Camera inspection
Sewer camera inspection in Minneapolis
Nobody should quote a sewer repair from the driveway. A camera inspection shows exactly what the pipe looks like inside, where each problem is, and how deep — which is the difference between a $2,500 spot repair and a $12,000 replacement. You watch the screen, you get the video.
What the camera actually shows
A self-leveling color camera on a flexible push rod goes in at the cleanout — or, if the house has none, through a pulled toilet or the floor drain — and travels to the city main. On the screen you see the pipe material (clay, cast iron, Orangeburg, PVC), every joint, and whatever is wrong:
- Root intrusion — fine hair roots at a joint or a mat filling the pipe
- Cracks and breaks — longitudinal cracks in clay, rusted-out bottoms in cast iron
- Offset joints — one section lifted by frost or settling, leaving a lip
- Bellies — a sag where the camera goes underwater and stays there
- Scale and grease — the rough, narrowed interior of old cast iron
- Collapse — the pipe stops, or the camera pushes into dirt
- Blistering and ovaling — the signature of Orangeburg on its way out
The rod is marked, so the distance from the cleanout to each problem is known. A sonde in the camera head transmits to a locator on the surface, so we can stand on the lawn directly above the fault and read its depth. That gets painted on the grass, and it is what turns a video into a quote.
When to get one
A backup or a slow main line. Snaking clears the symptom. The camera tells you why it happened and whether it will happen again in three months.
Before buying a house in Minneapolis. The city's Truth in Sale of Housing evaluation covers the house, not the lateral. A pre-1960 house in Kingfield, Como or Highland Park has a clay or Orangeburg sewer that may be the most expensive single thing wrong with the property. $250–$500 for a scope during the inspection period is the best money in the transaction. Some suburbs require a sewer or inflow-and-infiltration inspection at sale anyway.
Before finishing a basement, pouring a driveway or building an addition. If the line is going to fail, you want to know before there is a slab on top of it.
Before any repair quote. Ours or anyone else's.
What it costs
A recorded sewer camera inspection in Minneapolis is $250–$500, depending on access and length. Locating and depth-marking the problem is included. If we do the repair, the fee comes off the job. A pre-purchase scope with a written summary and the video file is the same price.
Getting the camera in
Most houses built after 1950 have a cleanout — a capped pipe near the foundation wall in the basement or just outside. Many 1900–1930 houses don't; the line goes straight from the main stack into the floor. We can scope through a pulled toilet or the floor drain, but if you own the house long-term, adding a cleanout during any repair is worth doing so nobody has to pull a toilet again.
What you get
The video file, a short written summary of the pipe material and each finding with its distance and depth, and — if there is a problem — a written price for the fix by spot repair, replacement or trenchless. If the line is fine, we say so and you keep the video for the next owner.
Read more: what a camera inspection shows and what it costs and signs of a broken sewer line.
Other sewer services
Sewer Line Repair
Spot repair of a cracked, offset or root-broken section — in the yard, at the foundation wall or under the boulevard — with a camera before and after.
Sewer Line Repair →Sewer Line Replacement
A new PVC lateral from the basement wall to the city main when the clay or Orangeburg is failing everywhere. Open trench, permit, inspection, restoration.
Sewer Line Replacement →Trenchless Sewer Repair
Cured-in-place lining and pipe bursting through the old pipe — one or two small pits instead of a trench across the boulevard, the driveway or the street.
Trenchless Sewer Repair →Hydro Jetting & Drain Cleaning
High-pressure water that strips roots, grease and cast-iron scale from the pipe wall — the right tool when the line is sound but choked, and the prep step before lining.
Hydro Jetting & Drain Cleaning →Questions we get asked
How much is a sewer camera inspection in Minneapolis?
$250–$500, including locating and depth-marking any problem from the surface and a copy of the video. It is credited toward the repair if we do the work. Free camera inspections from a company that also sells repairs are worth exactly what you pay for them.
Should I get a sewer scope when buying a house in Minneapolis?
If the house was built before about 1975, yes, without question. The TISH evaluation does not include the lateral, and a clay or Orangeburg sewer can be a five-figure repair. Ask for the scope during your inspection period and use the findings in negotiation.
Can you scope a line that is backed up?
The camera needs to see, so a line full of sewage gets cleared first — usually with a cable, sometimes with the jetter. Then we scope it. Clearing and scoping on the same visit is common on emergency calls.
Need sewer line work in Minneapolis?
Call for a free estimate. Mon–Sat 7am–7pm.