CCTV Drain Inspection Christchurch

A drain camera shows exactly what is happening underground: where a pipe has cracked, shifted, sagged or filled with roots. In Christchurch that matters more than in most cities, because the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes moved the ground under thousands of homes and their drains moved with it.

We push a waterproof camera through your drains, record the footage, locate any problem from the surface and give you a report that a buyer, insurer or drainlayer can act on.

Pricing: quotes are free, and every job gets a fixed price before we start, so there are no surprises on the invoice.

CCTV Drain Inspection Jobs We Handle Across Christchurch

• Drain CCTV
• Pre-purchase drain inspection
• Drain camera inspection
• Locating drain lines
• Root and crack reports
• Insurance drain reports

When a camera inspection is worth doing

A camera inspection is the quickest way to stop guessing. We recommend one when:

• A drain keeps blocking even after it has been cleared
• You are buying a house that was repaired or rebuilt after the quakes
• You are planning a renovation that adds or moves a toilet, shower or kitchen
• There is a sewer smell, a soggy patch in the lawn or a sinking path
• You need evidence for an insurance claim or a dispute about a drain
• A pressure or vacuum sewer property is showing signs of trouble on the private lateral

Christchurch ground and what the camera finds

Liquefaction during the quakes shook and shifted the ground under much of the city's flat land, and drains laid in that ground took the strain. The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment sorted the flat residential land in Christchurch, Selwyn and Waimakariri into technical categories TC1, TC2 and TC3 by how likely future liquefaction damage is. If your property is TC2 or TC3, a drain survey before any new work is a sensible first step.

On the screen we look for cracked or broken earthenware, joints that have pulled apart or dropped, sags where water sits, root intrusion, old repairs that have shifted, and pipes that are flat or running uphill. Each defect is logged with its distance from the access point so we can mark it on the ground.

How It Works

Pre-purchase drain inspections on repaired homes

More than 67,000 Canterbury homes were repaired through the Earthquake Commission's Canterbury Home Repair Programme alone. A house that looks immaculate inside can still have drains that were never fully checked. A pre-purchase drain inspection tells you whether the drains are sound before you sign, not after.

We do not assume any particular house was badly repaired. We record what is there, show you the footage and tell you whether it is fine, worth watching or due for drain repairs or pipe relining. Repairs to a cracked line are often far cheaper to negotiate before settlement than to fund afterwards.

Cost of a CCTV drain inspection

That covers a standard residential run from an accessible gully trap or inspection point, recorded footage and a short written summary. The price rises if the drain needs hydro jetting first so the camera can see, if access points have to be found or opened, or if you need a full report with a marked-up site plan for a buyer or insurer. We confirm the price before we start.

Who pays for the fix depends on where the fault is. For gravity wastewater, Christchurch City Council owns the main, the connection and roughly the first metre of lateral on your land, and you own the rest of the lateral. Waimakariri District Council reimburses private plumber or drainlayer costs caused by a fault in its own wastewater pipes, so footage showing where the fault sits can save you money.

Reading the results

We talk you through the footage on site and point out what matters and what does not. Light root intrusion at a joint might only need cutting back and checking again in a year. A drain with several broken joints on TC3 land may need a drainlayer and, for new drainage, flexible well-detailed pipework that copes better with ground movement.

Some properties in Christchurch have a pressure or vacuum sewer instead of a normal gravity drain. With pressure systems the lateral to the tank is yours; with vacuum systems, found in areas such as Shirley, Aranui and Prestons, the council asks you to call it first. We check which system you have before we quote.

Why Choose Cheeky's Plumbers for CCTV Drain Inspection

CCTV Drain Inspection FAQs

CCTV Drain Inspection Across Christchurch

Our cctv drain inspection team works in every Christchurch suburb. Find your local plumbers:

CCTV Drain Inspection Guides

• Buying a Quake-Repaired House in Christchurch: Plumbing Checks
• Vacuum Sewers in Shirley, Aranui and Prestons: What Not to Flush

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