Homebuyers spend hours scrutinizing kitchens, roofs, and paint colors, then gloss over the most expensive system they’ll never see: the sewer line. That pipe under the lawn and driveway can cost a few thousand dollars to spot-repair or well over fifteen thousand to replace, depending on depth, length, access, and whether the city requires a street cut. A two-hundred-dollar Sewer Camera Inspection can reveal issues that a general home inspection will not catch, and it lets you negotiate from knowledge instead of hope.
I have walked buyers through dozens of Drain Camera Inspection videos, paused at roots that look like cobwebs at ten o’clock on the screen, and helped them weigh whether that offset at the clay joint is an annoyance or a looming collapse. The technology is straightforward, but the judgment takes experience. If you are considering a house, especially one built before the 1990s or with large street trees, plan your Sewer Camera before you remove contingencies. Here is what to know, what to ask, and how to use the findings to protect your budget.
What a sewer camera really shows you
A Sewer Camera is a flexible, pushable rod with a small color camera and light at the tip. It feeds a live video to a monitor and often records the run to a USB drive or link. Technicians typically start at a cleanout near the house, push the camera toward the street, and narrate what they see while noting footage markers. Good equipment will display the distance in feet, a clock-style orientation, and sometimes pitch.
You will see pipe material. Clay tile, often installed through the mid-20th century, shows as short sections with bell joints and a lighter, almost tan surface. Cast iron looks dark and textured, sometimes with scale buildup or corrosion nodules. PVC is white or light gray with smooth glue joints. Orangeburg, a fiber pipe used in some regions from the 1940s to the 1970s, looks matte and fibrous, and it tends to deform.
You will also see transitions: cast iron from the house to clay in the yard, or clay to PVC near the street where a prior repair happened. Transitions matter because they are weak points. The camera makes those shifts obvious.
The best videos include a locator signal. The tech can use a handheld wand to mark the pipe’s path and depth at points of concern. Those marks often end up as paint dots on the lawn with depth readings. If you end up needing a repair, those marks help you price it accurately.
Why the general home inspection is not enough
Most home inspectors flush toilets and run taps. They will check the visible drain traps under sinks. They do not push a Drain Camera down the main. They cannot see the lateral pipe under the yard or the connection at the city main. If you hear “plumbing appears functional,” it means water goes down today. It does not speak to roots at thirty-seven feet or a sag at sixty-two that holds three inches of water after every shower.
Municipal sewer departments sometimes offer a courtesy check at the main, but they rarely scope the private line. Insurance typically excludes damage from a known pre-existing defect. Lenders do not require sewer inspections. That leaves you, the buyer, with the choice. Spend a few hundred now or be surprised later.
When you absolutely should get a Drain Camera Inspection
Any house with clay or Orangeburg pipe is a must-scope. If you don’t know the material, use the age as a clue. Houses built before the late 1970s often have clay or cast iron laterals. Homes from the 1980s and newer are more likely to have PVC or ABS. Age correlates, but local codes and repairs complicate the picture, so ask the technician to identify materials on video.
Large trees within thirty feet of the sewer line path raise the risk of root intrusion. Look at the front yard and the median strip. Roots seek moisture and nutrients, and they take advantage of clay joints or compromised seals.
Look for red flags in seller disclosures: periodic backups, slow-draining fixtures, gurgling in tubs when toilets flush, prior hydrojetting or rooter service, or any mention of sewer insurance. A recently repaved driveway over the sewer path may hide a trench from a past repair, which is not necessarily bad, but you want to see the rest of the line for continuity.
Even a newer house can benefit from a scope. Construction debris, misaligned connections, or a poorly compacted trench can cause bellies and offsets in PVC. I have seen a five-year-old subdivision with four-inch PVC laterals sag where trench settlement occurred, creating standing water that accumulated grease. Age helps predict probability, not certainty.
How to schedule and what to ask the vendor
Hire a plumbing company that specializes in Sewer Camera Inspection and routinely provides buyers with reports. Ask whether they will supply video and stills, not just a verbal summary. Confirm they can locate and mark the line. Ask about the size and length of their camera reel. Most laterals in residential lots are under 120 feet, but long flag lots or houses with accessory dwellings can exceed that.
Ask whether they can hydrojet during the same visit if the line is blocked. Sometimes the camera cannot get past dense roots or sludge. If the vendor can clear the obstruction, they can finish the inspection in one trip. Clarify costs and whether any cleaning changes the interpretation. A freshly jetted line may look cleaner than it will in three months, so an honest tech will note active root intrusion even after clearing.
Coordinate access to cleanouts. Not all homes have an exterior cleanout. If none exists, the tech may push from a roof vent or pull a toilet. Pulling a toilet is messier and adds labor, but it gives a straight shot. I prefer an exterior cleanout for future maintenance, and if none exists, that is a modest improvement you can ask the seller to install as part of repairs.
What the most common defects look like
You do not need to become a plumber, but you do need to recognize patterns. A few minutes of the video can tell you a lot if you know where to look.
