Something’s not right with your drains. Maybe the water’s draining slowly. Maybe there’s a smell you can’t track down. Maybe you’re buying a property and want to know what’s lurking underground before you commit.
A CCTV drain inspection is the quickest way to find out what’s going on inside your pipes without digging anything up. It takes the guesswork out of drainage problems and gives you a clear picture of what needs fixing.
How a CCTV drain inspection works
A CCTV drain inspection is exactly what it sounds like. A small, waterproof camera is fed into your drains through an access point, usually a manhole or an inspection chamber.
The camera sends a live video feed back to a monitor so the engineer can see the inside of your pipes in real time.
The camera sits on the end of a flexible rod or, for longer or wider pipes, on a motorised crawler that drives through the system. As it moves through your drains, the engineer can spot blockages, cracks, root ingress, displaced joints, and anything else that shouldn’t be there.
The whole process is non-invasive. There’s no digging, no disruption to your property, and most domestic inspections are done within a couple of hours.
What can the CCTV camera find?
A camera inside your drain will pick up problems that you’d never spot from the surface. Here are some of the most common issues we find during inspections.
Blockages
Perhaps the most frequent issue that comes up.
Fat, grease, wet wipes, food waste, and other debris build up inside pipes over time. The camera shows us exactly where the blockage is and how severe it is, so we know the best way to clear it.
Tree root ingress
More common than people think.
Roots are drawn to the moisture in drain pipes, and they’ll find their way in through even small cracks or loose joints. Once inside, they grow and spread until they cause serious blockages or structural damage.
Cracks and fractures
Old, damaged pipes can let groundwater seep in or allow sewage to leak out.
Left alone, small cracks get worse.
The camera lets us assess the damage and decide whether it needs jetting, relining, or a more involved repair.
Collapsed sections
Sometimes an area of a pipe breaks down completely.
Water struggles to pass through, if it can at all. This usually needs excavation and replacement, but the camera confirms the exact location and extent of the collapse before any digging starts.
Displaced joints
Pipe sections can shift out of alignment, often because of ground movement or poor installation. This create gaps where roots can get in and debris can catch.
Corrosion and wear
This affects older clay and metal pipes in particular.
The camera shows how far the deterioration has gone and whether the pipe still has life in it or needs replacing.
When should you get a CCTV drain inspection?
Some situations call for an inspection even when nothing seems obviously wrong.
Before buying a property
Drainage problems are expensive to fix and easy to miss during a standard house survey. A CCTV inspection reveals hidden issues like cracked pipes, root damage, or shared drains that could cost you thousands after you’ve moved in.
Solicitors increasingly recommend one as part of due diligence, and it’s a small cost compared to inheriting a collapsed drain.
Recurring blockages
If your drains keep blocking despite being cleared, there’s usually a deeper problem. A camera survey will show whether there’s structural damage, a belly in the pipe where waste is collecting, or roots that keep growing back.
Bad smells
A persistent drain smell that you can’t pin down often points to a crack, a broken seal, or a blockage sitting somewhere in the system. The camera finds the source so it can be dealt with properly.
Slow drainage
When water takes longer and longer to drain away, something is narrowing the pipe. It might be scale build-up, a partial blockage, or a pipe that’s starting to collapse. Better to find out early than wait for a complete failure.
Before building work
If you’re extending your property or doing any ground-level construction, you need to know where your drains run and what condition they’re in. Building over a damaged drain is a recipe for problems down the line.
The report and footage from Clark Drainage
With our CCTV drain survery, don’t just get a verbal “your drains look fine” or “there’s a problem.” We provide a detailed record of what was found.
That typically includes video footage of the entire inspection, still images of any issues, and a written report covering the condition of each section of pipe. The report notes the type and location of any defects and recommends what action to take.
This is useful for insurance claims, property transactions, and keeping a record for future reference. If you need to make a claim for drainage damage, having video evidence and a professional report makes the process much smoother.
After the inspection
The inspection itself is diagnostic. It tells you what’s wrong. What happens next depends on what the camera finds.
If there’s a blockage, we can usually clear it on the same visit using high-pressure jetting. This blasts the blockage out and cleans the pipe walls at the same time.
If there’s structural damage (cracks, root damage, displaced joints), we’ll explain the options.
In many cases, pipes can be repaired using relining, which creates a new pipe inside the old one without any digging.
For collapsed sections, excavation and replacement is sometimes the only option. But at least the camera has pinpointed the exact spot, so there’s no unnecessary digging.
And if the inspection comes back clear, that’s useful information too. You’ve got peace of mind and a dated record of your drainage being in good condition.
Book a free drain inspection
We offer free CCTV drain inspections as part of our diagnostic process. Our engineers carry camera equipment on every van, so if you call us about a drainage problem, the inspection is included.
No charge, no obligation.
We’re available 24/7, 365 days a year, with an average response time of 1-2 hours. If you’ve got a drainage issue you want checked, or you’re buying a property and want to know what’s underground, get in touch or call us on 0141 280 3431.
