What a camera inspection actually shows you

Clearing a blockage tells you the pipe is open today. It doesn't tell you why it closed, and that's usually the thing worth knowing. A CCTV camera pushed through the line answers it in about twenty minutes.

What we're looking for

Four things, mostly. Roots coming through a joint. A crack or a section that has partially collapsed. A “belly” — a dip where the fall has been lost and water now stands instead of running. And plain build-up: grease, scale and the fine debris that settles anywhere the flow slows down.

The number in the corner of the screen

The camera counts metres as it goes, so every fault comes with a distance. That matters more than it sounds: knowing a break sits 2.8 m from the chamber, under the path rather than under the extension, is the difference between a morning's work and a very expensive week.

When it's worth paying for one

After a blockage that has happened more than once. Before buying a house — a survey rarely looks past the inspection chamber lid. When a landlord and a tenant disagree about who caused what. And when someone has quoted you for excavation: footage is the cheapest second opinion you will ever get.

You keep the recording either way. It's your pipe, and it's proof — for an insurer, a buyer or the next person who works on it.