CCTV Drain Surveys
A Health Check for Your Pipes
Most of your drainage system is hidden underground. When something goes wrong, it can be a guessing game unless you have the right eyes for the job.
A CCTV Drain Survey is exactly what it sounds like: we send a specialised camera down your pipes to see exactly what is going on. It allows us to find blockages, cracks, or tree roots without having to dig up your garden or driveway.
In simple terms: We put a camera down the drain to see what is going on inside the pipework. We can get eyes on the problem so we know what needs fixing, saving you time, money and mess.
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Why You Might Need a Survey
You don’t always need a survey for a simple blocked toilet, but it is essential for persistent issues or big life changes.
- Buying a Home: Standard building surveyors rarely check inside the drains. We check them before you exchange contracts so you don’t inherit a collapse or a costly repair bill.
- Persistent Blockages: If you clear a blockage and it comes back two weeks later, there is usually an underlying defect.
- Planning an Extension: Architects and Water Authorities often require a map of the drains to ensure you aren’t building over a public sewer.
- Pest Problems: Rats often enter homes through broken pipes. We can identify the breach and help you rectify it.
- Subsidence or Damp: Checking if leaking drains are washing away foundations or causing water damage.
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How We Carry Out a Drain Survey
We follow a strict step-by-step process to ensure we don’t miss a thing. Here is exactly what happens when our engineers arrive at your property:
1. Site Assessment: First, we need to understand the lay of the land. We locate and open your manholes and inspection chambers to assess your system layout and identify the best access points.
2. Cleaning the Drains (If Needed): You cannot inspect a pipe if it is full of silt, grease, or debris. We often use high-pressure water jets to flush the system first. This cleans the pipe walls so our camera can get a crystal-clear view of the structural condition, rather than just dirt.
3. The Camera Inspection: This is the core of the survey. We feed a specialist camera into the pipework:
- For standard home pipes: We use a flexible “push-rod” camera that navigates bends easily.
- For larger sewers: We use a robotic “crawler” camera that we drive remotely.
As the camera travels, our engineer watches a live video feed, identifying cracks, tree roots, displaced joints, or signs of collapse.
4. Tracing and Mapping: If you don’t know where your drains go, we can track them. We attach a small radio transmitter (called a sonde) to the camera head. Using an above-ground locator tool, we can identify the pipe’s location beneath your garden or driveway.
5. Dye Testing: Sometimes, it is not clear where the water is ending up. We may flush harmless, coloured dye down sinks or toilets to confirm which pipes connect to the sewer and which connect to rainwater drains. This helps us spot cross-connections or illegal discharges.
6. The Final Report: Once the survey is done, we don’t just drive away. We provide you with a comprehensive report including:
- A written explanation of the drain’s condition.
- Video footage of the survey.
- Site plans or sketches of your layout.
- Clear recommendations and a quote if any repairs are actually needed.
Who Uses This Service?
We provide surveys for a wide range of customers:
- Homeowners: Investigating smells, blockages, or damp.
- Home Buyers & Sellers: Getting peace of mind before a property transaction.
- Landlords & Letting Agents: Resolving tenant complaints about drainage.
- Builders & Developers: Mapping sites before construction begins and post-work surveys
- Commercial Sites: Ensuring schools, offices, or restaurants remain compliant.
- Insurance Companies: Verifying claims for accidental damage or subsidence.
The Benefits to You
Why is a drain survey worth the investment?
- No Unnecessary Digging: We can identify the location of a problem without excavating, reducing the time and cost involved with repairing your drains.
- Accurate Diagnosis: We stop the guesswork. Instead of repeatedly unblocking a drain, we find the root cause (like a crack or a tree root) so it can be fixed permanently.
- Homebuyer Protection: It prevents you from inheriting a property with collapsed drains and a massive repair bill waiting down the line.
- Video Evidence: If you need to claim on your insurance for subsidence or water damage, our high-quality footage provides the undeniable proof insurers often require.
- Better Planning: If you are building an extension, our survey maps exactly where the drains run so your architect can design the foundations correctly, helping you get Building Control approval faster.
Drain surveys are one of the most valuable drainage services available due to the clarity and accuracy they provide.
Testimonials
What Our Clients Say
“I called at 08:10 hours to report a blocked drain. A little while later, Darren rang to tell me he’d arrive in half an hour. He arrived on time and resolved the problem quickly and without fuss. He was polite and friendly throughout. Within two hours of reporting the blockage, all was well. Thank you.” Customer, Surrey
“I unreservedly recommend ASL. All the glowing reviews of ASL are true. They had to lift paving slabs to fix my drains, and I was concerned there might be unavoidable damage. I should not have worried. Liam and Richard did a superb job. Thanks, ASL” Customer, Surrey
“Darren arrived very promptly and got to work quickly. He did an excellent job and explained what he was doing. We would have no hesitation in recommending ASL Services.” Customer, Surrey
“Very efficient to book them to sort out a sewer drain blockage, and the cost was exactly what they quoted. Called before they arrived with a clear ETA. Got on with the job and sorted it out within the hour. Darren was excellent – very courteous and helpful, did more than we expected to help sort the problem out and was a font of knowledge on all things sewer-related. Given the subject matter (eeew) the whole experience with ASL was an absolute pleasure.” Customer, Surrey
“ASL recently carried out a drain repair at our house. They responded quickly to the call for help, came out and soon diagnosed the problem – tree roots blocking the drain. The remedial work on site was carried out by Lester and George – they worked hard and were very thorough. This is a long-established company that seems to know what they are doing.” Customer, Surrey
Areas we cover
Surrey, Hampshire, Berkshire, West Sussex and South West London
The ASL Limited HQ is in Guildford, but our operating area is the whole of Surrey and parts of Berkshire, Hampshire, West Sussex and South West London.
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Contact Us
Get in touch today
You can call us on 0800 181 684, email info@asllimited.co.uk or use the form below:
