Drainage & Sewer

A drain that blocks repeatedly almost always has a structural cause — root intrusion at a joint, a bellied section holding water, a collapse, or a poorly graded run. A camera inspection answers it in ten minutes.

No. Caustic cleaners damage older pipe, particularly cast iron and ABS, and they rarely clear a real blockage — they sit on top of it. If you have used one, tell us, because it changes how we open the line.

Cabling punches a hole through a blockage. Hydro jetting scours the pipe wall clean with high-pressure water and removes the material. That is why a grease-blocked kitchen line cabled in January blocks again by April.

Not sound pipes. Badly deteriorated cast iron, cracked clay or a line already collapsing can be damaged, which is why we camera-inspect first when pipe condition is uncertain.

Root intrusion, cracks, bellies holding standing water, offset joints, collapse, pipe material and rough age, and grease or scale buildup. You get the recorded footage and a written report.

Yes. Our camera carries a sonde that the equipment tracks from above ground, so we can mark the position and depth on your lawn or driveway before anyone digs.

A blockage in the main line rather than an individual fixture. Stop using water in the house and call us; if sewage is involved it is a health issue rather than an inconvenience.

Air cannot move properly through the system, which is often an early sign of a main-line restriction. Worth checking before it backs up.

The pipe running around your foundation footings underground, collecting groundwater and carrying it away before it can push against your basement walls. Older tradespeople call it weeping tile.

Water or damp patches in the basement after heavy rain, white chalky deposits on basement walls, a persistent musty smell, pooling water against the foundation, or a sump pump running far more than it used to. Many failures show no symptoms until they are complete.

A camera inspection decides. If the pipe is structurally sound and the problem is silt or light roots, flushing restores it for a fraction of the cost. We will not quote a replacement without showing you why.

In most Metro Vancouver municipalities the homeowner owns and maintains the lateral from the house to the property line, and in some cases to the main. The city owns the main. It varies, so we confirm your municipality's position before quoting.

Perimeter drains carry groundwater from around your foundation. The sewer lateral carries waste from inside the house to the city main. Different pipes, different problems, different repairs.

Root intrusion is the most common cause — mature street trees, older clay pipe with mortared joints, and a reliable water source inside the pipe. Age, ground settlement and crushing account for most of the rest.

Replacing or relining a sewer lateral along its existing path using small access pits instead of a trench, which saves the driveway, patio and mature planting. It does not work on a fully collapsed line or one with severe bellies.

No. Home inspections are visual and exclude the sewer lateral. It is a separate service and a separate cost.

If a flooded basement would be expensive, or you are in a high-water-table area like Richmond or Queensborough, we would say yes. The most common failure is a power cut during exactly the storm that needs the pump.