Drain repair and camera inspection

Before anyone digs up your yard, you need to know what is actually wrong with the drain. A camera inspection answers that. A small waterproof camera on a flexible cable is pushed through the drain line from a cleanout, and the contractor watches the footage live.

What the camera finds

• Crushed or collapsed sections of pipe
• Joints in old clay tile that have shifted apart
• Tree roots growing into the line
• Silt, sand and iron ochre building up and choking the flow
• Sections that sag or slope the wrong way, so water sits instead of draining
• Where the drain connects to the storm sewer, and whether that connection is blocked

Repair instead of replace

If the problem is limited to one area, the contractor can dig only at that spot, replace the damaged length of pipe, and leave the rest of the yard alone. That costs a fraction of a full replacement.

If the footage shows failures all the way around, the inspection becomes the evidence for a full replacement, and you will know the money is going where it is needed.

Buying a house in Abbotsford?

A perimeter drain scope is worth adding to any inspection on an older home. A failing drain is expensive, and it rarely shows up on a dry summer viewing.

What to have ready

• Where water is coming in, and after what kind of weather
• The approximate age of the house
• Any cleanouts you know of, usually short capped pipes near the corners of the house

Common questions