Repair
Perimeter drainage repair
Spot repair, one side or full renewal, scoped from camera footage of your drain tile and the age of the pipe around it.
Inspect · Drainage services Stop guessing at a pipe you cannot see.
Before anyone on the North Shore or in Vancouver quotes you a dig, see the pipe. We run a camera through your perimeter drain, sewer or storm line, mark every fault at the surface, and hand you the footage and a written summary with what it needs — whether or not we do the work. Any digging goes only where the camera says.
When to put a camera in the line
Guessing at a drain is expensive. A camera inspection shows what the pipe is made of, what condition it's in, and whether it needs cleaning, repair or replacement. Here's when it's worth putting one in.
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Slow or gurgling drains.
Or backups that come back after the drain is cleared. -
Water in the basement.
Water after heavy rain, damp foundation walls, a musty smell that won't clear, or a sump pump, if you have one, running more than it used to. -
Buying a home.
Our pre-purchase drainage inspection fits the camera work in before subject removal. -
An insurance claim.
We find what section of the drainage failed and why, document it on video, and help you through the claim. -
Renovating a basement.
Check the drains before the drywall goes up. -
Know before it costs you.
Find a failing drain while it's a planned repair, not a flooded basement.
What a camera finds, and what each one means
Before you decide anything about a drain, you need to know what the pipe is made of and what condition it is in. A drain camera inspection shows both on video. In older homes, perimeter drains are often clay or cement tile, and both wear out in predictable ways. Some problems can be cleared. Others need a repair. And when an old system has several problems along its length, it needs replacing.
- Silt and sediment. Fine soil works in through joints and perforations and settles along the bottom of the pipe, so the pipe carries less water even though it isn't damaged. On camera: a layer of silt along the bottom. What you'll notice: gurgling drains, and water slow to drain away after rain. In plastic pipe with cleanouts, this is usually cleared with a flush. Flushing clay or cement tile is not recommended, because it can do more harm than good.
- Roots at a joint. Fine roots find a joint, thicken, and catch whatever moves past. On camera: roots hanging into the pipe. What you'll notice: a cedar or laurel hedge close to the wall. In plastic pipe, roots caught early can often be cleared with a cut and a flush. Flushing clay or cement tile is not recommended. Left alone, roots can crack or displace the pipe.
- A sag or a separated joint. Over time, ground settlement can cause sections within the piping to drop and create low points, or pull sections apart at the joints. A low point holds water and silts up again no matter how often it is cleared. A separated joint lets soil into the pipe. On camera: standing water in one section, or a step or gap where two sections meet. What you'll notice: the same run keeps blocking after it's cleared, silt keeps coming back in one area, or the lawn along one wall dips. Both mean digging, so the pipe can be re-bedded, reconnected and properly supported. With the grade restored, water flows through instead of sitting in the pipe.
- Collapse. Over time, clay and cement tile can become brittle and crack, with small sections breaking off. When this happens, the pipe loses its structural integrity and can cave in. Soft corrugated plastic can flatten under the weight of the soil. On camera: the view ends where the pipe closes. What you'll notice: water at the foundation on one side, storm after storm. Water can't get past, so it backs up against the foundation. No amount of flushing rebuilds a crushed pipe.
- End of life. Most older systems don't have just one of these problems. They have several along the same run. At that point, fixing one spot at a time costs more than it solves. We replace the system with a two-pipe drain, and we restore and protect the foundation wall while it's exposed, because the wall matters as much as the drain.
How the visit runs
At Drainage Pro, the camera comes first: we diagnose before we excavate. A visit goes like this.
- Find the way in. We access the underground drainage system through whatever is available: gutter downspout connections, cleanouts, a catch basin, or all three.
- Run the camera. We feed it through the drain while it records, noting the pipe material, bends, where the drain terminates, and anything else we find. You're welcome to watch the monitor with us.
- Note the problems. In most cases a locator on the camera head lets us mark each problem area at the surface, so a repair can be priced and staged without exploratory digging.
- Review the footage with you. We go through the recording together and point out what we found: silt, roots, sags, separated joints, and where the pipe changes material and why.
- Write it up. You get the video, a written summary of our findings, and costed recommendations to flush, repair or replace.
