A sewer inspection asks a homeowner to trust a stranger’s description of a pipe they cannot see, and most inspectors earn that trust. A few do not. The dishonest patterns are well known in the trade, they recur, and each one has a tell that a prepared customer can spot.
Quick answer: be wary of a free inspection from a company that sells repairs, footage without a counter or a date on screen, findings that are described but not shown, a lining or replacement quote the same day, a report that did not reach the main, pressure to decide before a second opinion, and a repair that is not verified by a second camera. Ask for the full video, ask for distances, and get a second inspection before any repair over a few thousand dollars.
The free inspection that always finds something
A camera inspection costs money to perform. A company that offers it free is paying for it with the repairs it sells, and the inspector has a reason to find one. The footage may be real and the finding may be genuine, but the recommendation is not independent. Treat a free inspection as a sales call and get the repair opinion elsewhere.
Recycled or unverifiable footage
Footage with no counter, no date and no narration cannot be tied to your house. The oldest trick in the trade is a clip of someone else’s collapsed clay pipe. Ask for the counter and the date on screen, and for the camera to be seen entering your cleanout at the start of the recording. See what a report should include.
Findings described but not shown
“There is a lot of root intrusion” with no still, no distance and no video is an opinion, not a finding. Every claimed defect should be visible in a frame you can look at, with a position. If the inspector cannot show it, it is not established.
Severity inflation
A hairline crack becomes a fracture; a quarter-inch offset becomes a separated joint; a few roots at one joint become a line full of roots. The footage is the check. Interpreting footage yourself is enough to tell a small defect from a large one, and the clock position and distance should match what you see.
The same-day lining quote
Lining is a legitimate repair for the right pipe. A quote for a whole-line liner produced on the spot, before the footage has been reviewed, before a second opinion and before the alternatives of a spot repair or cleaning have been discussed, is a sales process. A good contractor is happy to send the quote after you have watched the video.
The inspection that stopped short
A report that says the line is fine but shows the camera turning back at 40 feet on a 90 foot lateral has inspected less than half the pipe. The last section, under the sidewalk and at the tap, is where many defects live. Ask whether the camera reached the main, and if not, why, and what was done about the rest.
Pressure
A pipe that has been underground for sixty years will survive a week while you get a second inspection. Any inspector who says it will not, or that the price is only good today, has told you what they are.
The unnecessary hydro jet
Jetting is useful for grease and scale. Jetting a clean line, or jetting roots that will return in a season without addressing the joint, sells a service that changes nothing. Ask what the jetting is for and what the footage shows it removing.
The repair that is never verified
A lining or a spot repair that is paid for without a second camera has not been shown to exist. Insist on after footage, with the counter, before the final payment. See re-inspecting after repair.
Bait pricing
A low advertised inspection price that grows on site with a locate fee, a report fee, a second-entry fee and a cleanout access fee. Ask for the total price for a full inspection with video, distances and a written report before anyone arrives.
How to protect yourself
Pay for the inspection separately from any repair. Ask for the full video with counter and date. Ask for every finding to be shown with a distance. Confirm the camera reached the main. Get a second inspection before any repair over a few thousand dollars, from a company that does not sell the repair. Require after footage. A homeowner who does these six things is very hard to cheat. See inspection limitations every customer should know for what honest limits look like.
Reading a quote against the footage
Every line on a repair quote should correspond to something visible at a stated distance in the video. A liner from 20 to 85 feet should be justified by defects spread through that range, not by one offset at 40 feet that a spot repair would fix. A quote for root cutting should show roots. A quote for excavation should show something a liner cannot fix. Sit with the quote and the video side by side and put a distance next to each line item; a contractor who cannot do that for you has not based the quote on the inspection.
Common questions
Is a free sewer inspection a scam?
Not always, but it is a sales call, and the repair recommendation should be checked by someone with nothing to sell.
How do I know the footage is of my house?
The date and counter on screen, the camera seen entering your cleanout, and features you can match: the distance to the sidewalk, a known repair, the material.
Should I get a second inspection?
Before any repair over a few thousand dollars, yes. It costs a few hundred and it has saved homeowners from tens of thousands.
Related guides
See what happens after a finding, what an inspector cannot tell you, and when to hire instead of buy.