Excavating a sewer line is expensive, and almost all of that expense is in how much ground gets opened. A camera survey that locates the fault to a marked point with a known depth is the difference between digging a hole and digging a trench along a guess.
Napps Plumbing — Longview & East Texas since 1957
This page is about the main line out to the municipal connection. For fixture drains and general pipe inspection, the video inspection page covers that.
The camera head transmits a signal we track from the surface, so a defect can be marked on the ground with its depth. That is what keeps excavation to a hole.
Where the sewer actually runs, how deep, and where it meets the municipal connection. Frequently different from where everyone assumed it was.
Which joints roots have entered, how far along the line, and how much of the pipe they occupy. That decides maintenance versus replacement.
Cracks, offset joints, corrosion and bellies. On older clay and cast iron this tells you how much life the line genuinely has left.
After a repair or a jetting, looking again confirms the work did what it was supposed to. We would rather show you than tell you.
Standard home inspections exclude the sewer line. On an older Longview property with mature trees, that is a significant blind spot.
The inspection is not the expensive part of a sewer problem. Digging in the wrong place is.
Replacing ten feet of sewer pipe is not expensive in materials or labour. What costs money is reaching it — breaking a driveway, lifting a lawn, working around mature tree roots and getting to depth safely. All of that scales with how much ground is opened. A located, marked fault means one targeted excavation instead of following the line until somebody finds the problem.
Pipe Repair →Depth changes the method, the equipment and the safety requirements, and it is not something you can judge from the surface. A line at three feet and a line at eight feet are different jobs with different prices. Knowing before quoting means the number you are given is real rather than provisional.
Sewer & Drain Services →Roots at a joint, a belly holding water, a crack, and a grease coating all produce the same experience in your bathroom — a line that keeps blocking. Their remedies range from a jetting visit to replacing a section of pipe, and there is no way to tell them apart without looking. Guessing wrong means either paying for excavation you did not need or paying repeatedly for clearings that were never going to work.
Hydro Jetting →A survey establishes where your line meets the municipal connection, which matters because a fault on the public side is generally not your bill. That distinction is very difficult to argue without evidence and straightforward with recorded footage and a marked location.
All Plumbing Services →All of it before anyone opens the ground.
| Question | Why It Matters | |
|---|---|---|
| Where exactly is the fault? | Determines how much ground is opened | |
| How deep is it? | Changes method, equipment and price | |
| What kind of fault is it? | Roots, belly, crack and grease need different remedies | |
| What is the pipe material and condition? | Tells you how much life the rest has | |
| Where is the municipal connection? | Decides whose responsibility a fault is |
Or call 903-758-6482 — 24/7
About an hour, and you see everything we see as we see it.
Normally through an existing cleanout. If there is not one we discuss the options before starting rather than after.
The head is fed the length of the line while we watch together. Nothing is reported to you second-hand.
Anything significant is tracked from the surface and marked with its depth, ready for excavation if it comes to that.
What it is, how urgent, what the remedies cost, and honestly whether it needs doing now or can be monitored.
Six situations where looking first is clearly cheaper than not looking.
Locating properly is what keeps the repair small.
Or call 903-758-6482 — available 24/7
These come straight from our Google Business Profile — unedited, and updated automatically as new reviews come in.
What people ask before booking a survey.
It is a flat fee, and the case for it is straightforward: excavation cost scales with how much ground is opened, so a survey that reduces a trench to a targeted hole usually saves several times its own price. On a line that keeps blocking, it also costs less than the next clearing that was never going to fix the cause.
Yes, and it is the single most valuable part of the survey. The camera head transmits a signal that we track from the surface, so any significant fault gets marked on the ground with its depth recorded. That turns an excavation from a search into a targeted dig, which is where the money is saved.
Practically the same equipment, different focus. This page covers the main sewer line out to the municipal connection — locating, mapping, root surveys and structural assessment. Our video inspection page covers pipe inspection more broadly, including fixture drains and pre-purchase surveys. If your symptom affects the whole house, the main line is what you want looked at.
It makes the job much easier and most properties have one. Where there is not, access is sometimes possible by pulling a toilet or through a roof vent, though that adds time and is not always practical. We check and discuss the options before booking rather than arriving and finding out.
It will establish where your line meets the municipal connection and whether the fault is on your side of it, which is exactly the evidence needed for that conversation. Responsibility rules vary by jurisdiction, but a recorded location and footage makes the discussion straightforward rather than a matter of opinion.
It is well worth it. Knowing the route and depth before putting in a patio, a pool, a driveway or an addition avoids building over a line you will eventually need to reach. That is a comparatively cheap survey against a genuinely expensive mistake, and we are asked to do it far less often than we should be.
Sewer services, hydro jetting and video inspection each have their own page.
We locate and mark the fault with its depth — which is what keeps the excavation small.
Tell us what the line is doing, whether the property has a cleanout, and whether anyone has quoted you for excavation already.
