Sewer Camera Inspection in Chevy Chase, MD

Signs to have the line filmed

• The basement floor drain backs up during laundry or after a storm
• The same clog returns after each snaking
• Gurgling toilets and slow tubs on more than one floor
• A sewer odor in the basement or near the front walk
• A depression in the lawn along the route of the pipe

Local conditions in Chevy Chase

Chevy Chase grew up in the 1890s as a streetcar suburb along Connecticut Avenue, laid out by the Chevy Chase Land Company with single-family houses. In ZIP 20815 about two-thirds of homes were built before 1980, and more than 2,600 were built in 1939 or earlier. Building sewers that old are often vitrified clay or cast iron. Clay joints let roots in from the large trees that line many streets; cast iron rusts, flakes and builds scale. Many lines have also been partly repaired over the decades, so a camera may show clay meeting plastic at a coupling, which is a common weak spot.

WSSC Water owns the public sewer. If sewage is surfacing at a manhole or in the street, call its Emergency Service Center at 301-206-4002.

What affects the cost

• Getting into the line: an old basement cleanout plug can be seized and hard to open
• Clearing roots or a blockage so the camera can pass
• Run length and the number of bends between house and street
• Locating defects from above and providing a recording

What happens when you call

An independent local plumber who covers Chevy Chase takes the call; this site only makes the connection. Describe the symptoms and the age of the house. Filming the line needs no permit, but a repair does: WSSC Water issues the plumbing permit, and the plumber must be registered with WSSC. If the fix involves a driveway or right-of-way work and you live in the Town of Chevy Chase, the Town has its own permit, and it won't approve that until the County permit is issued. Other incorporated villages have their own rules, so the plumber should check before digging.

Ask for the recording and the distance to each defect. On a lot with old trees and a long front walk, that evidence makes it easier to weigh a spot repair against a liner or a full replacement.