Sewer-Oscopy - a necessary part of your Home Inspection

That's right a Sewer-oscopy or more commonly known as a Sewer Scope. 

Sewer lines are often a forgotten part of a property and during your home inspection you really ought to give them a second thought. They are pipes. They can break. They can crack. They can clog with tree roots. They can have low lying sections that will cause sewage to back up into your home. This can happen to old homes, new homes, small homes, large homes. Bottom line: if it's a home and it has a sewer line, it can happen. If gone undiagnosed, the unfortunate repercussions to you, the new owner, can be costly (and potentially quite stinky!). Hiring a reputable company to complete a sewer scope is simple insurance to the buyer that all is working properly and no costly repairs are need.

We have used several companies in our past transactions for sewer scopes. Recently, we used a company called Hydro-Physics, Inc. They first locate the main sewer line or access the line through a toilet, if necessary.

Using a high resolution color camera system, they push the camera through the pipe viewing the pipe in "real time" (much like the well-known colonoscopy method). All information is recorded at the time of inspection for future reference. If there are problems, they determine the problem and provide all details including the precise measurement of where the problem exists. This way, they can locate the surface position of the problem for repairs. Since pipes rarely run in a straight line, they additionally use a location transponder to track the pipe from the surface. At the completion of the sewer scope, Hydro-Physics provides you with a DVD of your scope and a bag of popcorn (creative and quite gross).

The cost? Reasonable. A typical sewer scope costs roughly $185 and an additional fee up to $45 if they need to remove a toilet for access.

Our friends at Home Systems Data, Inc. provided us with a Sewer Line Maintenance Tip:
Once a month, fill your washing machine with hot water, but no soap and empty. This will help keep grease build-up in the sewer line under control.