Sewer camera inspection in Sterling.
A sewer camera inspection in Sterling is $89 added to a visit, or $500 to $1,700 on its own. Loudoun Water is lining hundreds of Sterling Park laterals.
- Camera before any dig
- Priced in writing first
- Dedicated plumbing team
Book a sewer camera inspection
Loudoun Water is redoing Sterling Park’s laterals. The pipe under your yard is still yours.
Sterling Park, south of Route 7, is where Loudoun Water’s oldest pipe is buried. Its capital plan, which runs through 2035, names Sterling Park Section 1 the oldest section of pipe in its system, laid before it had formal design standards, and lists about 450 sewer laterals to replace there along with five miles of cast iron water main. On West Beech Road and the streets off it, where the main went in during the 1960s, about 51 more are on the list.
Part of Sterling Park drains to the Cabin Branch sewershed, and there the plan puts a liner in every lateral, about 575 of them, citing consistent breaks and after-hours calls, and rain getting into the sewer in storms. How far up each lateral the liner reaches is still being settled. Either way, Loudoun Water’s rules leave the building sewer to the owner and keep only the stretch in the public right of way for the utility.
In the part of Sterling the Census calls Sterling, about four homes in ten went up before 1980, and the typical owner’s house dates from 1979. A 1960s lateral is usually cast iron or clay, and some from that decade are Orangeburg, layers of wood fiber and pitch that soften and squash out of round under the soil. The camera settles which one yours is before any cutter goes in.
North of Route 7, Countryside, Cascades and Lowes Island went up mostly in the 1980s and 90s, usually on plastic pipe. It won’t rust, but a trench dug thirty years ago can settle and leave a dip that collects paper. Loudoun Water’s plan lines about 180 laterals and their mains across two sewersheds, one it calls Countryside 2, to keep groundwater out. Around Dulles Town Center, where seven homes in ten are rented, the camera is usually the landlord’s or the association’s call.
What’s under the yards across Sterling.
Census figures for the owner-occupied homes in each place, and the sewer pipe houses that age usually have.
| Place | Median home built | Most homes are | Heated with | The sewer line you usually find |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sterling | 1979 | single-family houses, about 5 in 10 | electricity, about 5 in 10 | Cast iron or clay to the street, with joints roots can get into. |
| Lowes Island | 1996 | single-family houses, about 6 in 10 | gas, about 7 in 10 | PVC to the street, mostly; a settled trench can leave a sag. |
| Cascades | 1996 | townhouses, about 4 in 10 | gas, about 8 in 10 | PVC to the street, mostly; a settled trench can leave a sag. |
| Sugarland Run | 1983 | single-family houses, about 6 in 10 | gas, about 5 in 10 | PVC to the street, mostly; a settled trench can leave a sag. |
| Dulles Town Center | 1998 | condo and apartment buildings, about 5 in 10 | gas, about 9 in 10 | Condo buildings: a shared main line, usually the association’s. |
| Arcola | 2017 | townhouses, about 5 in 10 | gas, about 8 in 10 | PVC throughout, worth a look before the house changes hands. |
| Oak Grove | 2005 | townhouses, about 8 in 10 | gas, about 9 in 10 | PVC throughout, worth a look before the house changes hands. |
Sterling houses, by the numbers
From the Census Bureau’s 2020 to 2024 survey, owner-occupied homes unless it says otherwise.
Sterling
- Built before 1980about 2 in 10 Census
- Built since 2000about 2 in 10 Census
- Most homes aresingle-family houses, about 4 in 10 Census
- Heated withgas, about 6 in 10 Census
- Rentedabout 3 in 10 Census
- 1980s and 90s houses mostly run PVC to the street, where a sag in settled backfill is the thing to rule out.
What a sewer camera inspection costs in Sterling.
Why we’re at the house decides which price you pay. On its own, the line often has to be cleared before the camera can see anything, and that’s what moves the number.
- Sewer camera inspection, added to a visit$89
- Sewer camera inspection on its own$500 to $1,700
A locator on the camera head marks the spot and its depth on the ground, so if something needs fixing you know where. If the line is fine, nobody talks about digging.
Comfort+ membership is $199 a year for four visits: a dryer vent cleaning, a water heater flush with a sewer camera inspection, a heating maintenance visit and a cooling maintenance visit.
When to put a camera down the line in Sterling.
The street got new liners, and the drains are still slow
Loudoun Water’s work covers its own stretch. A backup that returns after the crews leave points at your side; once it’s cleared, the camera shows whether it’s roots, a break or a dip, and how far out.
Water comes up the floor drain
When the washer empties and water rises in the basement floor drain, or a toilet gurgles while a sink runs, the main line isn’t carrying it all away. The camera shows why.
It was cleared, and it’s back
A main line that needs clearing every year or two has a reason, and clearing it again doesn’t find it. A camera down the line after it’s cleared does.
How to pick the best plumber for a sewer camera inspection in Sterling.
Questions to ask anybody who offers to put a camera down your line, us included.
Will they tell you what your pipe is made of?
In a Sterling Park house that comes first: cast iron, clay and Orangeburg fail and get repaired differently. Ask for the material and the distance from the cleanout to anything they found.
Will they show you what the camera finds?
Ask to see it and to keep a copy. “It’s roots” with nothing to show for it is a guess, and a guess is a bad reason to dig up a yard.
Do they line and dig, or only one?
A company that only digs tends to see a dig, and one that only lines tends to see a liner. We do both, so the footage decides, not the truck.
What our customers say.
Nii is the best. He’s been to the house twice – once for a galvanized to PVC piping change-out, and another time for a badly clogged kitchen line that wouldn’t budge with my snake and a good bit of effort. Super nice guy, very skilled, fair, calm, etc. Exactly what you want in a plumber.
5.0 stars across 884 Google reviews. Read them on our reviews page.
Sewer camera questions from Sterling.
Loudoun Water is redoing laterals on my street. Do I still need a camera?
Not if your drains run fine and the house isn’t changing hands. The utility’s part ends at the public right of way; everything back to your foundation is yours. If the line needs clearing every year or two, the camera shows why.
My Sterling house was built in 1979. Is the sewer line plastic?
Maybe; builders were switching to plastic right about then. A plastic cleanout cap out front is a hint, not proof, since cleanouts get replaced on their own. The camera shows the whole run, joint by joint.
How much does a sewer camera inspection cost in Sterling?
$89 added to a visit we’re already making, $500 to $1,700 booked on its own. The difference is clearing: a visit just for the camera often has to clear the line first.
Should I get a sewer camera inspection before I buy a house?
If the house is older or has big trees out front, yes. A standard home inspection usually doesn’t include one, and in most of Northern Virginia the line from the house toward the street is the owner’s to fix.
More from SwiftPro in Sterling.
More from SwiftPro in Sterling
See the line before anybody digs.
Call, or book online and pick a window. You get the price in writing first, and if the camera says the line is fine, that’s what we’ll tell you.
SwiftPro Heating, Cooling & Plumbing is a licensed, BBB Accredited (A rating), independently owned heating, cooling and plumbing company in Chantilly, serving Sterling and the rest of Northern Virginia. Virginia contractor license #2705192276. 5.0 stars across 884 Google reviews. SwiftPro maintains a dedicated HVAC team and a dedicated plumbing team.
SwiftPro Heating, Cooling & Plumbing, 4230 Lafayette Center Dr, Suite N, Chantilly, VA 20151, (703) 997-9757. Book online, read our reviews, or see every town we serve.