Pre-Purchase Drain Inspection

Don’t over-look one of the most important and often most expensive things to repair…your drains! Drain inspections are NOT part of the pest and building inspection process nor are they inspected at handover stage of a new home.

We pride ourselves on providing you with a drain inspection backed up with a comprehensive drain inspection report that meet the AS 3500.

We use the latest technology to inspect all internal and external house drainage lines. The entire inspection process is recorded on to DVD/USB so you can view any cracked pipes or problem areas before any decision is made. We also have an additional option to purchase a copy of the recording and have the drains mapped on the surface if you are planning any changes to your property such as renovations, additions, a pool or new driveway.

For home buyers, a drain inspection provides the assurance that all drainage is working as it should. If problems are found, you have the opportunity for price negotiation, to have the problem repaired or to simply walk away from the purchase.

Why carry out a drain inspection?

• 80% of house drains have some sort of defect, some of these causes are broken pipes due to ground movement, and large tree roots breaking pipes.
• Drainage pipes are often installed incorrectly from day one.
• Concrete formwork stakes are often driven into drains when forming up during construction of house slab and foot paths.
• The average cost of repairs can be thousands of dollars.
• Houses with drainage problems can be 6 months to 60 years of age.
• Apartments and units can also suffer the same fate with old pipes in concrete slabs rusting, corroding and squashing over time

So what do these types of problems look like?

Roots Blocking Your Drains

A Squashed Pipe

A Broken pipe

Broken pipe located

And what does it look like to fix them? Expensive and messy!

Broken sewer under a wooden floor

Broken pipe or sewer under a tiled floor

Broken pipe or sewer under your driveway

Broken pipe or sewer under your pool

Are you prepared to risk it? And don’t think just because you are buying a new fairly home you are safe – if they did not do a Handover Drain Inspection when the property was completed the damage may already be done during construction – see our Handover Drain Inspections page.

Drain Defects We Look For In A Drain Inspection:

We conduct an inspection of the INTERNAL drains including:

• Removing the floor waste grates to enable us to insert a camera into the internal drainage system and systematically follow all the drains through until we reach the external drainage. We check for any damage from cracks, tree roots entering from outside, breaks, squashed drains, imperfections, etc.
• This process is repeated through each of the toilet, bathroom, laundry and kitchen floor waste grates.

We conduct an inspection of the EXTERNAL drains including:

• Removing the inspection openings in the sewer line to enable us to insert a camera and follow this down to the Council sewer main, out of the property and right down into the street so we can check the whole line.
• We check for:
  • Broken pipes caused by large tree roots.
  • Badly installed drainage causing “bellying” of the pipes; this results in water holding in the drains rather than flowing free and which then causes blockages.
  • Badly installed drainage resulting in back flowing of the sewers towards the building, rather than out to the Council sewer main, again causing blockages.
  • Cracked drainage pipes leaking water which can affect the foundations and cause cracking in your building; it also creates damp which is an attraction for termites.
• Provision of a written report on the internal and external drainage and any drainage issues identified. Plus where those issues are located will be marked on site.

Being in a position of knowledge, it will either be all clear which will set your mind at rest, or you will know what the “invisible” issues are underground, what they will cost to repair and either factor this into your negotiations on price, request the vendor to fix, or walk away from the deal. Either way, there will be no nasty, expensive surprises after you have purchased your property.

Want More? “Have it all” Pack:

All of the above PLUS

• We can provide you with a copy of the camera recording of all the internal and external drainage inspection for you to keep.
• Map out the drainage system for your property on the ground with white paint. This is useful if you are proposing putting in a driveway, a pool, an extension etc.