A sewer line is buried, so most of what people know about theirs is a guess based on symptoms. A sewer camera replaces the guess with a picture. A waterproof camera on a stiff, flexible push cable goes in through the cleanout and travels down the line, and we watch the inside of the pipe on a screen as it goes.
What the camera shows decides what happens next. Sometimes it is a grease buildup that a good cleaning will handle. Sometimes it is a root mass at one joint 30 feet out, and sometimes it is a whole run of old pipe that is near the end. Knowing which, and exactly where, is the difference between a small repair and a torn-up yard.
We run the camera, locate the line from the surface, record the video, and walk you through what it shows.
A camera inspection makes sense when
- The main line has clogged more than once in a year or two
- Roots came out on the cable the last time the line was cleaned
- You are buying a house, especially one built before the 1980s
- Several drains gurgle or slow down together
- There is a soggy or sunken strip in the yard along the sewer route
- You want to confirm a line is really clear after it was cleaned
- You are planning a patio, addition or tree near where the sewer runs
What the camera finds
A recurring clog almost always has a physical cause, and on camera most of them are easy to tell apart.
- Roots: fine hairs at a joint in a light case, a solid mat filling the pipe in a bad one. Roots mean the joint is open.
- Bellies: a low section where water stands in the pipe instead of draining. The camera lens goes under water, and the footage shows where the dip starts and ends.
- Offsets: two pipe sections that have shifted so the ends no longer line up, leaving a lip that catches paper and wipes.
- Cracks and breaks: from soil movement, root pressure or a vehicle driving over a shallow line.
- Clay tile failure: older clay pipe with cracked bells, missing pieces or roots at every joint.
- Orangeburg deformation: the fiber pipe goes oval, blisters on the inside and finally collapses. On camera the round pipe becomes a squashed one.
- Grease and scale: a buildup on the pipe walls that narrows the line without any damage to the pipe itself.
Locating the line and its depth
Most sewer cameras carry a small transmitter, called a sonde, just behind the camera head. When the camera stops at a problem, we sweep the surface with a handheld locator that picks up the signal and marks the spot on the ground, along with an estimate of how deep it is.
That matters for two reasons. It tells a repair crew exactly where to dig, so the hole is over the problem and not ten feet away. And it tells you where your sewer runs, which is useful before you plant a tree, set a fence post or pour a patio. SC811 does not mark your private sewer line, because it is yours and not the utility's, so the camera locate is often the only way to find it.
Inspections before you buy a house
A standard home inspection looks at the plumbing you can see. The sewer lateral runs underground from the house to the city tap or the septic tank, and in most cases it is not part of the standard inspection. A separate sewer camera inspection fills that gap.
It is most worth doing on older homes, homes with large trees in the front yard, and homes that have sat empty, where a problem may not have shown up yet because nobody has been running water. A failed clay or Orangeburg line found before closing is a negotiating point. Found after closing, it is your bill.
After-clearing checks and recorded video
Clearing a main line punches a hole through the blockage. It does not always show why the blockage formed. Running the camera after the line is cleared confirms that the pipe is open from end to end and shows whether there is a break, a belly or a root entry that will cause the next clog.
We record the inspection and give you the video. It is useful to show a home seller, a landlord or a second contractor, and if a line was damaged by something like a utility crew or a falling tree, the footage and the locate marks are the kind of record an insurance adjuster asks for. Whether a policy covers a sewer line is between you and your insurer, but the video documents what is there.
How a sewer camera inspection goes
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Find the access
We open the main cleanout outside or in the crawlspace. Where there is no cleanout, a toilet may have to be pulled, and we tell you if adding a cleanout would help.
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Clear it if needed
A camera cannot see through a full blockage. If the line is backed up, we clear it first and then inspect.
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Run the camera
We push the camera the length of the line, stopping at each joint, fitting and problem spot, with the footage counter showing the distance from the cleanout.
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Locate and mark
At each problem we locate the camera head from the surface and mark the spot and its approximate depth.
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Review it with you
We show you the footage, explain what each finding means, and give you the recorded video.
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Talk about options
If something needs fixing, you get the choices, from cleaning to a spot repair to replacement, and the price before work starts.
Not sure this is the problem? Describe what is happening and we will tell you.
(864) 415-7482Permits and camera inspections
A camera inspection by itself does not need a permit, because nothing is changed. If the inspection leads to a sewer repair or replacement, that work is generally permitted and inspected by the city or county building department, and some sewer providers have their own rules where the work reaches their connection. We pull the permit for any repair we do.
What drives the cost of a camera inspection
Every job is priced before work starts. These are the things that move the number.
- Access
- An open, accessible cleanout is the quickest start. Going in through a toilet or a roof vent takes longer.
- Whether the line is blocked
- A backed-up line has to be cleared before the camera can see anything.
- Length of the line
- A long run to the street or a septic tank far from the house takes more cable and more time.
- Locating
- Marking several problem spots and depths adds time, and it saves a lot of guesswork if a dig follows.
- Combined with other work
- An inspection done right after a drain cleaning is often part of the same visit.
Why homeowners call Gas Guys for a sewer inspection
You see what we see
You watch the footage with us and keep the recording. No diagnosis you have to take on faith.
We can fix what we find
Drain cleaning, spot repairs and full sewer replacement are all work we do, so the inspection leads straight to the right job.
No upsell on a good line
If the pipe is sound and the clog was grease or wipes, we say so.
Answered 24/7
A backed-up main does not wait for business hours. A person answers around the clock.