Sewer camera inspection in Arlington.
A sewer camera inspection in Arlington is $89 added to a visit, or $500 to $1,700 on its own. Half the owner-occupied houses here went up by 1960.
- Camera before any dig
- Priced in writing first
- Dedicated plumbing team
Book a sewer camera inspection
The oldest houses in Northern Virginia, on laterals just as old.
By the Census, the typical owner-occupied house in Arlington was built in 1960, the oldest median of any county or city in Northern Virginia, and about a third of all homes here predate that year. Plenty are far older: Maywood was built from 1909 to 1941, Lyon Park and Cherrydale filled in from the 1890s into the early 1950s, and Ashton Heights had its biggest burst of building from 1933 to 1940. Unless somebody has dug it up since, the lateral from a house that age is usually the clay or cast iron one it was built with, laid in short lengths with a joint at every one.
Those joints are where trouble starts. Arlington’s sewer staff list tree roots first among the things that block a line, and Arlington keeps planting: trees covered 35.2 percent of the county in 2023, up from 31.7 percent in 2014, with a County goal of at least 40. Good for the streets, and a reason to put a camera down an old clay lateral under a mature tree while it still drains fine.
Westover went up in phases from 1939 to 1957, into the years Orangeburg pipe was common: wood fiber and coal tar pitch, advertised to last fifty years and prone to going oval under the soil. Plenty of lines from then are cast iron instead, and the camera settles which before anyone runs a cutting head through it. The County also lists lines broken by construction crews and heavy equipment, worth remembering if the house next door was just torn down and rebuilt.
Most Arlington homes have no lateral of their own. More than half are in buildings of ten units or more, and in a condo community like Fairlington, 3,449 garden apartments and townhouses from 1942 to 1944, one line often serves several homes; the condo documents say whose it is. Close to six in ten Arlington households rent, and for them a camera on the line is the landlord’s call.
Arlington houses, by the numbers
From the Census Bureau’s 2020 to 2024 survey, owner-occupied homes unless it says otherwise.
Arlington
- Median home built1960 Census
- Built before 1980about 5 in 10 Census
- Built since 2000about 3 in 10 Census
- Most homes arecondo and apartment buildings, about 6 in 10 Census
- Heated withgas, about 6 in 10 Census
- Rentedabout 6 in 10 Census
- Houses built from the late 1940s into the early 1970s can drain through Orangeburg, tar paper pipe that a snake tears apart, so the camera goes first.
- Lines from before 1960 are often clay or cast iron, and roots get in at the joints.
What a sewer camera inspection costs in Arlington.
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 Arlington.
Every drain in the house is slow at once
Arlington’s sewer staff name the early signs: toilets that flush weakly, kitchen and bathroom drains that lag. One slow sink is that sink’s clog. All of them at once point down the lateral, and once the County has checked its main, a camera finds where in yours.
A house from the 1950s or 60s
Some houses from that era drain through Orangeburg, a tar paper pipe that a drain snake tears apart. If nobody knows what your line is made of, the camera goes down before the snake does.
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.
Whose sewer line it is in Arlington.
Arlington County
The sanitary lateral, from the house to the County’s sewer main, is the property owner’s to build and maintain. Before calling a plumber about a backup, Arlington asks you to call its sewer line, 703-228-6555: crews check the main and clear a blockage there at no charge, and if the main is flowing, the problem is in your line. Source.
How to pick the best plumber for a sewer camera inspection in Arlington.
Questions to ask anybody who offers to put a camera down your line, us included.
Will they tell you if your lowest drain sits below the street?
Arlington’s floodproofing checklist calls a backflow valve advisable when a house’s lowest drain sits below the street out front. Whoever runs the camera is already in the basement tracing the line toward the main, so ask them before they pack up.
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.
Plumbing system test and maintenance, including snaking the sewer line As a follow up, Tyson came out to check the system and gave us some good preventive maintenance tips.
5.0 stars across 884 Google reviews. Read them on our reviews page.
Sewer camera questions from Arlington.
Should I take down the tree over my Arlington sewer line?
Usually not. Roots get into a lateral only through a crack or a joint that was already open, and they reach twice the tree’s height or more, so the next tree over finds the same gap. Repair the joint or the cracked length and the roots have nothing to follow; the camera shows which it is.
How much does a sewer camera inspection cost in Arlington?
$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.
Sewer camera inspection in the towns next door.
- Sewer camera inspection in Falls Church
- Sewer camera inspection in Alexandria
- Sewer camera inspection in Dunn Loring
- Sewer camera inspection in Annandale
- Sewer camera inspection in McLean
More from SwiftPro in Arlington
- AC repair in Arlington
- AC tune-up in Arlington
- Air duct cleaning in Arlington
- Dryer vent cleaning in Arlington
- Ductless mini splits in Arlington
- Furnace and AC replacement in Arlington
- Furnace repair in Arlington
- Furnace replacement in Arlington
- Furnace tune-up in Arlington
- Heat pump replacement in Arlington
- Plumbing in Arlington
- Sump pump replacement in Arlington
- Water heater flush in Arlington
- Water heaters in Arlington
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 Arlington 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.