The Critical Goal and Scope of Sewer Scope Inspections
Apr 29, 2024
Jim Troth
Welcome to another enlightening episode of the Standing Out in Ohio podcast, where we delve into the crucial, albeit less glamorous, aspects of property maintenance and inspection. Today, we focus on the vital role of sewer line inspections, a key but often underestimated component of property evaluations.
Join us as we discuss with industry experts the common goal of identifying major issues in sewer lines without the expectation of inspecting the entire line. Our experts explain why a thorough partial inspection is often more practical and beneficial than attempting to guarantee a complete passage through the sewer line. They share insights on the typical obstacles and blockages encountered during inspections, the technologies used to navigate these challenges, and why finding significant issues early—even just a few feet into the line—can save homeowners significant time, money, and hassle.
This episode is a must-listen for homeowners, real estate professionals, and anyone involved in property management or renovation in Ohio. Discover the importance of setting realistic expectations for sewer inspections and learn how these critical assessments can prevent future disasters. Tune in to gain a deeper understanding of what lies beneath the surface and how to effectively manage it.
To learn more about Habitation Investigation, the Two-time Winner of the Best Home Inspection Company in the Midwest visit Home Inspection Columbus Ohio - Habitation Investigation (homeinspectionsinohio.com) Schedule online if you need a home inspection or related services. If in need of a real estate agent definitely recommend checking the agents that have been guests on the podcast.
Welcome to another enlightening episode of the Standing Out in Ohio podcast, where we delve into the crucial, albeit less glamorous, aspects of property maintenance and inspection. Today, we focus on the vital role of sewer line inspections, a key but often underestimated component of property evaluations.
Join us as we discuss with industry experts the common goal of identifying major issues in sewer lines without the expectation of inspecting the entire line. Our experts explain why a thorough partial inspection is often more practical and beneficial than attempting to guarantee a complete passage through the sewer line. They share insights on the typical obstacles and blockages encountered during inspections, the technologies used to navigate these challenges, and why finding significant issues early—even just a few feet into the line—can save homeowners significant time, money, and hassle.
This episode is a must-listen for homeowners, real estate professionals, and anyone involved in property management or renovation in Ohio. Discover the importance of setting realistic expectations for sewer inspections and learn how these critical assessments can prevent future disasters. Tune in to gain a deeper understanding of what lies beneath the surface and how to effectively manage it.
To learn more about Habitation Investigation, the Two-time Winner of the Best Home Inspection Company in the Midwest visit Home Inspection Columbus Ohio - Habitation Investigation (homeinspectionsinohio.com) Schedule online if you need a home inspection or related services. If in need of a real estate agent definitely recommend checking the agents that have been guests on the podcast.
If you would like to be a guest on the podcast contact us and let us know. You can visit Home (jimtroth.com) and go to the podcast page.
Speaker 1:
Welcome to the Standing Out in Ohio podcast, where we discuss topics, upcoming events, news and predictions with real estate professionals and entrepreneurs. Listen and learn what makes their companies and themselves stand out and gain advantages over the competition and gain market share. Subscribe for the latest news and discussion on what it takes to stand out from the crowd. Now here's your host, jim.
Speaker 2:
Hey everybody, welcome to the Standing Out and Out Podcast. This is Jim, and with me is Laura, the office goddess.
Speaker 3:
Hello everyone.
Speaker 2:
Alright, we're down here on the property relaxing. We may do an episode next week or maybe I'll do it. We'll figure it out. On relaxing we may do an episode next week or maybe I'll do it We'll figure it out. On relaxing, yes, is that a superpower? And we'll go over that. But right now, sewer scope.
Speaker 3:
Expectations.
Speaker 2:
What are the expectations for a sewer scope? And then what if you only get, let's say, four feet in what happens? Then only get, let's say, four feet in what happens then. But first let's listen to this.
Speaker 4:
Habitation investigation is the way to go For a home inspection in Ohio. Trusted licensed home inspectors for your needs. From radon to mold to warranties For a great home inspection, you really can't go wrong. Visit homeinspectionsinohiocom.
Speaker 2:
All right, laura. So there's a situation the other day where we cut the sewer scope. The clean out the pipe was not open, it was like concreted in.
Speaker 3:
No, it was. It was the cast iron copper fused together.
Speaker 2:
The brass. Okay, yeah, that stuff so very hard to take off. So we really couldn't get in that. We can't go around damaging the house and this it sounds like it may have been fragile or damaged something. Damaging house and this it sounds like it may have been fragile or it would have damaged something. So what we did, in case you don't know, sewer scopes have it's kind of like a little skid around the camera, a little curved piece to kind of help get it over bumps, offsets.
Speaker 2:
It helps to scoot over uneven surfaces. So anyway, there was a two-inch pipe that connected into the main line into the clean out into the, you know, bypassing the clean out.
Speaker 2:
So what we did? We had to take that skid off the camera head. That way it can fit inside this two inch pipe, because normally with the skid it's this there's not enough room for the camera to go in there, let alone make any kind of corner. So anyway, we go through the two-inch pipe, probably just a few feet, then it's in the main line. But as we're going, we only were able to get about 12 feet, and then happens to be that the pipe is basically damaged, gone and the camera is separated that much, the camera's now dipping down, hitting dirt because there's no pipe in that section.
