What we look for
- Roots entering at joints, sags where water pools, offsets, where one section has slumped below its neighbour, cracks, and in older cast iron, scale and channel rot along the bottom. We also check transitions: the point where a 1970s cast iron stack meets a newer PVC lateral is a classic trouble spot.
- Each finding is noted with its distance from the cleanout. A sonde, a small transmitter in the camera head, lets us locate the exact spot from above with a receiver and mark the ground, along with an estimated depth.
Why it is worth doing
- A camera turns a repeat clog into a known problem. If a single joint 22 feet out has roots, a spot repair may solve it. If the whole clay line is cracked, cleaning will only buy time. Either way, you decide with the evidence in front of you.
- House buyers in older parts of Richmond Hill, especially around Mill Pond, Crosby and the Yonge Street core, often want the lateral filmed before closing day. Clean video is worth having in the file.
Signs you need this
- The same drain has been cleared more than once this year
- Roots came back on the cable
- You are buying an older house
- A soft or sunken patch on the lawn above the sewer line
- You plan to finish the basement over the old drains
What you get
- We walk you through the footage on the monitor while it runs, so you see what we see. Afterwards you get a written summary in our job book listing each finding and its distance, and we can share the video file with you if you need it for an insurer, a buyer or the town.
- A plugged line gets opened first so the camera can travel. Pushing a camera into a full pipe shows nothing but brown water.
How the job runs
- 1
The line is cleared if needed so the camera can pass.
- 2
The camera is pushed from the cleanout toward the street.
- 3
Each finding is noted and located from the surface with a receiver.
- 4
You get the summary and the video, plus our honest read on next steps.
Richmond Hill note: most houses here sit on York Region municipal water with fairly hard supply, and many basements have a floor drain tied to the sanitary lateral. Mention both on the phone; it changes what goes on the truck.
Nobody should dig a trench on a guess. We put a camera in first.
Want a second opinion on your own pipes first? Dial (365) 363-1575; the person answering holds the wrench.