Sewer camera inspection in Orlean.
In Orlean a sewer camera inspection costs $89 on a visit we’re already making, or $500 to $1,700 by itself. It runs the pipe out to your septic tank.
- Camera before any dig
- Priced in writing first
- Dedicated plumbing team
Book a sewer camera inspection
In Orlean the drain line stops at your own septic tank, and the ground it crosses is rock and clay.
Fauquier County keeps public sewer inside its designated service districts, and Orlean isn’t one of them. Flush a toilet here and the water leaves the foundation in a pipe you own and ends in a septic tank you also own, a short walk across the yard. That pipe is what our camera goes down. The tank and the drainfield past it belong to a septic contractor; SwiftPro does no septic work.
Most Orlean homes sit outside the village. The Census block group centered on it covers about 26 square miles and counts 576 homes, every one detached, with a median build year of 1982, and the 1990s were its busiest decade. A drain from those years is most likely plastic, which doesn’t rot, so when one acts up the camera is usually hunting for a joint that came apart or a stretch that sank.
The ground explains much of that. The County’s village plan describes clay pockets that swell wet and shrink dry, and bedrock that can sit close to the surface on the steep slopes along Thumb Run and Cabin Branch. Moving clay can nudge a joint out of line, and rock under the lawn makes every dig slow and expensive, so finding the exact spot before a shovel goes in is worth more here than in a suburb.
The oldest village houses are older than any drain in them: log, stone and frame from about 1795 on, with plumbing added later, often in rounds. The Methodist church, finished in 1883, got a kitchen and bathroom in a full basement when it was raised in the early 1990s. A line added in stages can be cast iron in one stretch, clay or Orangeburg fiber pipe in the next and PVC at the end, and the camera names each before a cable goes through.
Orlean houses, by the numbers
From the Census Bureau’s 2020 to 2024 survey, owner-occupied homes unless it says otherwise.
Orlean
Orlean’s own ZIP, 20128, is post office boxes only, so the Census Bureau maps no area for it. These are ZIP 20115 as a whole, the Marshall ZIP area Orlean sits in, Marshall included.
- Median home built1986 Census
- Built before 1980about 4 in 10 Census
- Built since 2000about 2 in 10 Census
- Most homes aresingle-family houses, about 8 in 10 Census
- Heated withelectricity, about 6 in 10 Census
- Rentedabout 3 in 10 Census
- Lines from before 1960 are often clay or cast iron, and roots get in at the joints.
What a sewer camera inspection costs in Orlean.
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 Orlean.
A big tree came down near the line
On June 22, 2022, gusts estimated at 80 to 90 mph took down thousands of trees from Ada and Meadowville to Bethel and Orlean. A tree that tips lifts its root plate, and a pipe under it can crack or pull apart. If the drains turned slow after a blowdown, camera the line before the stump comes out.
Big trees in the front yard
Roots don’t break a sewer line. They find a crack or a loose joint that’s already there and grow into it, which is why a line under old trees is worth a look before it slows down.
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.
How to pick the best plumber for a sewer camera inspection in Orlean.
Questions to ask anybody who offers to put a camera down your line, us included.
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 Orlean.
Can your camera see inside my septic tank?
It goes as far as the inlet and shows whether the pipe runs open into the tank. If the line is clear and the house still backs up, the trouble is in the tank or the field, and that’s a septic contractor’s call; the Fauquier County Health Department permits those systems. If the camera finds a crack, roots or a sag short of the tank, it’s ours to price.
Why would a 1990s Orlean drain line keep backing up?
Rarely from age. The trench under plastic pipe can shift in clay, and a low spot or a pulled joint catches paper until it plugs. Another pass with a cable won’t level it; the camera shows which it is and how far out.
How much does a sewer camera inspection cost in Orlean?
$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 Orlean.
More from SwiftPro in Orlean
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 Orlean 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.