Service
Sewer Scope Inspection
A sewer scope for property purchases, checking the condition of the lateral before you buy, since it is rarely covered by a standard home inspection.
- Licensed and insured
- Price agreed before work
- A plumber who works your area
The one thing the home inspection leaves out
Most buyers assume the home inspection covers the drains. It does not.
A standard inspection is visual. It does not put a camera down the sewer lateral, and most reports list that as an explicit exclusion. So the single most expensive component on the property, buried, invisible, and entirely the buyer’s problem after closing, is the one nobody looked at.
A lateral replacement is a five-figure job. A scope is a small fraction of that and it happens while you still have leverage.
Timing is the whole point
The same inspection carried out a week after closing is interesting. Carried out before, it is negotiating material.
Findings tend to sort into three categories. Work needed now, which is a number that can come off the price or be fixed by the seller. Work that will be needed within a few years, which is worth knowing when budgeting. And ordinary wear for the age of the pipe, which needs nothing.
A scope finding something is not a reason to walk away. Plenty of purchases go ahead afterwards with the price adjusted to reflect it. What you are buying is the ability to make that decision with the facts.
Does this sound familiar?
Problems this service solves
- Buying a property with an unknown sewer lateral
- An older house where the lateral has never been inspected
- A property with mature trees over the line
- A seller disclosure that mentions past drain problems
- Wanting a repair cost known before closing rather than after
Signs you need sewer scope inspection
If more than one of these is true, the problem is usually past the point a plunger or a store-bought cleaner will fix.
- The home inspection report explicitly excludes the sewer
- The property predates about 1980
- There are large trees between the house and the street
- The house has been vacant or a rental for some time
What to expect
How the visit works
Run before closing
The inspection is timed so the findings can inform the negotiation, which is the entire point of doing it at this stage.
Record the full lateral
The camera runs from the cleanout to the main connection, capturing the material, the condition and any defects.
Report in plain terms
You get told what was found, whether it needs work now or later, and roughly what that work would involve.
Provide the evidence
The recording goes to you, so it can be shared with the seller, an agent or a second opinion.
What's included
What you get on every job, whoever we send.
- Timed to inform the purchase, not to confirm a regret
- The full lateral recorded and handed over
- Findings explained as now, later or fine
- Something concrete to take into a negotiation
Questions
Sewer Scope Inspection questions
Does a normal home inspection cover the sewer line?
Generally not, and this catches a lot of buyers out. A standard home inspection is visual and does not include putting a camera down the lateral, which is why it is usually listed as an explicit exclusion in the report. The lateral is buried, it is the buyer's responsibility once the sale completes, and replacing one is a five-figure job, so it is an unusual thing to leave unchecked.
Which houses most need a sewer scope?
Older properties, anything built before about 1980, because clay and cast iron laterals from that era are at or past their service life. Houses with mature trees between the building and the street, because roots find joints. Properties that have been vacant or rented for a long period. And any house where the seller has mentioned previous drain trouble, since that usually means a defect rather than a one-off.
What if the scope finds a problem?
That is the inspection doing its job, and it is far better found before closing than after. Findings fall into three groups: work needed now, work that can be planned for later, and normal wear that needs nothing. With a recording and an idea of the repair cost, it becomes something to negotiate rather than something to absorb. Plenty of sales proceed after a scope finds something; the price simply reflects it.
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Get it fixed
Sewer Scope Inspection, handled locally
Call with your ZIP code and what you are seeing. We route you to a licensed plumber in your area who does sewer scope inspection every week.
- Licensed and insured
- Answered 24/7
- Price before work