A sewer camera inspection runs a waterproof camera on a flexible push rod through your sewer line, showing exactly what is inside it on a monitor. You need one when a line clogs repeatedly, before buying a home, or before authorizing any excavation — because it replaces guessing with seeing.
What It Shows
- Pipe material and condition — cast iron, clay, PVC, or Orangeburg
- Root intrusion, and exactly where roots are entering
- Cracks, joint separations, and collapsed sections
- Sags or bellies where standing water collects and solids settle
- Grease and scale buildup on the pipe wall
- Foreign objects
- Improper connections or slope from past work
The camera head also carries a locating transmitter, so a problem can be marked precisely on the surface — depth and position. That means if excavation is needed, you dig where the problem is rather than digging to find it.
When You Genuinely Need One
Repeat clogs. If you have cleared the same line more than once in a year, cabling is treating a symptom. The camera tells you whether the cause is roots, a sag, or a crack — and therefore whether the answer is hydrojetting, a spot repair, or replacement.
Before buying a home. A standard home inspection does not include the sewer lateral, and a failing line is a five-figure surprise the buyer inherits. On any Albuquerque home built before 1980, this is money well spent.
Before excavation. Never authorize digging without knowing what is down there and where.
After a backup, to confirm the cause was actually removed.
Why It Matters Locally
Two Albuquerque realities: mature trees in established neighborhoods drive root intrusion into laterals, and a great deal of pre-1980 housing stock has cast iron or clay pipe that degrades in predictable ways. Both are invisible until a camera goes in.
It Is Not Invasive
The camera enters through an existing cleanout — no digging, no cutting.
Contact B. Carlson for a sewer camera inspection in Albuquerque.
