A camera goes down the pipe, and you get footage and a written report showing what is actually wrong.
A drain survey sends a small camera along the pipe so we can see its condition without digging up your garden or floor. In Crawley it is most often asked for when a drain keeps blocking, when someone is buying a house, or when building work is planned near a sewer. Our engineers are based a few miles away at Copthorne, and the same crews do the jetting and the surveys.
Crawley’s housing comes from different decades. The town was designated a new town in 1947 and has grown in neighbourhoods ever since, so one street can differ a lot from the next in age and in how its drains were laid. A survey shows what is under your own property, rather than leaving you to guess from the look of the street.
The footage shows cracks, displaced joints, roots, fat build-up and dips in the pipe, and the report records where each fault is. If the problem is in the public sewer, which in Crawley is Thames Water’s, we will tell you so, because that is not yours to pay for.
What’s included
Footage, a plain-English report and a clear idea of what to do next.
Footage of the pipe run, so you can see what we saw rather than take our word for it.
The report records the faults we found and where they are, in plain English.
A pipe that is full of silt or fat cannot be filmed properly, so we can jet it clean before the camera goes in.
If nobody knows where the drains run, we can trace and map them.
A home buyers’ survey checks the drains before you commit to the purchase.
A look and see inspection is a quicker option when you only need to know whether a pipe is running.
If you have had the same drain cleared more than once, jetting alone is not solving it. Something in the pipe is catching the waste, and a camera shows what: a root through a joint, a section that has dropped, or a build-up of scale and fat.
Once we know the cause, we can explain your options plainly, from cutting out roots to repairing the pipe. The Crawley blocked drains page explains how we clear a blockage first.
About CCTV drainage surveys
Before you buy, a survey tells you what condition the drains are in, so a hidden fault does not become your problem after completion. It is not a legal requirement, but plenty of buyers want to know.
If you are planning an extension or other building work close to a public sewer, the water company may need to approve it and may ask what condition the pipe is in. Thames Water explains its requirements on its own website, and a survey report gives you the record. Where the route is unknown, tracing comes first.
About home buyers’ surveysLocal to you
We survey drains across Crawley and the villages around it, including Copthorne, Crawley Down, Pound Hill, Lowfield Heath, Charlwood and Rusper. Give us your postcode and we will confirm we can come. See the full Crawley area list.
We can clear the blockage first and survey the pipe afterwards.
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Questions answered
A small waterproof camera is fed along the drain from an inspection chamber or gully. It films the inside of the pipe as it goes, so we can see cracks, displaced joints, roots and build-up without digging anything up.
The report records the condition of the pipe and where any faults are, together with the footage. It is written in plain English so you can use it to decide what to do, or to show a solicitor, landlord or insurer.
It is not a legal requirement, but many buyers choose one, especially for older properties or homes where the drains have given trouble. It shows the condition of the drains before you commit.
Often, yes. We can trace the pipe from a known point and map its route, which also shows where it connects. This is useful before building work or if a cover has been buried under paving or lawn.
A survey shows the condition and route of the pipe, not who owns it. Since October 2011 water companies have looked after shared drains and the part of a drain outside the property boundary, so we can tell you where the faults are, and you can then see which side of the boundary they fall on.
If it is full of silt or fat, the camera cannot see the pipe wall properly, so it may need jetting first. We will tell you before we start if we think that is needed.
Yes. We survey drains for landlords, managing agents and businesses as well as homeowners. Tell us about access and opening hours when you book.
Got a different question? Call 03333 233566 or send us a message.
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