Sewer Scope Inspections
At The Real Estate Inspection Company, in addition to our comprehensive home inspections, we offer inspections for specific systems, like our sewer scope sewer inspection. When buying or selling a home, the only way to know for certain if your drain line is clear is to look inside it with a camera. Find out for certain by calling (800) 232-5180 or schedule now. We serve San Diego and the surrounding areas.
Additional Inspection
The Real Estate Inspection Company is proud to offer sewer scope services to our clients as an optional inspection. Just like a home inspection, sewer scope sewer inspections are visual in nature and do not include dismantling any component other than removing a cleanout cover.
What Can the Video Reveal?
Our technicians use state-of-the-art digital color cameras to take a careful look at your sewer line from the inside. Inspectors show up with over $25,000 worth of equipment, including cameras that can inspect up to 200 feet instead of the typical 100 feet. The camera is inserted through a cleanout and fed into the pipe until it reaches the public sewer line or septic tank.
Just like our home inspections, The Real Estate Inspection Company does not perform repairs on sewer lines. Therefore, we are unbiased in our reporting and not influenced by the possibility of performing expensive repairs. Our interactive reports also allow us to provide you with the most detailed information possible. Try our interactive sample report now!
Our inspections tell the story of your house.
Here’s what is included:
- Video color scan of the main drain line or “lateral.”
- Accessing the main drain line from a standard cleanout to the street or alley where it connects to the public sewer system or to your septic tank.
- A written report including the findings.
- A link to the video.
- Locating and placing a marker at the site of the defect.
The color video you receive will confirm that the drain is in good condition, or it can be used to obtain a quotation from a contractor for repair if the drain is clogged, broken, collapsed, or damaged in any way. We place a marker on the ground where defects are found.
Location, Location, Location!
We mark the location of any defects so that repair professionals will know where to look. We can also locate septic tank cleanouts, saving you money. Septic inspectors will charge you $90/hour or more just to locate the cleanouts.
In the event we cannot access the drain line, you will not be charged for our sewer scope inspection. In some cases, old cleanouts cannot be removed without causing damage. In some older homes, no cleanouts are present which in itself is a costly repair. We do not install cleanouts or modify the plumbing in any way.
Don’t be stuck with a huge repair bill!
Be proactive and get your drain lines inspected with a sewer scope sewer inspection when purchasing a home. If a blockage is found, you will have the information you need to decide how to proceed with your purchase. Call The Real Estate Inspection Company at (800) 232-5180 or schedule now. We service San Diego County, Orange County, and Riverside County.
Sewage Backwater Valve Inspection
A sewage backwater valve is a flapper that opens to allow sewage to leave the home. It’s designed to prevent sewage from backing up into your home if the city main ever has a slow-down or backup. Sewage backwater valves are often forgotten about, or homeowners have no idea they even exist in their main line. The best way to find out if you have a sewage backwater valve is to have a sewer line inspection done on your home.
Homes built from the mid 1980s to the present are more likely to have a sewage backwater valve in their main lines than homes built before the 1980s. As you can imagine, these valves can get pretty dirty overtime being in a sewer line. They need to be cleaned and inspected every six months to a year per municipalities recommendations.
If left uncleaned and uninspected, the flapper valve collects build up that weighs it down, not allowing the valve to fully open. This can cause a blockage, allowing sewage to back up into the home. Having too much build up near the flapper valve could also cause the valve not to close all the way, allowing the city sewage to flood the home if the city main backs up.
During our sewage backwater valve inspection, we pull the flapper valve out and clean the grease build up off. After cleaning is complete, we visually inspect the flapper valve for any damage or deterioration of the o'ring. The o'ring is extremely important because it helps seal the pipe and prevents sewage from backing into the home.
We also clean where the valve sits in the line, removing any build up and debris before putting the flapper valve back into place. We then flush water into the system, observing the valve open and close, ensuring it is functional.
The sewage backwater valve inspection is an additional inspection for home buyers that can be added on to your sewer line inspection if there is proper access to the sewage backwater valve. We can also perform the sewage backwater valve inspection for homeowners.
Root Treatment
Root treatment is a stand-alone sewer line treatment for homeowners. It is performed by pouring a foaming root killer into the sewer line, then flushing the line with water to activate the foaming process that will the roots. If you had us perform your sewer line inspection, our report will tell you if there are any roots getting into the system. If there are only light roots growing, root treatment is a good alternative to more invasive types of services that can potentially damage your line, like cabling or hydro jetting.
It is recommended that root treatments be done annually. With the root treatment service, you get one of our professionals applying the root treatment product to ensure a quality service is performed. Root treatment is a stand-alone service, however if we have not performed a sewer line inspection on the property, we will need to do that first to confirm the presence of roots.
