Cleaning before inspection
Clearing the line first so a camera can see more than debris.
Footage recorded through a line full of material shows the material. Footage recorded after clearing shows the pipe. Both are legitimate; they answer different questions, and a proposal priced against one of them should say which.
What this page cannot establish
- Cleaning before inspection cannot establish what the line looked like before it was cleaned
- Cleaning before inspection cannot establish that removed material explains the symptom
- Cleaning before inspection cannot establish that the condition will not return
What it is for
To remove material that would otherwise obscure the lens, so that an inspection records the line rather than its contents.
When a professional may raise it
These are circumstances, not rules. No method is appropriate everywhere, and a professional declining to use one is not necessarily cutting a corner.
- when a line is blocked or heavily obstructed
- when an earlier inspection was limited by what was in the line
What to ask for afterwards
A method performed without a record produces very little you can carry into the next conversation.
- a note of what method was used and how far it reached
- a note of anything recovered or observed during cleaning
- inspection footage recorded after the cleaning
Practical constraints
- changes the state of the line before it is recorded
- a condition visible before cleaning may not be visible after, and the reverse
Questions worth asking
- Was the line cleaned before the camera went in?
- What did you observe while cleaning?
- Would the footage look different if it had been recorded first?
What would change the answer
- a note of what method was used and how far it reached
- a note of anything recovered or observed during cleaning
- inspection footage recorded after the cleaning
What to do next
It is the first question in the structured review because it changes the meaning of everything after it.
Check whether your inspection says which it wasIf your situation is different
- Your problem keeps coming back: Blockages that keep coming back
- You have a visit booked and want to ask for this: Prepare for a contractor visit
Related, and why
- Limits of cleaning
Cleaning restores flow; it does not tell you about the pipe.
- Camera inspection
The inspection this question qualifies.