A CCTV drain survey can sound like a very technical service that is only used in very specific circumstances, and not something you need for your home. Although we do use state of the art equipment for our CCTV drain surveys, that doesnât mean theyâre not required – we often find ourselves performing this vital service on a daily basis!
Do I need a CCTV drain survey?
Here are three times when a CCTV drain survey is a good idea:
When youâre moving house.
When buying a new property, it is really important to make sure all of the drainage on the property is well maintained and working correctly. A blocked or leaking drain is not something you will pick up just by looking around a property, and the usual surveys you pay for on a property before buying will not normally identify a drainage issue either. If there is a crack or hole in a pipe or a partial blockage, this might not become apparent until youâve been in the property for a few weeks or even months – by which time you have no recourse against the previous owner, and will have to foot the bill for drain unblocking and repairs yourself. Better to find any problems beforehand, and agree with the vendor as to how to resolve the issue.
When thereâs a persistent blockage.
A blocked drain doesnât necessarily mean water backing up all over the property. Often when people try to clear a blockage themselves theyâll use chemicals or even rods to get rid of a blockage, and might think the job is done when the sinks start to drain properly again. The problem is that with sticky residue still present on the outer edges of the pipe, anything new that goes down the drain can get stuck to it and quickly build up into another blockage – and another, and another. With a CCTV drain survey we can locate exactly what and where the problem is. It might not even be from debris going down the drains; our CCTV drain surveys sometimes find that a tree root has broken through a pipe and is partially blocking it – thatâs not something you can clear with a bottle of drain unblocker from your local supermarket!
As part of regular maintenance.
In the spring time weâll probably begin to perform basic maintenance checks and work around our property – but the drains are often left until there is a problem. This is perhaps a little foolhardy, because a small problem picked up early can often be resolved quickly and cheaply – but if itâs left for several months until it becomes a major issue, it can be inconvenient, time consuming and expensive to resolve. A regular annual CCTV drain survey can be used to identify small cracks or holes in a pipe which are perhaps only causing minor leakage at the moment. These can often be repaired without any major upheaval, ensuring you donât end up with a large hole and a major leak in a few monthsâ time.