Lateral locating & CCTV survey.

§ I · What you get

Every $385 CCTV survey produces five deliverables, all of them yours regardless of whether you hire us for the rehabilitation:

1. An MP4 recording of the entire run, basement-cleanout to city-main connection, time-coded, with PACP fault codes overlaid.
2. A written report (PDF, three to six pages typical) listing every observed defect by linear-foot stationing, with PACP code, severity rating, recommended remediation, and a screen capture of the worst frame.
3. A marked plan showing the lateral's surface path traced from the cleanout to the curb stop, with depth measurements at minimum 5-ft intervals.
4. A material identification at every transition: clay-to-clay, clay-to-cast-iron, cast-iron-to-PVC. (You'd be surprised how often this matters; we have seen four-material laterals.)
5. A method recommendation matrix: which of CIPP, bursting, spot repair, or open-cut applies, with the price range and the warranted outcome of each.

§ II · How we run a survey

The crawler enters at the highest accessible cleanout — typically the basement floor cleanout in a pre-1940 Buffalo house, or an exterior cleanout if one exists. The head pans 360° at every fitting, every joint, and every observed defect. We log every observation in real time using the on-truck PACP coding interface. Common codes you'll see in your report:

• RBL — root ball (a coherent root mass occupying ≥10% of the bore)
• RFJ — roots, fine, joint (the "starter" pattern, before the root ball)
• JOM — joint offset, medium (10–25% of nominal diameter)
• CL — crack, longitudinal
• CC — crack, circumferential
• BBA — broken pipe, hole and missing pipe (collapse)
• DAE — deposits, attached, encrustation (typical of cast-iron sections)

Severity is rated 1 (cosmetic) through 5 (structurally compromised). The PACP standard is the same one BSA inspectors use; if you take our survey to a different contractor for a competitive quote, they will read the report fluently because the codes are not proprietary.

§ III · The locating piece

The crawler's sonde transmits at 33 kHz. We trace it with a Radiodetection RD8200 from the surface, marking the path with flagged pins and chalk. The depth measurement at every fitting is accurate to ±6 in. — sufficient for permit drawings, sufficient for utility-locate validation before a burst, and sufficient for a real-estate inspection report. The marked plan we deliver shows the lateral path on a satellite image of the property, with each fitting and observed defect plotted.

§ IV · When you'd want one

• You have a slow drain that has been getting slower over weeks or months, and a cable through the basement cleanout produces only short-term improvement.
• You are buying a pre-1940 Buffalo house and your inspector recommended a sewer-scope. (Most do, in this housing stock; the cost of finding out before closing is $385 and the cost of finding out after is whatever the lateral costs to rehabilitate.)
• You are selling, and you've been told by a buyer's inspector that your lateral has a defect — and you want a second opinion before you negotiate.
• You have visible water in the basement after a heavy rain and you want to know whether the source is the lateral, the foundation, or the storm leader.
• You are planning a basement renovation and want documentation of the existing under-slab plumbing before a contractor opens the floor.

§ V · What it is not

It's not a "free" survey. We've seen ads from regional outfits offering "free sewer scopes" and we have followed up on the dossiers that result. The pattern is consistent: free scope, manufactured urgency, $14,000 quote for full replacement, an upsell on equipment. We charge $385, refunded against any rehabilitation work we perform inside 60 days. If you want a free scope, hire someone else — we do not have a method for honoring honest survey work and giving it away simultaneously.