A house built in the last twenty-five years has a plastic drain system that should last a century, and most do. The problems a camera finds in them are not age; they are construction. A lateral laid in a trench that was then driven over by every truck on the site. A joint dry-fitted on a Friday and never glued. A line with the wrong slope because the trench was dug to the wrong depth. Mortar, drywall mud, gravel and offcuts washed or dropped into the pipe before the fixtures were connected. A tap into the main made by the lowest bidder. None of these show up until the house has been lived in for a while, and a camera inspection of a new or nearly new house is the only way to find them before they become a backup.
Quick answer: in a post-2000 house expect construction debris in the line, a belly or a flat run from poor bedding or wrong slope, a crushed or deflected section where site traffic crossed the trench, a dry joint, a protruding tap at the main, and occasionally damage from later landscaping, fencing or a pool. The pipe material is sound; the installation may not be. A camera from the exterior cleanout covers the lateral in minutes, and a new-build inspection is cheap insurance against a warranty argument later.
Construction debris
Mortar droppings, concrete slurry, drywall compound, gravel, insulation, offcuts of pipe and the occasional tool end up in a drain line during a build, and they sit in the first belly or at the first fitting until the house’s own waste catches on them. The camera shows a hard lump or a bed of grit in an otherwise new pipe. It is cleared, usually by jetting, and the camera confirms the line is clean. The sediment guide covers reading the bed.
Bellies and wrong slope
A trench dug too deep at one point, or backfilled without compaction, gives a belly. A trench dug to the wrong grade gives a long flat run or, worse, a back-graded section. The camera shows standing water with a defined start and end for a belly, or a long shallow film for a flat run. In a new house the builder’s warranty may cover it, and the camera footage with distance readings is the claim. The grade problems guide covers the slope case.
Crushed by the build
The lateral is laid early and the site is busy for months afterward. Concrete trucks, delivery trucks and excavators cross the trench, and a shallow lateral in loose backfill deflects or crushes where they did. The camera shows an oval or dented section, often under the driveway or the path to the front door. A sonde locate lands on the spot. The settlement guide covers it.
Dry joints and bad taps
The same defects as the previous era, from the same cause: speed. A hub with a gap around the pipe is a dry joint; a pipe end standing into the main is a bad tap. Both are spot repairs and both are warranty items in a new house. The tap guide describes the second.
Later damage
A new house gets landscaped, fenced, decked and sometimes given a pool in its first few years, and each of those involves digging or driving over the lateral. A fence post through the pipe, a footing on it, an excavator across it: the camera finds a fresh break or a crush, and the sonde locate usually lands on the new feature. Fence posts, footings and landscaping damage covers the cases.
The new-build inspection
Before closing on a new house, or at the end of the builder’s warranty period, a camera pass from the exterior cleanout to the main with the counter running and a sonde in the head gives a baseline recording and a route map. Anything found is the builder’s problem while the warranty runs and the owner’s problem after. The new construction inspection guide covers what to look for, and new-build walkthroughs the timing.
Reading a new lateral
The pipe should look new: white or black, smooth, with a cemented ring at every hub and a steady fall toward the street. Anything else is a finding. Grey slurry on the invert is concrete washout. A hub with a gap is a dry joint. An oval opening under the driveway is a crush. Standing water with a defined start and end is a belly from poor bedding. A pipe end standing into the main is a bad tap. Each is specific, each is located with the sonde, and each is a warranty item while the warranty runs.
What to record
The date, the counter reading at every finding, the surface mark, and stills. The route of the lateral, painted and photographed, for the file. A recording of a clean, correctly graded lateral is just as valuable as one that found a problem, because it is the baseline against which every later inspection is compared and the evidence that any later damage came later.
Common questions
Why would a new house have sewer problems?
Construction debris, poor bedding, site traffic and dry joints. The pipe is fine; the installation may not be.
Is a sewer inspection worth it on a new build?
Yes. It is cheap, it gives a baseline, and it catches warranty items while the builder is still liable.
Can a plastic lateral be located if there is a problem?
Only with a sonde in the camera head. Plastic cannot be traced any other way.
Related guides
See houses built 1975 to 2000, the best sewer cameras for PVC pipes, and sewer scope inspection when buying a house.