Speaker 3:
Where sewage is also hitting, I might add.
Speaker 2:
Well, yeah, because there's a huge separation. So now that little section is kind of like a leach field. Basically is what's acting like, but anyway, you don't you don't want that in the city, you don't want everybody's house doing that.
Speaker 3:
So anyway, we can only get 12 feet because and we didn't have the skid on the camera so it can't make it over and go further out in the pipe we almost had it stuck, like the inspector almost called us and said hey, this is stuck and somehow he just miraculously was able to pop it out just before he called me even just that makes me think even with the skid on, it still may not be able to make it through, if it's that big of a dip yes but anyway, we only got like 12 feet can, can't get any further.
Speaker 2:
The pipe is damaged, which now here comes this question. The question which I always thought was pretty solid in our head. The goal of the sewer scope is to look to determine if there are any issues with the pipe, and I do know for us we try to go all the way out as far as we can.
Speaker 3:
Yes, If we can, we do.
Speaker 2:
Out to the city, but sometimes you cannot, because if the pipe's collapsed, it's collapsed. If there's such an offset, you can't jump it, that's far you go, but we met the, the. The goal is to find out if there's any significant issues that need to be dealt with.
Speaker 3:
And there's at minimum one huge one.
Speaker 2:
And there's minimum that one 12 feet out. The camera cannot go further past that. There's such an offset or a gap between the pipe sections that you're hitting dirt and it's just going to erode. It's going to cause a lot more issues down the road, just going on the road, going to get a lot more issues down the road. So the client for this house somehow wanted a discount because we did not go all the way out. But it's never guaranteed or promised that we will go all the way out Because you just can't do it A lot, not all the time, but sometimes you cannot, especially when there's damage to the pipe like this.
Speaker 2:
If it's old cast iron, there's a whole bunch of turns to it. That is rough. So there's way too much friction for the push rod to push that camera head all the way out there. And I do know of an inspector who he instructs on how to do sewer camp, sewer scopes out in california. As soon as he finds one issue, he's done. He pulls the camera out and you're done. Oh, even if he can get past it, it doesn't matter. He found the, found one issue. Yeah, I'll magically get the rest of scope, the rest of the line scoped.
Speaker 3:
That's it.
Speaker 2:
He's done, we go. Well, there's this issue and this one, we go on.
Speaker 2:
As soon as we find an issue if we can get the camera through, we keep going, but kind of surprised it doesn't happen. Maybe only the second time really ever we had somebody go. Hey, you guys didn't go all, weren't able to go all the way to the end. Can you cut a discount on this or give a refund? Like no, that is not the goal. I mean, that's not the guarantee that we're going to go all the way through. And if we are, I mean what we'll do? Charge by the foot, and I don't think people want to do that, because in that case, yeah, it's $ hundred dollars for six feet and every foot after that is another ten dollars. I mean, no, nobody wants that. No, then you got an unknown fee.
Speaker 2:
We do 250 currently flat rate flat rate and actually for this guy who wanted a discount but he wants to come back out is like listen, we always are willing to come back out once you get that cap off or whatever the situation is. You get it fixed before we get access to it. We'll come back out and scope it and further out as far as we can, because there may be a lot more issues further out in that line which would be my supposition, based on how bad it was by the house.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, you never know, you never know. But if it's an older house, yeah, there's a chance, there's a chance. So, anyway, we just want to make sure everybody understood that it is not a guarantee. The fee is not based on how far we go out. Not a guarantee. The fee is not based on how far we go out. The fee is are making the effort to scope the line. Now we get the house and we cannot scope anything. We are not going to keep the money, we're not. Oh, yeah, well, we will offer to refund that money. If they're paid, we'll refund that fee and then we don't do the scope at all. Or here's what I prefer to do, because it's important to get the same scope and go hey, ask the seller to open that up, and then, once it's open or we have access to it, we will come back and scope it and we do not charge for that second trip out there.
Speaker 3:
No, and a lot of companies would A lot of companies would.
Speaker 2:
So let's say I don't want to charge for every single time I come in, especially when we couldn't go out the first time. And there are people who charge like well, it's $250. I brought the camera out. If I have to come back out this time with access, it's another $250. Like no, that's ridiculous. We do not charge that second trip out, but we do encourage that, yes, it be opened up and know that we have access to it, just like a list agent says, yeah, the gas is on going out, there's no gas. We will come back out, finish that inspection. We'll do all the inspections we can, but we'll come back out and finish up and do the gas appliances Right. But man, if we come back out there for the second time and the gas is still not on, I've sent invoices before.
Speaker 2:
The listing agent is just wasting our time and everybody else's time. So there should be a charge for wasting our time, because that time slot could easily have gone to somebody else who actually has their shit together and is organized and knows what's going on at their house.
