This is my first time running a camera through all of the sewer lines on the park, so thought I would turn this over to any more experienced investors who could give me their thoughts:https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/2467033/sewer%20inspection%20signed.bmpI already posted the water line inspection in another thread.
This looks like a good report to me. Company sounds reputable and it looks like they gave you a square deal. Put these people on your preferred contractor’s list. (If you’ve read some of my other comments you’ll see that I don’t have a high opinion of the plumbing industry. In defense of the plumbing industry, however, they don’t always have the best materials to work with and the working conditions are frequently difficult.)
They clay tile will always be an issue in that the roots can ‘smell’ the water so they try to get at it though the joints. Any pipe with joints that are not 100% water and airtight will suffer the same problem. I don’t know the design life of clay tile but if the soil doesn’t settle or move you should get a solid 50 years out of it.
The best way to get the roots is to use a foaming root killer applied by a professional. The foam is applied inside the pipe before cutting the roots out so that they drink the poison far enough in to kill the roots on the outside of the pipe. Later, the roots on the inside will fall off or can be jetted. There is a ‘dwell’ or ‘soak’ time that must be observed for the foam, typically 1 to 2 hours as I recall. Many of the cities use this process for root intrusion. Each treatment should be good for 1 year or better but what the service provider says would determine the warranty period. Please update the forum on any progress.
Jim Allen
Awesome, thanks Jim!Where would I seek out a root killer treatment? Do most plumbers have the ability to conduct this, or are there specialist groups out there?Also, if you get a chance to checkout my other thread ‘diligence on water lines’ 6 posts down I included the water line report, and I would love to hear your feedback.
@NoelS, I am doing due diligence on a 30 lot park in South Carolina, and I just got a quote from a plumber saying that it would cost between $4000 and $5000 to do a camera inspection of the sewer lines. That sounds very expensive. How much did you pay for running the camera? thanks.
Hi GJS, yup that’s really high, I would definitely shop that number around and see if you can get lower. I paid $2400 for mine, and could have gotten it for $1800 but wanted some extra work done inspecting the water lines.Just a heads up that on both parks I’ve purchased I’ve had issues with the plumbers staying on schedule for this item, so you may want to plan accordingly.
thanks Noel S.