Some drains cannot be cleared because there is nothing left to clear through: a cracked pipe, a joint that has dropped and opened, roots through a socket, or a section that has collapsed under a driveway. That work starts with a survey and a locator so the hole goes in the right place, and it finishes with the ground put back rather than left as a scar across a lawn.
The camera carries a sonde and we track it from the surface, so the fault is marked to within a few inches and a depth before a spade comes out. One hole in the right place beats three exploratory ones, and it is the difference between a patio relaid in a square metre and a patio relaid.
Broken sections cut out and replaced with new pipe and proper couplings, dropped joints re-laid to fall, and collapsed runs rebuilt on a proper bed rather than dropped onto whatever is at the bottom of the hole. Pipe that is not bedded and haunched right is a repeat visit waiting to happen.
Broken chambers rebuilt, benching re-formed so the flow is directed rather than swirling, new connections made into an existing run properly instead of chopped in, and covers set level and to the right load rating for where they sit.
Backfill compacted in layers, not tipped in and stamped, so the surface does not sink over the next twelve months. Slabs, block paving and turf lifted carefully at the start so the same ones go back at the end.
The survey camera carries a sonde, a transmitter we track from the surface with a locator. That gives the position within a few inches and the depth to within a few centimetres, so the hole is marked out on the ground before anyone starts. It is the single biggest saving on an excavation job.
Sometimes. Patch liners and relining can deal with a cracked or open joint on an otherwise sound run without opening the ground, and where that is the right answer we will say so. It is not a cure for a collapsed pipe, a badly dropped section or a run with no fall, and it is worth being sceptical of anyone who says otherwise.
It sometimes does, particularly where there has been damage to the property from it, and a recorded CCTV survey is normally the first thing an insurer will ask for. We produce surveys in a form insurers accept. Whether your policy pays is between you and them, and we will not tell you it will when we do not know.
A straightforward repair on a shallow run in soft ground is often a day. Deeper runs, work under a driveway or a patio, and anything needing a chamber rebuilt run longer. You will get a realistic number of days before we start, and you will be told if what comes out of the ground changes it.
Block paving and slabs are lifted carefully and relaid, and turf is lifted and put back. Where a driveway is a continuous surface like tarmac or resin, a cut and a patch is unavoidable and we will be straight with you about how visible it will be before we start rather than after.
Southampton and Romsey are home ground and the villages between and around them are a short run, so getting to a job is rarely the slow part. Emergency callouts run 24/7 across the whole patch.
Ring and we will tell you what it is likely to be before we set off.
Send a few details and we will come back with a price. If it is an emergency, ring instead and we will get to you quicker.