Speaker 2:
they're just assuming everything's on right so I think anything else, laura, regarding the whole sewer scope, well, we had one a while back sewer scope where tons of blockage there was. We only got a few feet out, you couldn't get further, and then we I tried to go back out and then David went back out. Later on, when we went back out as a follow-up, the seller wasn't no, the renter, the tenant, was not there to let us in Right.
Speaker 2:
But third, total trip out there to scope this thing. You're still going to get that way through Because there's more issues further back and I don't know if they even really cleaned it up. They just pushed everything down. But yeah, somebody wanted to discount that. I'm like no, there's no way we're giving you a discount when we're telling you multiple times that there is an issue that you need to have professionally dealt with and not go.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, yeah. The seller says they fixed it and that has not happened and we have seen that we did a scope. About a month later the buyer goes hey, they said what, what was it?
Speaker 3:
they fixed it all they.
Speaker 2:
They said they, they looked at it and there was no issues at all. The pipe and he wanted his money back. I'm like that doesn't make sense. Yeah, it's not fishy. What did they say they they clean. Yeah, they said they scope, can they clean the pipe out. And it all looked good. This is the same house where they switched the thermostat on the buyer. Okay, before he moved in, they changed the thermostat to a cheap one. I remember that one Let me come back on and scope this for you.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, something's not sounding right.
Speaker 2:
He's like all right, so we went out there.
Speaker 3:
I remember this because I was with you when we did it.
Speaker 2:
I remember this because I was with you when we did it. I didn't want to give money back when we legitimately did our job. So we go out there and the pipe did not change at all.
Speaker 3:
They never cleaned anything out, never took it off.
Speaker 2:
There were still issues. The seller was lying and then I'm assuming the seller told the listing agent who now thinks it's true, but it's not true, but it's oh. You know what they do not. They would not give a receipt right, or the really shitty receipt that's all like yeah, there was some red flags with that.
Speaker 2:
so anyway, sewer scope is that's not priced per foot. That we go in is based on going out there and the effort to get it done, and then we do make second trips as need be. But now, if we find an issue, that is the goal, or we don't find an issue, which is better yet that is better, yet that is the goal, also to see what's going on.
Speaker 2:
It's either completely good or dude. You got some issues. You need to have these taken care of because they're severe enough that we can't get through the whole pipe.
Speaker 3:
Now, first of all, when we charge for a sewer scope, it's only $250. If a plumbing company comes out and they do just the scope, it's around 500, isn't it?
Speaker 3:
I have heard that yes so I've had people ask well, why should I bother, getting a super scope with you? Well, for a couple reasons. First of all, we're already out there. We have no vested interest in whether anything is repairable or damaged or anything. What it is is what it is with us because we don't do repairs. So if we come out and let's say you've purchased this property, it's an as is because, let's face it, most of them going on right now are as is. This gives you video evidence of an issue in that line that you can either use to negotiate money off of that contract. You could just say screw it and walk away.
Speaker 3:
If it's going to be like $20,000 worth of repairs, if it's going to be that bad.
Speaker 2:
Well, here's another thing. So you move in the house and as soon as you move in you got sewer line backup in your house. I don't think an insurance company or a homeowner is going to cover that, because like dude, that is a pre-existing condition. Did you get a home inspection? Yeah, did you get a scope? No, sorry, you're on your own.
Speaker 3:
Right. So, and we're hearing a lot more stories about warranty companies and insurance companies, and I think they're going to be asking for a lot more things like that down the road. So, before they pay out, what it's sounding like to me like we had somebody the other day it was a three-year roof and they looked on Google Earth and said that they needed a new roof. So you're going to have to start taking care of stuff and having written proof that there is or isn't an issue.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, church covers are getting weird, but that could be another topic.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, that could be another topic, but yeah, just keep in mind that I think that's about it.
Speaker 2:
Knowledge is power.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, make sure you in mind that knowledge is power.
Speaker 2:
Make sure you always get the home inspected and sewer scoped or not per foot. Can you imagine doing a home inspection? Yeah, how much you owe us is based on how many issues we find. To me that's a horrible setup, because then you're going to have a home have an old title. I need extra money this week.
Speaker 4:
let me get really picky here.
Speaker 2:
yeah, we love to go do an inspection and there's no major issues. We love doing that. We don't like finding issues. Sometimes the house has a lot of issues and the house becomes annoying to us. We don't like a bunch of issues, but we know, no house is perfect, so there's always going to be something. Stuff happens, yeah, but because the house is not perfect does not mean you have to accept it. A really rough, messed up sewer line from a previous owner who may have neglected it and then doesn't want you to know about it? Right, and we charge $250, period Well, currently $250 to go in there and take a look. We try and go through the whole line, but if we can't, we can't. If we can't do it, typically there's a reason, and that reason is why you hired us Because you want to know and not be surprised three weeks after you move into the house. All right, everybody.
Speaker 1:
bye-bye, bye you've been listening to the standing out in ohio podcast. Be sure to subscribe on spotify or google podcast to get new, fresh episodes. For more, please follow us on instagram, twitter and facebook, or visit the website of the best Ohio home inspection company at homeinspectionsinohiocom or jimtroffcom. That's J-I-M-T-R-O-T-H and click on podcast. Until next time, learn and go do stuff.