Sewer camera inspection in Herndon.
A sewer camera inspection in Herndon is $89 added to a visit, or $500 to $1,700 on its own. Inside the town, where it finds trouble decides who pays.
- Camera before any dig
- Priced in writing first
- Dedicated plumbing team
Book a sewer camera inspection
A Herndon camera answers two things: what’s wrong, and whose side it’s on.
Inside the Town of Herndon, the lateral from a house, duplex or townhouse has two keepers. Town Code has the owner keep it sound out to the right-of-way or easement line, and the Town takes structural failures from there to its main; that’s what the fifty cents a quarter on the sewer bill pays for. So a camera’s best work here is placing the trouble on one side of that line: a broken pipe past it is the Town’s to repair, while a root ball or a clog anywhere along the run stays yours to clear.
Most homes in the town went up in the 1970s and 80s, and only about 1 in 25 predates 1960. In Chandon, the town’s 1960s neighborhood, and in the 1970s streets of Four Seasons and Cavalier Park, a lateral may be cast iron, clay or early plastic, and one from the 1960s can still be Orangeburg, a fiber pipe soaked in tar that slumps out of round with age. By the 1980s, in Potomac Fairways or Barker Hill, plastic had mostly taken over.
Town Code gives a condo building its whole lateral, right out to the main, so a camera down it is the association’s call. The same goes in McNair along Sunrise Valley Drive, where about 6 in 10 homes are in condo and apartment buildings and three in four are rented: start with the management office.
Across the town line there’s no split. In Franklin Farm, Floris, Dranesville and Fox Mill Estates, Fairfax County leaves the owner the whole run, connection to the county sewer and all, and replacing it takes a county plumbing permit, plus a VDOT permit under a state road. Most of those houses are from the 1980s and 90s, usually on PVC; Fox Mill Estates is older, mostly late 1970s. If a plumber cuts roots out of your lateral there, the county asks for a call to its 24-hour line so it can clean its main too.
What’s under the yards across Herndon.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franklin Farm | 1985 | single-family houses, about 9 in 10 | electricity, about 5 in 10 | PVC to the street, mostly; a settled trench can leave a sag. |
| Herndon | 1981 | single-family houses, about 4 in 10 | electricity, about 6 in 10 | PVC to the street, mostly; a settled trench can leave a sag. |
| Dranesville | 1984 | single-family houses, nearly all | electricity, about 6 in 10 | PVC to the street, mostly; a settled trench can leave a sag. |
| McNair | 2003 | condo and apartment buildings, about 6 in 10 | gas, about 7 in 10 | Condo buildings: a shared main line, usually the association’s. |
| Floris | 1990 | single-family houses, about 8 in 10 | gas, about 6 in 10 | PVC to the street, mostly; a settled trench can leave a sag. |
| Hutchison | 1979 | townhouses, about 5 in 10 | electricity, about 7 in 10 | Cast iron or clay to the street, with joints roots can get into. |
| Sully Square | 2015 | condo and apartment buildings, about 6 in 10 | gas, about 6 in 10 | Condo buildings: a shared main line, usually the association’s. |
Herndon houses, by the numbers
From the Census Bureau’s 2020 to 2024 survey, owner-occupied homes unless it says otherwise.
The Town of Herndon
Inside the town limits. Floris, Franklin Farm, McNair and Dranesville, on the Fairfax County side, are counted by the Census as places of their own.
- Median home built1981 Census
- Built before 1980about 4 in 10 Census
- Built since 2000about 2 in 10 Census
- Most homes aresingle-family houses, about 4 in 10 Census
- Heated withelectricity, about 6 in 10 Census
- Rentedabout 4 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 Herndon.
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 Herndon.
The Town’s winter sewer work stops at the main
Every year, usually from early January to the end of March, the Town relines and maintains its sewer mains. That work ends where your lateral joins. If your drains are still slow, the camera shows whether the trouble is on the stretch you keep.
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 Herndon.
Questions to ask anybody who offers to put a camera down your line, us included.
Will they tell you how far out each problem is?
Inside the town, a crack a few feet either side of the right-of-way line changes who pays. Ask for the distance from the cleanout to anything the camera finds, written with the footage, so you and the Town mean the same spot.
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 Herndon.
My Franklin Farm basement drain backed up. Who do I call first?
Fairfax County’s 24-hour Customer Communications Center. The county checks its own sewer and clears it if the blockage is there; if the neighbors are backed up too, that’s the likely spot. If the county’s pipe is running, the trouble is in your lateral: clear it, then put the camera down. Most homeowner policies need a special rider for sewage backup damage, the county notes.
How much does a sewer camera inspection cost in Herndon?
$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 Herndon.
More from SwiftPro in Herndon
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 Herndon 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.