Plumbing has advanced considerably from the days when a plumber could get by with just a wrench and some know-how. Modern plumbers make use of a variety of high-tech gadgets to help them quickly and efficiently discover and fix problems with your pipes. Out of this arsenal of tools, the drain line camera may be the most useful.
Drain line cameras are relatively simple in concept: they are waterproof cameras attached to a long, flexible line. Your technician can use this camera to investigate the condition of hidden pipes in a non-destructive way. Although plumbers utilize drain line cameras in many different situations, here are three situations where you may want to specifically request this service.
1. You're Buying a House
There's a lot that goes into purchasing a new home, but inspections are a critical part of any purchase. Ensuring that your prospective house is free of any significant sewer or drainage issues can save you time, money, and frustration later on. Since sewer back-ups can potentially cause substantial damage to a home, early discovery is a great way to protect your investment.
In addition to a standard plumbing inspection, always request a video line inspection, as well. Your plumber will use their inspection camera to examine drains and even check the condition of the sewer lateral out to the municipal wastewater main. The use of a camera in this scenario can provide you with drastically more information than you would have otherwise.
Pre-purchase video inspections can also provide you with additional information about the sewer line itself. In older neighborhoods, sewer laterals can sometimes connect to multiple homes without clearly specified easements in any of the deeds. A video inspection can potentially clue you in if other homes connect to the same lateral.
2. Your Plumbing Is Old
If your sewer lines are old, then you may already be suffering from hidden problems. While it isn't necessary to schedule annual video inspections, having one performed might be a good idea if your plumbing is several decades old. Many sewer problems develop slowly and may go unnoticed for years before eventually causing considerable damage.
Video inspections are particularly useful for finding hidden breaks or root infiltration. While you may think that a sewer line break is a fairly obvious problem, they can sometimes be subtle. Small cracks in a sewer line may leak wastewater into the surrounding soil for years before being found. Issues such as this can be particularly troublesome if your home uses well water.
Root infiltration is another common problem that may begin long before your home's drains start to back up. Many homeowners simply become accustomed to slow drains, thinking that their plumbing is behaving as it always has. In reality, this may be one of many early symptoms of a root clog that a video inspection can quickly uncover.
3. You Need to Find a Pipe or Break
One exciting feature of most sewer line cameras is their ability to locate buried pipes. Modern inspection cameras can transmit a wireless signal to a receiver that can pinpoint the current location of the camera. This ability can be useful in many situations, including locating buried pipe. If you have an old drain pipe or sewer line that you can't find, a video inspection may be able to help.
Camera location features can be especially important when you have a break in your sewer line. Merely determining that a break exists isn't good enough, unless you intend to unbury the entire sewer pipe. By locating the camera when it is near the position of the break, your plumber can zero on the exact segment in need of repair.
Whatever your inspection needs, Roto-Rooter Sewer-Drain Service can help.
Give us a call today to schedule your sewer line video inspection!