Roots show as wispy strands at first, then as mats that obscure half the screen. They tend to appear at clay joints at regular intervals. If you see them every three to five feet, the joints are compromised along the run. A single light intrusion near a transition can be patched; a dozen intrusions suggest an old line that will need extensive work.
Offsets look like a step up or down at a joint. Minor offsets are common in clay, especially where soil moves. The question is alignment and flow. If the lower edge creates a shelf that catches debris, you will have recurring clogs. If the offset is minor and the flow path remains smooth, a yearly cleaning may keep you going.
Bellies, sometimes called sags, show as the water line creeping up on the screen as the camera descends into a low spot. If the tech pulls back and you see water standing even after multiple fixtures run and stop, you have a segment that does not drain. The length and depth of the belly matter. A short, shallow low spot in PVC can be stable and manageable. A long belly holding several inches of water becomes a sludge trap.
Cracks and fractures are easier to see in PVC or cast iron. Look for visible splits or jagged edges. In clay, you may see spalling or missing pieces at the crown. In Orangeburg, ovalization is the classic failure mode. The round pipe becomes egg-shaped, and you may see tar-like seams. Deformation is not repairable in place.
Grease and scale show up as thick coatings. In cast iron, roughness is normal, but when the bore narrows significantly, even toilet paper can snag. Techs often note “heavy scale” and recommend descaling, which is a real thing but not a cure-all. You remove interior buildup to buy time, not decades.
Reading the technician’s report like a pro
A good report lists the entry point, pipe materials, footage markers for each issue, and still photos. The footage is your map. If a root intrusion is at 42 feet and the locator shows that point under the front walk at a depth of five feet, a plumber can price that excavation fairly tightly. If a crack appears at 88 feet near the property line, you may need to involve the city because many jurisdictions own from the property line to the main.
Ask about flow direction and pitch readings, if available. The camera sometimes includes an inclinometer that shows slope. Positive slope numbers indicate flow toward the main. Codes typically require a minimal slope, often one quarter inch per foot for four-inch pipe. The inclinometer is not perfect, but it can corroborate bellies.
Finally, ask for the video file plus a short call to walk through it. I like to watch it at normal speed with the tech narrating, then ask them to pause at issues and suggest the least invasive repair that actually lasts. You want both the minimal approach and the full replacement price. That range lets you decide how hard to negotiate and whether to accept the risk.
Repair options, costs, and compromises
The right fix depends on material, defect type, and access. Licensed plumbers sometimes disagree because their equipment, liability comfort, and region differ. That is normal. Your job is to learn the realistic choices.
Spot repair by excavation is the most straightforward. Dig to the bad joint, cut out a section, and splice in PVC with proper couplings. It is disruptive but durable. This makes sense for isolated issues like a single collapsed joint or a low-lying crack near the house. Costs vary widely with depth and surface. A three-foot deep dig in a lawn can run two to four thousand dollars. Add concrete or asphalt demo and replacement, and the price climbs.
Pipe bursting is a trenchless method that pulls a new HDPE pipe through the old line, breaking the old pipe outward. It requires access pits at both ends plus any tie-ins. Bursting works well in clay and Orangeburg, less so in brittle cast iron with many turns. Prices often land in the eight to fifteen thousand range for a typical city lot.
Cured-in-place pipe, or CIPP lining, involves installing a resin-saturated liner that hardens in place. It creates a smooth new interior pipe and seals joints, making roots a non-issue. Lining reduces the internal diameter slightly. It does not correct severe bellies, and it cannot bridge major shifts. It excels for long runs with many root intrusions but no significant deformation. Price is similar to bursting for many lengths, sometimes a bit higher if many reinstatements are needed.
Open trench replacement, from house to property line, is the nuclear option. It makes sense when the line is shallow and accessible, or when other methods do not apply. It also allows for regrading the trench to correct sags. Expect five figures. Depth, soil type, and any utilities in the path influence cost. If the city requires a permit and inspection, factor that timeline in.
Hydrojetting and maintenance have their place when defects are minor or when you need to buy time. Annual or semiannual jetting for a few hundred dollars can keep roots in check in a clay line that you plan to replace later. Treat this like changing tires on a car with worn suspension. It keeps you moving but does not fix alignment.
Using the findings in negotiations
The cleanest approach is to attach the sewer video and written estimate to a formal repair request. Ask the seller to fix the defect with a named method performed by a licensed contractor, or to provide a credit at closing. Credits are simpler. Repairs before closing can run long, and you may not control the vendor choice.
Alternatively, adjust the purchase price. Sellers sometimes balk at large credits because it changes their net in a way that collides with their own plans. A targeted price reduction with supporting documents can land better. The amount should reflect the realistic cost plus a modest contingency. If the contractor’s estimate is ten thousand, a twelve-thousand-dollar allowance gives you breathing room.
Beware of vague promises like “seller will snake line prior to closing.” That is maintenance, not repair. If the camera showed structural defects, you want a structural solution.
Edge cases to handle with care
Shared laterals appear in older neighborhoods where two homes tie into a single line before meeting the main. If your scope shows a Y connection beyond your property, involve the neighbor and the city. You may still move forward, but you need an agreement on responsibility. Title companies sometimes flag this, sometimes not.
