Sewer camera inspection in Reston.
In Reston a sewer camera inspection costs $89 on top of a visit, or $500 to $1,700 booked alone, for a 1970s cluster line or a 1990s North Point one.
- Camera before any dig
- Priced in writing first
- Dedicated plumbing team
Book a sewer camera inspection
Reston’s sewer lines start in the 1960s, and the trees above them answer to RA.
Reston’s oldest sewer lines went in with Reston itself. Robert E. Simon bought the land in 1961 and Lake Anne, the first village center, opened in 1965, so only about one home in seventy here predates 1960. A 1960s or 70s house or cluster townhouse usually drains to the street through cast iron or clay, and some from the first decade may have Orangeburg, a pressed fiber pipe that was falling out of use by the early 1970s and slumps oval with age.
Those 1970s lines are concentrated in 20191, around Hunters Woods and South Lakes, where nearly half of all homes went up in that decade. Fifty years on, they run under the trees Reston Association writes rules to protect, and roots slip in wherever a joint has loosened. For roots that keep coming back, Fairfax County names two fixes: periodic cutting or new plastic pipe. The camera shows which your line needs.
North Point and the rest of 20194 belong to the plastic era, with more than eight in ten homes built in the 1980s and 90s. PVC won’t rust, but thirty years of settling can leave a dip in the trench that holds water and snags paper. In 20190, from Lake Anne to Reston Town Center, more than half the homes are in condo and apartment buildings, where the main out of the building is usually the association’s to inspect.
Past the house, Fairfax County leaves no doubt whose pipe it is: yours, out to the county sewer, the connection and any stretch under the road included. Clusters complicate that, because a townhouse lateral may cross common area the cluster association owns before reaching the main. Read the cluster documents before anyone prices a trench.
What’s under the yards across Reston.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reston | 1981 | condo and apartment buildings, about 4 in 10 | gas, about 5 in 10 | PVC to the street, mostly; a settled trench can leave a sag. |
| Great Falls Crossing | 1993 | single-family houses, about 9 in 10 | gas, about 8 in 10 | PVC to the street, mostly; a settled trench can leave a sag. |
Reston houses, by the numbers
From the Census Bureau’s 2020 to 2024 survey, owner-occupied homes unless it says otherwise.
What a sewer camera inspection costs in Reston.
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 Reston.
A big tree stands between the house and the street
On a single-family Reston lot, RA’s Design Review Board has to approve removing any live tree with a trunk 4 inches across or more, measured 4.5 feet up. If roots are in the line, learn exactly where before choosing between digging near that tree and repairing from inside the pipe.
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 Reston.
Questions to ask anybody who offers to put a camera down your line, us included.
Will they measure the trouble against your lot line?
In a Reston cluster the lateral can leave your lot and run under common ground. Ask how far from the cleanout the problem sits, so you and the association know whose ground a repair would open.
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 Reston.
Can I take down a tree whose roots keep clogging my Reston sewer line?
Possibly, with approval. On a single-family lot RA lists damage to property and invasive roots among the reasons it weighs, and a trunk on a shared property line needs the neighbor’s signature too. The footage tells you first whether roots enter at one joint, which a repair can close, or all along the line.
We just had roots cut out of our Reston line. Who else should know?
Fairfax County. It asks you to call its 24-hour line, 703-323-1211, whenever a plumber clears roots from a lateral, so county crews can clean out the main on their side too.
How much does a sewer camera inspection cost in Reston?
$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 Reston.
More from SwiftPro in Reston
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 Reston 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.