You can't fix what you can't see. If your drain keeps backing up, smells wrong, or you're buying a house in Chesham and want to know what's underground before you sign, a CCTV drain survey gives you a definitive answer, not a guess.
We push a high-resolution camera through the drain, record everything, and tell you exactly what we found, where it is, and what needs doing. You get footage and a written report the same day. No vague diagnosis, no unnecessary work sold off the back of it.
What the Survey Actually Involves
We locate the nearest access point, usually a manhole or rodding eye, introduce the camera head, and drive it through the pipework while the engineer watches the feed live. The camera logs depth, orientation, and distance as it goes. When we find a fault, we can tell you it's 4.2 metres from the inspection chamber, not roughly under your patio somewhere.
What we're looking for varies by job. Common findings include:
- Root intrusion, which is widespread in older Chesham streets where mature trees line the kerbs
- Pipe fractures from ground movement or age
- Collapsed sections, particularly in Victorian-era clay pipework
- Displaced joints where pipes have shifted out of alignment
- Grease and silt build-up narrowing the bore
- Mis-connected pipes, including foul drains feeding surface water systems
- Poorly installed repairs from previous work
After the camera run, you get a written report with a condition rating for each section surveyed, defect locations, and a clear recommendation. Some solicitors and surveyors ask for the raw footage too. We can provide it.
When You Actually Need One
Not every drainage problem needs a camera survey. A blockage that clears cleanly with jetting doesn't. But there are situations where skipping the survey costs you more later.
Recurring blockages. If a drain blocks, gets cleared, and blocks again within weeks, something structural is usually retaining debris. A camera shows whether you're dealing with a root mass, a displaced joint catching waste, or a partial collapse creating a low spot where solids settle.
Pre-purchase surveys. This is one of the most common reasons buyers call us. Solicitors don't investigate drainage. Most homebuyer's surveys won't put a camera down the drain, though a Level 3 full structural survey may flag drainage concerns and recommend further investigation. Either way, no standard survey gives you actual pipe condition. Properties in Botley, Chessmount, Newtown, and the older roads around the town centre regularly have original clay pipework that hasn't been touched in decades. Buying without knowing its condition is a real risk, particularly in a terrace where the drain runs under the neighbour's property as well as yours.
Before building work. If you're extending, adding a loft conversion, or laying new paving, you need to know where your drains run and whether they're sound. Disturbing a drain you didn't know was already cracked can turn a building project into a drainage emergency.
Insurance claims. Some insurers require a CCTV survey report before they'll authorise drain repair work or investigate a subsidence claim linked to escaping water.
Persistent smell without an obvious cause. A camera can identify a cracked pipe leaking foul gas into a void beneath a floor or path, which a jetting rod can't tell you anything about.
Chesham-Specific Conditions Worth Knowing
Chesham sits in the Chess Valley. The town's drainage history reflects its age. Parts of Waterside and the town centre have pipework going back well over a century. Clay pipes were the standard, and while clay is durable, it's brittle under ground movement and root pressure.
The trees along Bellingdon Road and Lowndes Avenue are mature, and root intrusion to drain joints is a regular finding on both streets. On a job in the side streets off Bellingdon Road last year, a camera run on a property with no obvious symptoms turned up a root mass that had reduced the 100mm bore to roughly 40mm. The homeowner had no idea. Jetting had cleared the visible blockage twice before, but the root hadn't gone anywhere.
Estates built in the postwar decades, including Great Hivings, Codmore, and Hilltop, tend to have concrete or early PVC pipework. It's generally more root-resistant but can suffer from joint displacement as the ground settles. Lye Green and the rural fringes towards Chartridge and Ashley Green often have longer drain runs serving properties without mains sewer access, where pipe condition matters even more.
In Ley Hill, Bellingdon, and the villages out towards Latimer and Amersham, we regularly survey private drainage systems, including septic tanks, treatment plants, and the connecting pipework. These aren't adopted by Thames Water, so maintenance and condition are the homeowner's responsibility.
Pre-Purchase Drain Surveys
A pre-purchase CCTV survey is a specific inspection designed to give a buyer a clear picture of drain condition before contracts exchange. It's not the same as a reactive survey on a known problem.
Here's how it typically works:
- You book directly with us, or your solicitor or estate agent refers you. Access is arranged with the vendor.
- We survey the drains visible from the property boundary, covering the main drain run to the public sewer or private treatment system.
- You receive a written report the same day, with condition findings, defect locations, and recommendations.
- If there's a significant fault, you can use the report to renegotiate the price, request remediation before completion, or make an informed decision to proceed or withdraw.
Some buyers on Chessmount, Pednor Road, and the roads around Bois Moor have found the survey identifies drain repairs they'd have inherited on day one. Others get a clean report and proceed with confidence. Either outcome is useful.
Remedial Work After the Survey
If the survey finds a fault, you're not obligated to use us for the repair. The report is yours. That said, we carry out drain repairs and relining in Chesham on a no-dig basis where the pipework allows it.
Structural remedial work we carry out, including drain relining and pipe replacement, carries a 20-year workmanship guarantee. That guarantee applies to the repair work itself. It doesn't extend to blockage clearance or descaling, which are maintenance rather than structural interventions.
If the survey shows the drain is structurally sound but blocked or scaled, that's a jetting or descaling conversation, not a repair job. We'll tell you which applies and why.
| Situation found on survey | Likely next step | Covered by 20-year guarantee |
|---|---|---|
| Root intrusion with joint displacement | Root cutting, then relining | Yes, on the lining work |
| Partial pipe collapse | No-dig relining or pipe replacement | Yes |
| Grease and silt build-up, pipe intact | High-pressure water jetting | No |
| Mis-connected pipework | Investigative dig and reconnection | Yes, on the repair |
| Clean drain, no faults found | No action required | N/A |
Where We Work in and Around Chesham
We cover the whole HP5 postcode as a matter of course. Botley, Chessmount, Great Hivings, Lye Green, Newtown, Hilltop, Codmore, Pednor, Waterside, Bois Moor, Chartridge, and Ashley Green are all regular call areas. We also work in the surrounding villages: Ley Hill, Bellingdon, Latimer, Amersham, Great Missenden, and Berkhamsted. If you're not sure whether we cover your address, call and we'll confirm.
---
Every CCTV survey is priced individually, agreed on the phone before we start, with no call-out fee. You get your written report the same day the camera goes in. Call us on 01494 341439.