Clear the drain,
then look
down the line.

A clear drain is not the same as a sound drain

Clearing a blockage restores flow. It does not tell you why the blockage formed, and if the answer is a collapsed section or a root mass, it will form again. That is why the camera goes in after the clear rather than instead of it: an open pipe can be inspected properly, a blocked one cannot.

You watch the footage with us. Deciding whether to spend money on a drain is much easier when you have seen the inside of it, and it means the recommendation is something you can check rather than something you have to take on trust.

Older Lower Mainland housing stock matters here

Much of the region was built with clay or cast iron below ground. Clay laterals separate at the joints and let roots in; cast iron corrodes from the inside until the bore closes up; and drain tile around older foundations settles and silts. Each of those presents as the same slow drain upstairs and each needs a different repair.

Knowing which one you are looking at is most of the job. A root mass in a clay lateral can often be cut back and monitored for years. A section of cast iron that has lost its floor is a replacement, and no amount of clearing changes that.

Perimeter drains

Perimeter or foundation drains are a Lower Mainland preoccupation for good reason: we get the rainfall for it. Water pooling against a foundation, a damp basement wall in winter, or a sump that runs constantly are all worth investigating before they become a structural conversation rather than a plumbing one.

• Drain clearing
• Camera inspection
• Root removal
• Sewer line repair
• Perimeter drain tile
• Recurring backups