Blocked Drains & CCTV Drain Inspections, Gold Coast

CCTV drain camera inspections

A drain camera on a flexible push rod travels through the pipe from an inspection opening or gully, recording what it sees. It shows roots, cracks, displaced joints, sagging sections and build-up, and the locator in the camera head lets us mark the position and approximate depth of a fault from above ground.

You can have the recorded footage and annotated stills on request. The camera shows the inside surface of the pipe it can reach. It can't always see past a sharp bend, through heavy debris or outside the pipe wall, and we say so in our notes.

Tree roots and older clay pipes

Many older Gold Coast homes, in suburbs like Southport, Labrador, Nerang and Miami, were built with earthenware (clay) sewer pipe. Clay pipe comes in short lengths joined with sockets, and those joints are exactly where fig, palm and gum roots find their way in. Clearing the roots gives relief, but they grow back, often within a year or two.

A camera inspection tells you whether the problem is one bad joint that can be repaired, or a long run that needs a bigger fix. That's the difference between paying for the same blockage every year and fixing it once.

Stormwater and downpipe blockages in Gold Coast storms

Summer storms on the Gold Coast can drop a lot of rain in a short time. Gutters full of leaves, downpipes blocked at the base and silted stormwater lines can't keep up, and water ends up overflowing against the house. Low-lying suburbs near the Nerang River and the Broadwater can also see stormwater getting into the sewer, which makes gully traps overflow.

Stormwater and sewer are separate systems with different rules. We confirm which one is affected before recommending work, and a pre-season clear of downpipes and stormwater lines is cheap insurance.

Pre-purchase drain inspections

Buying an older home with big trees? A pre-purchase CCTV inspection of the accessible sewer and stormwater lines can show roots, cracked or displaced pipes and previous repairs before you commit. You get the footage and a plain-English summary of what was observed and what couldn't be checked.

Further reading: when a CCTV drain inspection is worth it.