Septic systems require an entirely different inspection. A Drain Camera is useful for the line from the house to the tank, but the tank, baffles, and leach field need a septic specialist. Many buyers skip a septic inspection and regret it when a soggy backyard appears after the first winter.
Backwater valves can protect a basement from municipal backups. If your scope shows the line path and the basement has a floor drain, ask whether a backwater valve exists. In some cities prone to surcharging during storms, a backwater valve is a code requirement for remodel permits. If one is missing, add it to your wish list.
New builds can hide poor bedding or long flat runs. I have scoped brand-new PVC with construction gravel sitting in the pipe and glue blobs forming stalactites. Builders often send their plumber to fix those items quickly if you catch them during the punch list period.
A simple pre-closing checklist
- Schedule a Sewer Camera Inspection before you remove inspection contingencies and insist on receiving the video. Ask the technician to identify pipe materials, mark depths at issues, and provide still photos with footage markers. If defects appear, get at least one repair estimate that matches the specific footage and method, not a generic guess. Use the report to negotiate a seller credit or price reduction. Avoid “snake only” agreements that dodge structural fixes. Keep the video and report for your records. If you buy, they guide future maintenance and give your plumber a head start.
What good looks like on a video
A healthy PVC lateral shows smooth white walls, consistent slope, and solvent-welded joints without offsets. You may see a few faint seams. Water flows past the camera without pooling. When the tech pulls back after running a sink, the water drains away quickly. In older clay lines, “good” is relative. A lightly offset joint without roots, limited to one or two spots, can be serviceable for years if you plan for maintenance. The key is trend. If the first twenty feet are clean and the next sixty show intrusion every few feet, the trend is against you.
Sometimes a camera cannot reach the main. The tech hits a blockage at, say, thirty-five feet. If jetting clears it and the remaining run looks fair, you still note the initial obstruction how drain cameras assist inspections and ask why it formed. If jetting fails and the blockage appears hard, plan on excavation. A truly immovable obstruction at shallow depth can be something as simple as a foreign object dropped years ago or as serious as a collapsed pipe segment.
Planning for life after closing
If you buy a house with a clay lateral and choose to delay a major repair, set a reminder to jet the line annually, ideally before heavy seasonal root growth. Most homeowners spend two to four hundred dollars on annual jetting. Keep wipes, fats, and stringy food out of the drains. No household product cures a structural issue, but habits matter at the margins.
If you replace the line, keep the documentation. Future buyers will value a new PVC or lined lateral, and appraisers sometimes note it under improvements. Mark the cleanout location on a simple sketch and store it with your home records. When you do landscaping, avoid planting thirsty trees over the path of the lateral. Roots follow water. Giving them a reason to grow somewhere else is cheap prevention.
If your region offers sewer line warranties or service plans, read the exclusions. Many plans cover clogs, not structural defects, and they may deny claims for pre-existing conditions found in your video. On the other hand, a plan can help with routine emergencies if the line is otherwise sound. Decide based on what your camera and report revealed.
A brief anecdote and the lesson behind it
A couple I worked with fell for a tidy 1958 ranch on a quiet street. The general inspection was clean. The seller had poured a new driveway two years earlier. We scoped the sewer and found a beautiful stretch of PVC from the house to 30 feet, then a transition to original clay. At 43, 46, and 49 feet, roots intruded lightly. At 62 feet, the camera dipped into a belly that held about two inches of water over a ten-foot run. At 88 feet, where the lateral met the main, the joint had shifted, leaving a shelf that collected debris. The tech marked depths: five feet under lawn for the belly, eight feet at the main under the street.
We asked two contractors for options. One proposed lining from 35 feet to the main, which would seal the joints and create a smooth interior, but it would not correct the belly. The other proposed pipe bursting from the house to the property line, then a street cut permit to replace the last segment and reconnection at the main. The lining price came in around nine thousand. Bursting plus street work climbed past eighteen thousand. The sellers offered a ten-thousand-dollar credit. The buyers accepted, choosing lining now with a plan to monitor the belly and budget for future work if needed. Two years later, they report no backups and a yearly check shows the lined segment holding up well. It is not a perfect fix in theory, but it fit their budget, timing, and risk tolerance. That is how these decisions usually go.
Final thoughts on timing and leverage
The best leverage happens before you commit. Sellers listen more when a deal is still in play. Book your Drain Camera Inspection early in your due diligence period, even before the general inspection if scheduling is tight. If you need a second opinion, you have time to get it.
Do not be alarmed by every root hair or imperfect joint. Older lines rarely look pristine. Focus on patterns, severity, and cost to stabilize. Ask precise questions. Where is it, how deep is it, what are the options, what lasts, and what costs am I looking at in the next five years. That calm, informed approach separates buyers who inherit surprise plumbing bills from those who close with eyes open.
A home is a tangle of systems, some pretty, some not. The sewer line belongs in your top three for pre-purchase scrutiny, right alongside the roof and foundation. A clear Sewer Camera video and a careful reading of what it shows can save you a five-figure mistake, or it can give you the confidence to move forward. Either way, you trade uncertainty for knowledge, and that is money well spent.