Covered by our Built Better Warranty.
See details of the Built Better WarrantyEvidence you own, and can act on
The footage and findings are yours to keep, whether or not we do the repair.
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Recorded footage.
Every run we put the camera through. -
Fault locations.
Marked at the surface, so nobody has to dig to find them. -
Flagged defects, joints and material transitions.
The footage shows where one pipe material meets another. -
Repair recommendations.
Sized to what is wrong, not to a worst case. -
Stills, distances and a site plan.
The written findings include stills of each fault with its distance and depth, a site plan of faults, cleanouts and the outlet, and a list of the runs we could not reach.
If the findings point to a repair, the same footage feeds the scope: perimeter drainage repair for the foundation drain, sewer line repair for the sewer lateral, and drain cleaning and hydro jetting for silt or roots in sound pipe.
Why North Shore rain makes the camera matter
Precipitation climbs through the autumn and peaks in November, and July and August are the driest months. That is the pattern in Environment and Climate Change Canada's 1981–2010 normals at both Vancouver International Airport and the Sonora Dr station on the District of North Vancouver's slope, 183 m above sea level. The slope station averages about 2,356 mm a year, snow included as water, against about 1,189 mm at the airport.
A working perimeter drain relieves hydrostatic pressure at the foundation.
What the building code and the City expect
Article 9.14.2.1 of the BC Building Code calls for the bottom of an exterior foundation wall to be drained, by tile or pipe around the outside or by a layer of gravel or crushed rock, unless that can be shown to be unnecessary. Article 9.14.5.1 says foundation drains must discharge to a sewer, drainage ditch or dry well. The camera shows whether yours is still doing that job.
The City of North Vancouver reviews new perimeter drains on site. Its inspection guide lists bedding, pipe slope, depth and cleanouts, including high point cleanouts, among the items typically reviewed, and says the system is to be visible for inspection. After backfill, a camera is how anyone sees inside it again. Older houses can still have original clay tile, which is brittle (our guide to clay, Big-O and PVC drain tile shows how each looks on camera), and some have no cleanout at all.
Related services
Repair
Drain cleaning and hydro jetting
Drain cleaning for sewer lines and hydro jetting for perimeter drains, with the camera showing what is blocking the line and whether cleaning will hold.
Repair
Sewer line repair
Camera-located sewer lateral repair and replacement, from the house to the property line.
Related reading
Guide ·
Signs your perimeter drains are failing
Perimeter drains usually fail quietly. Here are eight signs that show up inside the house first, what each one usually means, and what to do about it.
Questions we get asked
Do I keep the footage from a drain camera inspection?
Yes. You keep the footage and the written findings whether or not we do the repair. That lets you show them to another contractor and compare quotes against the same evidence, or hold them for your own records.
Can the camera damage my pipes?
No. It is a diagnostic tool, not a cleaning or cutting one. The camera travels through the existing line on a flexible rod and records what it finds, without cutting, drilling or putting pressure on the pipe wall.
What happens if the camera stops partway along the line?
Where the camera stops is part of the finding. A collapsed section, a heavy blockage or a pipe that has pulled apart can all halt it. We mark the spot at the surface. If another cleanout reaches the far side, a pass from that end may show what lies beyond.
Can you map where a drain runs if nobody knows the route?
Often, yes. The transmitter in the camera head is tracked from the surface, so the route of an accessible line can be traced and marked on the ground, with its depth. That is what a landscaper, a paving crew or a fence installer needs to know.
Can you check new pipe before the trench is backfilled?
Yes. Checking repair work before backfilling is a common reason to book a camera inspection. A pass through the new run while the trench is still open shows whether the line is clear and the joints are sound, when a correction is still easy to make.
Do I need a drain camera inspection if nothing seems wrong?
Not always. It is worth a look before you buy a house, and before landscaping or paving goes in over a line you would rather not dig up later. Keeping a record of the same drain over the years is a separate service, annual drain camera inspections.
Reviewed
We find the cause before we quote the fix
Tell us the address and what you're seeing — a backup, a wet wall, a smell, a sinking lawn. We'll tell you what the next step is and what it costs, before anyone digs. Not sure yet? Ask us a question first.