Root intrusion
Fine hair roots or a solid mat through a joint — the most common find in older bayside and Redlands drains.
A camera down the drain shows what is actually wrong — roots, cracks, a collapsed section or nothing at all — so the fix is decided on footage, not a guess.
Most drain problems are invisible from the surface. A drain that blocks, smells or overflows could have roots through a joint, a cracked or collapsed section, a sag holding water, or nothing wrong with the pipe at all. Each of those has a different fix, and some of them have no fix to buy.
A CCTV drain camera is how you find out which one you have. A waterproof camera head on a flexible rod is pushed down the line from an inspection opening, and the picture on the monitor shows the inside of the pipe as it travels.
When the same drain has blocked more than once. A repeat blockage has a cause, and clearing it again without looking just schedules the next callout.
Before paying for a repair. Relining, excavation and replacement are all quoted on what the camera shows, so the price is for the damage you actually have rather than the worst case.
When something is wrong but nothing is blocked — a sewer smell in the yard, a wet or sunken strip of lawn over the line, or a gully overflowing in rain.
After a blocked drain has been cleared, to check whether the pipe was damaged or the blockage was a one-off.
Generally, the drainage on your property is yours up to the point where it connects to the main, and the main belongs to the water authority. The camera often settles which side of that line a fault sits on, which decides who pays to fix it.
Detail
Fine hair roots or a solid mat through a joint — the most common find in older bayside and Redlands drains.
Splits along the pipe or around it, where the pipe still holds its shape but water and roots get through.
Where the pipe has broken in and there is no longer a clear bore. That section is a dig, not a reline.
Low points where the pipe has dropped and holds water and waste, which keeps re-blocking at the same spot.
Joints that have shifted out of line, leaving a lip that catches paper and waste.
Sometimes the answer is that the pipe is fine and the blockage came from what went down it. That is worth knowing too.
A job Niles has done
Every photo on this site is work Brigs Plumbing has completed, not stock photography.
Completed work
Brigs Plumbing photos from inspections — not stock images.
Related
When the camera finds roots or cracks in a pipe that still holds its shape.
Pipe reliningWhen the camera finds a collapsed or badly sagged section.
Drain repairs and replacementClearing the line so the camera can get through.
Blocked drainsCost guides
What changes the price of clearing a blocked drain, and when a camera inspection is needed.
Blocked drain plumber costThe signs of root intrusion, how it is found with a camera, and the repair options.
Tree roots in your drainQuestions
Yes. You see what the camera sees, and what it shows is explained in plain terms, before you are asked to decide on any repair.
The camera needs a path. A fully blocked line is usually cleared first, then inspected, which also gives the clearest view of the pipe wall.
No, and that is a useful result. A sound pipe means the problem is upstream of it, or is about what is going down the drain, and no repair needs to be bought.
Yes. Stormwater lines fail in the same ways, and a camera is the quickest way to find where a blocked or overflowing stormwater line is going wrong.
It depends on the length of the line, how many branches it has and whether it has to be cleared first. A single straight house drain is a short job; ask when you call and you will get an estimate for yours.
Nearby
Describe the problem on the phone. If it can be sorted without a visit, it will be.
Licensed plumbing, drainage, pipe relining and roof plumbing across Brisbane and the surrounding councils — Redland, Logan, Moreton Bay and Ipswich. Based in Thorneside.
QBCC licence 15161521
Member, Master Plumbers’ Association of Queensland
ABN 44 526 011 279