Licensed plumbers, written pricing, based in Danbury
Buying a house in Danbury with a 60 year old clay sewer lateral, and no idea what condition it is in, is a five figure risk a standard home inspection does not check. Action Construction runs video camera sewer inspections in Danbury, CT that put a picture on a monitor: cracks, offsets, root intrusion, bellies, and blockages, with the location and depth marked from the surface.
The three common reasons are a home purchase, a recurring problem, and a dig that needs to be located. Before buying an older home here, a camera inspection during the inspection period tells you exactly what you are taking on, because the lateral becomes the buyer’s responsibility on closing and a standard home inspection does not evaluate it. When a drain backs up every few months, the camera shows whether it is roots, a belly, or a break, so the line gets fixed once instead of cabled forever. And when a contractor or a landscaper needs to know where the lateral runs before digging a footing, a patio, or a pool, the camera carries a locating transmitter we trace and mark from the surface.
A fourth reason is documentation. After a repair or a lining, a camera pass on the finished line gives you a record that the work is sound, which matters if you sell the house or make an insurance claim later.
A sewer camera inspection replaces guesswork with a picture. Instead of quoting a repair from symptoms, we send a self leveling camera down the lateral and see what is actually wrong, where it is, and how deep. That is the difference between a targeted spot repair and digging up the whole yard.
The camera identifies
and it confirms the pipe material and the depth.
Where the line is too dirty to get a clear view, a quick clean or a hydro jetting pass comes first, because a camera looking at a wall of grease tells you nothing.
Many houses in the Danbury area have original clay or early cast iron laterals that are 50 to 80 years old, and a failing sewer line is a five figure repair. A camera inspection during the inspection period is inexpensive insurance against that. We provide a recorded video and a written summary you can share with your agent or attorney, and if the inspection turns up a problem, any sewer line repair that follows starts from a known diagnosis rather than a fresh investigation. On a house with a septic system rather than city sewer, the camera checks the building line to the tank, and a separate septic evaluation covers the tank and field, so a buyer knows which system they are taking on. Around Candlewood Lake, where some properties were switched to sewer and others were not, that distinction is worth confirming rather than assuming. The full list of what we do is on our Danbury plumbing services hub.
Every inspection comes with a recorded video file and a written summary in plain language:
For a pre purchase inspection that document is something your agent or attorney can use in a negotiation. For a diagnostic inspection it becomes the starting point for the repair quote, so you are not paying to investigate the same line twice.
A camera shows the inside of the pipe, not the soil around it, so it confirms a crack or a separation but not always the full extent of a collapse behind it. It needs an access point, usually a cleanout or a pulled toilet, and a line too full of water or debris has to be cleared first for a clear view. It does not measure pipe wall thickness. Where the picture is ambiguous we say so rather than guess, and the next step is usually a targeted dig at the marked location.
A standalone camera inspection is a flat fee, typically in the low hundreds. It is often credited toward the repair if the inspection finds a problem we then fix. Ask when you schedule.
Most take 30 to 60 minutes, depending on the length of the lateral and how much cleaning is needed to get a clear view. You get the findings on the spot.
Root intrusion at joints, cracked and collapsed sections, offset joints, bellies that hold water and solids, grease and scale buildup, and blockages. It also confirms the pipe material and the depth, and marks the location from the surface.
Yes, especially for any home built before the 1980s. The lateral is the buyer’s responsibility once you own it, a replacement runs well into five figures, and a standard home inspection does not evaluate it. A camera inspection during the inspection period is inexpensive insurance.
Yes. The camera has a locating transmitter in the head that we trace from the surface with a receiver, marking the route and the depth so excavation avoids the lateral. That is worth doing before any digging near the line.
Licensed & Insured | Residential & Commercial | Serving CT & NY