Why Ealing properties get drainage faults
Ealing is suburban in character, with interwar semi-detached houses, Edwardian villas and Victorian terraces closer to the centre. Gardens are generally larger than in inner London, and many properties still rely on soakaways or garden gullies for surface water.
The value of a survey is not the footage itself but what it rules out. Knowing that a pipe is sound saves the cost of excavating it; knowing that it is not saves the cost of clearing it again and again.
Mature street trees and garden planting make root ingress into older clay joints a leading cause of blockages. Where drives and patios have been laid over former soakaways, rainwater is pushed into a foul system that was never sized for it.
Our approach in Ealing
The camera goes in after the line is clear enough to read, otherwise the footage shows debris rather than defects.
- Clear enough of the line to give the camera a usable view
- Run the camera through the full length of the affected drain
- Record the position and depth of any defect with a locator above ground
- Grade what we find, from minor wear to a defect needing repair
- Provide the footage and a written summary you can pass to an insurer, surveyor or builder
Side access to rear gardens is usually available, which makes jetting and camera work straightforward. Where a drive has been paved over an inspection chamber, we locate the run first rather than lifting paving on a guess.
Signs it needs attention now
- A drain that blocks again within weeks of being cleared
- Unexplained damp, subsidence concerns or a sinkhole in the garden
- Buying a property with mature trees close to the drain run
- An insurer or managing agent asking for evidence of the pipe condition
- Planning an extension that will be built over an existing drain
What we see most often in Ealing
- Roots from garden and street trees entering clay joints
- Soakaways paved over during a driveway or patio project
- Rainwater downpipes discharging into a foul run that cannot take the volume
Ealing is suburban family housing for the most part, and most of our work here is for owners rather than agents. Side access is usually available, which keeps jetting and camera work straightforward and the visit short.
Equipment and what happens afterwards
We survey with a self-levelling colour camera and an above-ground locator, which together tell us not just what a defect looks like but exactly where it is and how deep. That matters, because a repair quote based on a rough guess at position is a repair quote that changes once the ground is open.
You receive the footage along with a written summary describing each defect, its position and how serious it is. We write it so that a surveyor, an insurer or a builder can use it directly. Where a repair is needed we set out the realistic options, including the ones that do not involve excavation.
What cctv drain surveys cost in Ealing
A CCTV drain survey is a fixed £300 plus VAT, including the footage and a written summary of what we found. There is no call-out charge in Ealing, at any hour, and the price you are given on the call is the price you pay.
Areas we cover around Ealing
Ealing sits within our core coverage, taking in W5, W13, W3 and UB6 across Ealing. Average response is 75 minutes, and we operate in Brent, Hammersmith, Kensington and Richmond too, which helps when a drain run is shared between properties in different streets.