Sewer Camera Inspection

See inside your own sewer line before you decide anything. Residential camera inspection from a family-owned plumbing company.

Call (704) 798-2659 Book online

Plumber working on the white PVC drain trap under a bathroom sink, reaching up from inside the vanity cabinet

Service call: $94, waived if you go ahead
You see it too: Live picture on the screen
Before any repair talk: Findings first, then price
Work we take: Homes only, no commercial

See Your Own Sewer Line Before You Decide Anything

The pipe that carries everything out of your house is buried, and most homeowners never think about it until a toilet gurgles or the basement floor drain backs up. When that happens, the usual next step is someone telling you what they think is wrong down there. A sewer camera inspection lets you skip the guessing. A waterproof camera on a flexible cable goes into the line, and the picture comes back on a screen in real time, so you and the plumber are looking at the same pipe.

At Macaw Plumbing & Tankless, we run the camera ourselves on residential sewer lines across Rowan, Cabarrus, and Iredell Counties. The camera is our own, and so is the call on what it shows. A plumber who can see the problem gives better answers than one who has to guess at it, and a straight answer is what most people calling about a sewer line actually want.

That straight answer is often good news. A line that's in sound shape is a perfectly good result of an inspection. It means you can stop worrying, not that the conversation is about to turn into a sales pitch. Call (704) 798-2659 or book online.

When a Camera Inspection Is Worth It

Not every plumbing problem needs a camera, and we won't run one just to add a line to the bill. Most sink and tub clogs clear without one. These are the situations where seeing the pipe is worth it:

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A backup that keeps coming back.: If the main line has been cleared and it's backing up again in a few weeks or months, something in the pipe is holding the problem in place. Clearing it again without looking just resets the clock.
Before you buy an older house.: A home inspection usually covers the plumbing you can see inside the house, not the buried line out to the street. In an older home, a camera look before closing tells you what condition that line is in while you still have time to ask questions.
Before you decide on a sewer replacement.: Replacing a sewer line is a big job and a big check. If replacement has come up, whoever brought it up, the decision should rest on what the pipe actually looks like, and where along the line the trouble is.
Before or after hydro jetting.: A line with heavy roots or buildup may get a look before hydro jetting to make sure the pipe can take the pressure, and sometimes after, to see whether the pipe underneath is sound once it's clean.
Before a remodel that adds a bathroom.: If you're adding a bath or moving fixtures, it's worth knowing the line those fixtures will drain into can handle it before the walls are closed up.

What the Camera Can Show

The camera shows the inside of the pipe as it runs out from the house: what it's made of, how the joints line up, and what's in the way. The common findings are:

We can show you the screen while we work and talk you through what you're looking at. A healthy pipe looks round and clean, with joints that line up and water moving through. Once you've seen that, the trouble spots are easy to pick out.

Drain line cut open in a crawl space, packed with buildup, with the cleared debris in a bin below

Roots.: Fine roots work into a joint looking for water, then thicken into a mat that catches everything coming down the line.
A belly or sag.: A section that has settled lower than the pipe on either side holds water and waste instead of letting it drain. On camera it shows up as standing water where the line should be dry.
An offset joint.: Two sections that have shifted out of line leave a lip for paper and debris to catch on.
Cracks and breaks.: A crack, a missing piece of pipe wall, or a section that has started to collapse.
Buildup and scale.: Grease, sludge, or the rough scale that forms inside older cast iron, narrowing the pipe a little at a time.
Pipe material and past repairs.: Many older homes, including those in the older neighborhoods of Concord and Salisbury, still have cast iron or clay running out to the street, sometimes joined to newer PVC from an earlier repair. The camera shows where one material ends and the next begins.

What a Camera Visit Looks Like

The camera usually goes in at a cleanout, the capped pipe that gives access to the sewer line, often in the yard or near the foundation. If your house doesn't have one we can easily reach, we'll tell you where we can get in and what that involves before we start.

