a locator on the surface find the head's position and read its depth, so the defect is marked on the lawn, the slab or the pavement above it. The result is a recording you keep, a log of what was found and where, and a set of marks on the ground that tell the installer exactly what the job is.

What the camera shows

• Pipe material and age: clay, cast iron, Orangeburg, concrete, plastic, corrugated metal, and the transitions between them.
• Roots: where they enter, which usually means an open joint, and how much of the pipe they fill.
• Cracks and fractures: longitudinal, circumferential, multiple, and whether the pieces are still in place.
• Offsets: joints that have stepped sideways, measured as a fraction of the pipe's diameter, which decides whether a liner can bridge them.
• Bellies and standing water: the single most important thing a camera finds, because no liner fixes one.
• Scale and corrosion: in cast iron, how much of the diameter is left and whether the bottom has rusted through.
• Deformation: ovality in Orangeburg or plastic, which decides whether a tube can pass.
• Infiltration: groundwater running in, and where.
• Connections: every branch and tap, which the liner will cover and the cutter will have to reinstate.
• Collapse: where the camera stops, and the depth at which the dig would have to happen.

Why it comes first

Lining, bursting and point repair are each the right answer for a different pipe, and the differences are invisible from the surface. A backup every few months can be roots in clay, which a liner fixes for good; a belly from moving ground, which a liner cannot fix; or one cracked fitting in a plastic line, which needs nothing more than a point repair. Three fixes, three prices, one symptom. A quote offered without video is a guess about which of the three you have, and a liner cured over a belly or a collapse is money spent on a problem that is still there. Every installer listed on this site inspects before quoting, reviews the footage with you, and scopes from what it shows.

When a cleaning comes first

A pipe full of roots, grease or standing water does not show its wall to a camera, and the first pass sometimes stops at the blockage. In that case the line is cleared, usually by hydro jetting, and the camera goes through again. The second pass, through a clean pipe, is the one that settles the scope. On cast iron a descaling pass may be needed before the camera can see the metal underneath.

Real estate inspections

A sewer scope has become a standard part of buying any house more than thirty or forty years old, and a growing number of cities require a lateral inspection and certificate at the point of sale. The inspector's video is the starting point for a repair scope: a verified installer reviews it, confirms it with their own camera if the footage is incomplete, and produces a written finding and a fixed price fast enough to be used in negotiation or carried through a credit. If you already have a scope video, send it; it saves a step.

Building and municipal surveys

On a commercial property or a public system the inspection becomes a survey: every reach is recorded, logged by distance and, for mains, coded to the NASSCO PACP standard so that defects are described consistently and the reaches can be ranked. Laser profiling measures ovality; sonar maps sediment below the water line; smoke and dye testing find the cross-connections and the leaking laterals a utility's inflow-and-infiltration program is looking for. The survey becomes a condition map, and the map becomes a phased budget.

What it costs

A residential camera inspection is a modest service call, and the installers listed on this site generally credit it toward the repair if the work goes ahead. A real estate scope is priced as a stand-alone service with a written report. A commercial or municipal survey is priced per foot or per reach. In every case the footage is yours, and you are free to take it to another contractor for a second opinion; the price does not change because you asked.

Getting a camera on your line

Your state page says whether a verified installer is listed where you are. If none is, the national line locates a qualified trenchless contractor near you and makes the introduction at no charge, and the inspection is the first thing they do.

Estimates are free. Call now. (855) 804-1434