Most residential sewer inspection reports arrive as a few pages with half a dozen still images and a summary. Some come with a link to the full video. The two are not interchangeable, and a customer who receives only the stills has received the inspector’s conclusions rather than the evidence for them.
Quick answer: stills are for the report; they put a labelled, distance-stamped image next to each finding so a reader can see what the words mean. Video is for verification; it shows the whole line, the context around each finding, how the water moved and what the inspector did not stop for. Ask for both, keep the video, and treat a report with only stills as incomplete.
What a still does well
A still is a frame chosen by the inspector at the moment the finding was clearest, with the distance on screen and a caption. It is readable on a phone, it prints, it fits in an email to a contractor and it can be compared to a still from a later inspection of the same spot. For a report that will be read by a buyer, a seller, two agents and a lender, stills are what gets looked at. Photo and video recording on a camera explains how each is captured.
What a still hides
Everything before and after it. A frame of a root mass does not show whether it filled the pipe or sat in one corner, whether water was flowing past it, or whether the pipe beyond it was clear or worse. A frame of a belly cannot show the water rising and falling, which is how a belly is diagnosed. And a report with six stills has, by definition, left out the sections the inspector judged unremarkable, which is a judgement the customer cannot check.
What video does well
It shows the whole line at the speed the camera moved, with the counter running and the inspector’s narration if there is one. It shows how the picture changed as the head passed a joint, how much water sat in a low spot and how long it took to clear, how the pipe material changed at a repair, and whether the inspector reached the main or turned back. A second reviewer, a contractor quoting a repair or a buyer’s own inspector can form their own view from it. Interpreting footage is possible only with the footage.
What video does badly
It is long, it is large, and nobody reads it. A forty-minute file of a dark pipe will not be watched by a lender, and a buyer skimming it on a phone will miss the two seconds that matter. Without timestamps or a list of findings with their position in the file, a video is evidence without an index.
What a good report does
Both. A written list of findings with distances, each with a still, each with the time in the video where it appears, and the full video delivered as a file or a link. The stills carry the message; the video carries the proof; the timestamps join them. What a report should include lists the rest.
When you only got stills
Ask for the video. Every camera that captured a still captured video, and an inspector who will not release it has a reason that is not in your interest. If the inspection was commissioned by the other party in a sale, your right to the video depends on the agreement; your own inspector’s video is yours.
When you only got video
Watch it with the report open and the counter visible, and make your own stills at each finding with a screenshot. Note the time in the file for each. For a sale, ask the inspector for a written summary; for a repair quote, the contractor will make their own stills from your file.
Making your own
If you inspect with your own reel, record video always and take a still at every observation, with the counter on screen. Narrate the distance aloud if the recorder has a microphone. Afterwards, export the stills and the video together and name the files by distance. Recording formats and cards covers what the reel will give you and how to share the footage covers getting it to someone else.
How many of each, and when to take them
A workable rule for a residential lateral is a still at the entry with the counter at zero, a still at every change of material or diameter, a still of every observation at the moment it is clearest, a still at the furthest point reached, and a still at anything the inspector is unsure about so that a second reader can weigh in. Video runs continuously from entry to withdrawal; stopping and restarting it to save card space is how the two seconds that matter get lost. If the recorder allows a still to be captured without interrupting the video, use that; if it does not, take stills on the way back out after the full video pass is complete.
Common questions
Is a report without video valid?
It is the inspector’s opinion with illustrations. It may be entirely correct, but it cannot be checked, and a buyer or a contractor should ask for the footage before acting on it.
How many stills should a report have?
One for every finding, one at the entry, one at the furthest point reached, and one at each change of material. Six is thin for a lateral with any history.
Should I keep the video after the sale?
Yes. It is the baseline for every future inspection of the same line and the evidence if a repair is disputed.
Related guides
See inspection report documentation, video file formats and how to open them, and why footage is blurry.