CCTV Drain Inspection Sydney
We put a camera through your drain and show you what is wrong with it, where it sits and how deep, which turns guesswork into a measurement. You find out where the fault is, how deep it sits, what caused it and whether the pipe itself is still sound, before anybody quotes a repair or digs anything up. You get the footage and a plain explanation of what it means. Book an inspection online, or call and we will talk it through.
Footage reviewed with you on siteWhat the camera actually shows
Five things, none of which can be worked out from the fixture. Together they decide whether you need a clear, a repair, or nothing at all.
Exactly where it is
The camera head is tracked from the surface, so the blockage or the fault is located to a point rather than to a general stretch of pipe. That is the difference between opening one small area and digging up a line looking for it.
How deep it sits
Depth matters for what a repair will cost and for whether it can be done without excavation at all. It is also what decides whether a liner can be pulled through the section.
What is actually causing it
Roots, grease, a foreign object and a collapsed pipe all look identical from the fixture. On screen they look nothing alike, and each one leads to a different job.
The condition of the pipe itself
A line can be clear and still be failing. Cracks, open joints, corrosion and sections that have dropped all show up, which is what tells you whether clearing will hold.
Whether it is on your side of the boundary
The run is measured as the camera goes, so the fault position can be compared against the property boundary. That decides whether it is your line or Sydney Water’s.
When you need a drain camera inspection
An inspection is not needed every time a drain is slow. These are the six situations where it reliably saves money rather than adding to the bill.
The same drain keeps blocking
A line that has blocked more than once in a year is telling you something that clearing it again will not answer. Roots and a cracked section both produce exactly this pattern.
A smell with nothing visibly wrong
A persistent sewage or damp smell with no blockage usually means waste is escaping the pipe somewhere it should not be, which only shows up from inside the line.
Before you buy a property
An older home on clay pipe can have a drain line at the end of its life with nothing visible above ground. An inspection before settlement is considerably cheaper than the repair afterwards.
Before paving, decking or building over a line
Once a slab or a deck is over the top, getting back to a failed section becomes a far bigger job. Checking the condition first is worth doing while access is easy.
After roots have been cut out
Clearing removes the roots. The camera shows the opening they came through, which is what decides whether the line needs sealing or simply watching.
When a quote does not add up
If you have been told a line needs replacing, footage is how you check that for yourself. Sometimes the answer is a liner in one section rather than a new line through the garden.
What a drain camera inspection involves
Four steps. The third one is the part most people are not offered elsewhere.
We find the access point
Most properties have an inspection opening near the boundary or a gully outside. Where there is no usable access, the camera can usually go in through a removed fixture instead.
The camera runs the line
A waterproof head on a flexible rod is fed along the pipe while the footage comes back to a screen at the surface. The run is measured as it goes, so distance is recorded rather than estimated.
You watch it with us
The screen faces both ways. You see what the line looks like at the time we see it, rather than being told about it afterwards.
You get the findings
Location, depth, cause and pipe condition, with the options that follow from them and what each one involves. If nothing is wrong, that is the finding and there is nothing further to sell you.
What the footage leads to
The finding decides the job. This is the whole decision tree, and four of the six outcomes do not involve digging anything up.
| What the camera finds | What it means | What follows | Service |
|---|---|---|---|
| A root mass at a joint | Roots have found an opening and will return to it | Electric eel to cut them out, then relining if the joint is open | Electric Eel Drain Cleaning |
| Grease or silt coating the wall | Ordinary build-up, the pipe itself is sound | High pressure jetting to scour the run back to the wall | High Pressure Drain Jetting |
| A crack or an open joint | The pipe has failed but still holds its shape | A liner cured inside the existing pipe, no excavation | Pipe Relining |
| A section that has dropped or collapsed | The line has lost its fall or its shape | Excavate and replace that section only | Drain Pipe Replacement |
| A foreign object lodged in the line | Something has gone in that should not have | Retrieve it rather than push it further along | Blocked Drains Sydney |
| A clear, sound pipe | Nothing is wrong with the line | Nothing. You are told that and the job stops there | Drain Cleaning |
How the price works
There is no charge for coming out and looking at the problem.
You get the price before any work begins, and nothing goes ahead until you agree to it.
We take calls through the night, on weekends and on public holidays.
Drain camera questions
What does a CCTV drain inspection show that clearing does not?
Clearing tells you the line is open again. It does not tell you why it closed, and it cannot tell you whether the pipe is sound.
The camera answers both. It shows the cause, the exact position, the depth and the condition of the pipe wall, which is what decides whether you need a repair or simply a clear.
Do I need to be home for it?
It helps, because the screen faces both ways and the findings make a great deal more sense while you are looking at them. If you cannot be there, the findings are explained afterwards.
Can the camera go through a blockage?
Not through a solid one. Where a line is completely blocked the usual order is to clear enough to get the camera past, then inspect, because an inspection that stops at the blockage does not tell you what caused it.
On a line that is still flowing, the camera goes first. That is the better order whenever it is possible.
Will you try to sell me a repair?
You see the same footage we do, at the same time. If the pipe is sound, that is the finding, and a cleaning schedule is only suggested where there is an actual reason for one.
Where a repair genuinely is needed, you get the options and what each involves rather than a single number. Relining is considered before replacement precisely because it avoids digging.
Does an inspection cost the same as clearing a drain?
No. They are different jobs and they are quoted separately. The clearing offer advertised across this site is for clearing a blocked drain, not for a camera inspection.
There is no call-out fee either way, and you get the price for whatever is proposed before any work starts.
Related drain services
Book a CCTV drain inspection
If a drain has blocked more than once, or something smells wrong with nothing visible to explain it, the camera is the cheapest way to stop guessing. You see the footage at the same time we do.
NSW Licence 306733C. Fully insured. $0 call-out fee. Blocked drains cleared from $69.