Drain camera inspection
A camera on a flexible rod goes down the line and shows you what's actually there. It's the difference between "your drain is blocked" and "there's a root mass at a joint 8 metres out, under the front lawn, and here's the footage."
You get the recording and a written report. That report is what insurers, strata councils and buyers' lawyers ask for.
What it finds
Root intrusion — roots enter at joints in older clay and cast iron and grow into a mat. Vancouver's mature trees make this extremely common on the east side and in older neighbourhoods. Bellies (sags) — a section that has settled and now holds standing water. Waste collects there and it blocks repeatedly. Ground settlement is common in fill areas like Richmond and parts of Burnaby. Cracks and fractures — often from ground movement or age. Collapse — the pipe has failed structurally. Nothing short of replacement fixes it. Offset joints — sections that have shifted apart. Debris catches on the lip. Grease and scale buildup — narrowing the bore. Foreign objects — more often than you'd think.
When to get one
After two or more blockages in the same line · Before buying a home Sewer scope · When a main line backs up · Before committing to a repair, so you're paying to fix the actual problem · When a strata or insurer asks for documentation · After a repair, to verify the work
Locating
Our camera carries a sonde — a transmitter the equipment tracks from above ground. That means we can mark the exact position and depth of a problem on your lawn or driveway before anyone digs. On a repair, that's the difference between a targeted excavation and a trench.
What it costs
The camera inspection is not included in the main-line clearing price. It is billed at the hourly rate plus a separate camera fee.
