Video Inspection in Bellingham, Wrentham, Franklin, Norfolk, Attleboro, MA, & Pawtucket, RI

Video inspection of a sewer line takes the guessing out of resolving a clogged drain or sewer blockage. And, as Stacey from Franklin says,“It would give me peace of mind”.

Read Stacey’s review here:

“I asked Anchor Sewer & Drain Cleaning to come to my home to cut out some weed roots that had worked their way into the sewer line and had previously caused a backup in my basement; I certainly didn’t want that to happen again. While the staff were working to clear the pipe, they discovered what appeared to be mud, that had somehow made its way into the pipe as well. AS&DC suggested I have a video inspection done to investigate further, and I agreed this would give me peace of mind. Once in the pipe with the video camera, AS&DC staff took me through the length of the pipe via a video monitor, to show me not only where they had previously cut out the roots, but also brought my attention to a darker coloring of the pipe’s insides, almost to the top, which suggested there had recently been a backup, and would have shortly thereafter, potentially caused some major problems. Their coming in just weeks prior to cut out the roots was really a blessing in disguise! I highly recommend Anchor Sewer & Drain Cleaning, as they were extremely professional, knowledgeable, and took the time to thoroughly explain what was going on every step of the way. “

In Stacey’s case, we were curious as to why the sewer cleaning cable was being retrieved, dripping with what seemed to be mud. Not having our video camera with us, at that time, Stacey agreed to schedule a video inspection. In the meantime, we had some water running through the sewer line while cabling, in an effort to flush out the line. On the day of the video inspection, we could see residue left on the side walls of the pipe. The line was definitely much cleaner. However, the residue beginning about half way through the pipe, reaching nearly to the top of the inside pipe walls, in combination with having previously experienced heavy mud dripping from the sewer cable a week earlier, indicated Stacey’s sewer line had a back up at the time we came to perform ‘maintenance’ on her sewer line.

The video inspection eased Stacey’s fears of spending thousands of dollars to excavate and replace the sewer. And, the technicians had an opportunity to view the sewer line and warranty their work.

As a side note to “flushing out the line” while running water through the sewer as we cabled, we did not offer our jetting service to flush the line as we felt there may of been a perforation. The jet hose could of made its way outside the pipe walls and become stuck, forcing an excavation. Also, if there appeared to be mud in the line, a hydro jetting service could of made matters worse. The safe bet was to be gentle, flush the line and return with a sewer camera for the video inspection.

The video in the frame above was taken to record a sewer line after Roto Rooter had performed a cleaning. This was not on Stacey’s sewer line. This was on a customer’s sewer line by the name of Leon. What you see here is a rag was used to cap the sewer. Once the camera was inside the sewer line, you can see the root intrusion left by the previous cleaning. See the second video, below to compare the advantage a camera will give in determining how much of the blockage is removed.



The second video (above) begins right at the perforation we saw in the first video. After the first blockage created by roots was removed, we were able to view a second area of root intrusion. This video is demonstrating how roots can be removed and still have some remain in the pipe. What the video is focusing on, is the roots move out of the path of the blade. This is due to the slow speed, dullness of the blade and the flexibility the roots have once the greater, tangled mass has been extracted.

When root intrusion occurs , video inspections should be scheduled once per year to determine the condition of the pipe and the growth of roots. Controlling the growth can be accomplished by using a foaming herbicide.