Root cutting is the most common sewer service there is and the least often followed up. A cable with a cutting head goes down the line, the roots come out in a mat, the drain runs again and everyone goes home. The joint the roots came through is still there, still open, still leaking a little water into the soil that the next root will follow, and the cycle repeats in a year or two. The camera pass after the cutting is the inspection that breaks the cycle, because it is the only time the entry joint can be seen clearly, with the roots gone and the pipe clean. Removing the tree is a different event with its own risks, and it also calls for a look.
Quick answer: after root cutting, camera the line while it is clear and inspect each joint the roots came through: is it merely a failed seal that a liner will close, an offset that needs a spot repair, or a cracked or broken section that needs replacement? Record the distance and locate each entry joint from the surface. After tree removal, inspect for damage from the stump grinding or extraction, which can lift and shear a shallow lateral, and expect root entry to continue for a season or two from the roots left in the ground. Then repair the joints, because the cutting was the symptom and the joints are the cause.
Why the post-cutting pass matters
Before cutting, the camera sees a mass of root and nothing of the joint behind it. After cutting, the joint is visible: the gap the roots entered through, whether the sections are offset, whether the bell is cracked, whether soil is visible behind. That picture is what decides the repair, and it exists only in the window after cutting and before regrowth. A contractor who cuts and leaves has cleared the symptom; one who cuts and cameras has diagnosed it. The root guide describes the stages and the clay guide the most root-prone material.
Reading the entry joint
A square joint with a hairline of regrowth and no displacement is a failed seal, and lining closes it. A joint with a crescent of gap and a step is an offset, and a spot repair or a liner fixes it depending on size. A shattered bell or a cracked section with pieces missing is a replacement of that section. Soil or a void visible through the gap means the leak has been washing out bedding, and the void needs filling with the repair. Count the entry joints; one is a spot repair, several is a liner. The offset guide grades the displacement.
Locating the joints
With the head at each entry joint, activate the sonde and locate from the surface. The marks usually fall within the spread of the tree, and they are the repair plan. A spot repair opens the ground at one mark; a liner needs the entry and exit points; a replacement needs the route. Photograph the marks before the paint fades. Marking a dig with a 512 Hz locator covers the procedure.
After the tree comes out
Removing a large tree near the lateral is a mechanical event. A stump grinder reaches a foot or more below grade; an excavator pulling a stump lifts the ground around it; a root ball torn out can take a shallow pipe with it. The camera after removal looks for a new offset, a sheared joint or a crushed section under where the stump was, and the sonde locate confirms it. Separately, the roots left in the ground continue to grow into the lateral for a season or two after the tree is gone, so root cutting may still be needed, and the joints still need repair. The landscaping damage guide covers the mechanical case.
Deciding the repair
One failed seal: a spot repair or, if the rest of the line is similar, a liner. Several failed joints in sound clay or cast iron: a liner, which closes every joint and is the standard answer in root-prone lines. Cracked or broken sections: replace those sections, then line or leave the rest. Orangeburg with roots through the wall: replacement. The post-cutting camera pass with its distances and marks is the specification for any of these. Repairing root damage compares the options.
Timing
Camera within a day or two of cutting, before silt and regrowth obscure the joints. If the cutting was done by a company that will also quote the repair, consider having the post-cutting pass done by someone who will not, because the number of joints they count is the size of the quote. Re-inspect a year after the repair, in root season, to confirm it held.
What to record
Each entry joint with its distance, its condition and its surface mark. The number of joints. The material. Any damage from a stump removal. A still at each joint. That record decides between a spot repair and a liner and is the baseline for the follow-up a year later.
Common questions
Do roots come back after cutting?
Yes, from the same joints, unless the joints are repaired. Cutting buys a season; the repair ends it.
Does removing the tree stop the roots?
Eventually. The roots in the ground keep growing for a season or two, and the joints are still open to the next tree.
Should I camera before or after cutting?
Both if possible; after at minimum. The after-pass is the one that shows the joints.
Related guides
See how tree species affect sewer lines, the best sewer cameras for root work, and preventing root intrusion.