From there we feed the camera down the line, slowly, watching for the findings above and noting how far out each one sits. If a clog is stopping the camera, the line may need to be cleared first so there's something to see. When we're done, we explain what we found in plain language: what's fine, what's worth keeping an eye on, and what needs work, if anything does. You get that before anyone talks about price for a repair.

Where the Findings Lead

What the camera finds sorts into three answers.

The line is sound. Some lines look better than the homeowner feared, or the backup turns out to be a clog that cleaning fixes for good. That's where the job ends.

It's worth watching. A mild belly or light root growth may be best handled with a cleaning now and a check down the road, not a dig. We'll tell you when that's our honest read.

It needs repair. A cracked, broken, or collapsing section is a different conversation, and the camera tells us where it is and how long it runs, which shapes the size of the job. A routine cleaning can turn into a dig quickly when the pipe underneath has failed, so it's better to know what you're dealing with before the shovel comes out. Our sewer line repair page covers how that work goes. When a line does need replacing, we use solid-core PVC rather than foam-core pipe, because it's more rigid and stronger in the ground. Macaw doesn't offer trenchless sewer repair, and we'd rather tell you that up front.

If you're in Concord, our page on sewer line services in Concord explains where your part of the line ends and the city's begins, which matters when the camera finds a problem near the street.

What It Costs Up Front

The service call is $94, and it's waived when you go ahead with the work. After-hours calls carry a $189 fee. Both are listed on our pricing page. We give you the price of the inspection, and of any work that comes out of it, before we start. No packages, and no one working on commission. The person quoting the job is the person doing it.

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Sewer Camera Inspections Across Rowan, Cabarrus, and Iredell

Macaw is based in China Grove and inspects residential sewer lines throughout Concord, Kannapolis, Mooresville, Salisbury, China Grove, Harrisburg, Mt. Pleasant, and the surrounding towns, with Huntersville, Cornelius, and Davidson scheduled on the western edge. We work on homes only, not commercial buildings.

When a camera inspection starts with a clogged drain, the town drain cleaning pages explain how we handle the clog itself: Concord, Kannapolis, Mooresville, China Grove, Huntersville, and Salisbury. For an overview of the service, see drain cleaning.

Standard hours are Monday through Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM. Emergency calls are taken Monday through Friday from 5 to 10 PM and Saturday from 8 AM to 10 PM. There's no overnight or Sunday service.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I ask for a sewer camera inspection even if nothing is clogged right now?

Yes. You don't need an active backup to have the line looked at. Homeowners ask for an inspection before buying an older house, before a remodel, or when a line has backed up more than once and they want to know why. Call and tell us what's prompting it, and we'll tell you whether a camera is the right first step.

Should I get the sewer line inspected before I buy an older home?

It's worth considering, especially for an older house or one with big trees between the house and the street. A standard home inspection usually doesn't put a camera down the buried sewer line. Knowing its condition before closing gives you time to ask questions instead of finding out after you move in.

What can't a sewer camera tell me?

The camera shows the inside of the drain and sewer line: roots, sags, offset joints, cracks, and buildup. It doesn't show the soil around the pipe, and it doesn't look at the water lines that feed your faucets. If a line is blocked solid, it may need to be cleared before the camera can see past the blockage.

If the camera finds a problem, do I have to fix it right away?

No. Some findings, like a mild sag or light root growth, are better handled with a cleaning and a check later. Others, like a broken or collapsing section, shouldn't wait. We'll tell you which one you're looking at and leave the decision with you.

Do you do sewer camera inspections for businesses?

No. Macaw works on homes only, including sewer inspection and drain cleaning. If the line serves a house, we can help.

Want to Know What's in Your Sewer Line?

Call us at (704) 798-2659, email contact@macawplumbing.com, or book online. You'll see your own pipe, get a straight answer on what it needs, and a clean line will be treated as the good news it is.

Call (704) 798-2659 Book online