Sewer Camera Inspection in Cranford, NJ

Cranford has the oldest owned homes in our Union County towns

We serve 12 towns in Union County. By the Census count of owned homes built before 1960, Cranford is first. In Cranford that is 5,915 of 7,306 owned homes, and the typical home was built in 1951.

Source: US Census, American Community Survey 2024 5-year estimates, table B25036 for year built and B19013 for income. An old house is not a bad house. It just means the sewer pipe may be 65 years old or more, and nobody has looked inside it lately.

If sewage backs up in Cranford, who fixes what?

Cranford answers this in its own Public Works FAQ. When a homeowner asks what to do about a sewer back-up, the township replies: "Call our office, DPW will check to see if it is a Township or homeowner responsibility."

Camera footage helps that conversation, and it can save an emergency plumbing call later. It shows where in the line the problem sits and how deep, so you are not arguing about a clog nobody has seen. Sewer backups that keep coming back are a strong reason to book camera inspections in the first place.

Sources: Township of Cranford Public Works FAQ and Permits page; Borough of Garwood Ordinance 21-16 for the sewer authority members.

Sewer camera inspection and sewer scope cost in Cranford and across New Jersey

Our price is printed on our maintenance page: $650 for a camera inspection on its own, and $325 with any maintenance plan. The Power Secure plan, $1,095 a year, includes one, along with four sewer cleanings.

That price for a professional sewer camera inspection covers the HD video, the locating and depth, and the report in your Rooter Record. If the camera finds a clog that needs clearing, you hear that price before we start, and you decide.

What sewer cameras find in an old Cranford sewer line

A New Jersey home inspector who checks older homes names three kinds of old sewer pipe, and how each one fails, in one line.

"Clay is brittle and cracks, cast iron corrodes and flakes apart, and Orangeburg collapses."

John Martino, New Jersey home inspector, LookSmart Home Inspections. Outside expert, not affiliated with Power Rooter.

On our camera, that wear shows up as a few common sewer problems in Cranford homes.

• Tree roots that slip in at the joints of clay pipe and catch everything that flows past.
• Cracks, breaks and missing pieces in brittle sections.
• Offsets, where joints have shifted out of line.
• Bellies, where the pipe has sagged and holds water and waste.
• Rough, flaking walls inside cast iron that snag paper and grease and slow the proper flow of waste.
• An obstruction such as a wipe clog, which often shows up first as slow drains.

"A pipe can sag, creating a belly in the line where water and waste collect. Over time this leads to blockages."

John Martino, New Jersey home inspector. Outside expert, not affiliated with Power Rooter.

What is Orangeburg pipe, and could my Cranford home have it?

Orangeburg is a fiber pipe made with tar (bitumen). The name comes from the Orangeburg Manufacturing Co. of Orangeburg, New York. The building office in Ann Arbor, Michigan, says its local range of use was about the early 1950s to the early 1970s, and warns: "Bituminous fiber piping systems have experienced numerous failures over the years, and many systems have needed complete piping replacement."

We know of no public list of which Cranford homes have it. A home built in the 1950s or 1960s may, and so may a house whose first line was replaced in those years. The way to know is to look. The camera shows what the pipe is made of and whether it has started to collapse.

A non-invasive look before any excavation

A sewer video camera inspection is non-invasive. Nothing gets dug up to see the pipe, so you learn about damaged sewer lines without digging and before costly repairs. That matters in Cranford, where any dig in the street right-of-way needs a permit and an escrow.

Video inspections also make repair services easier to price, because the common issues in an NJ sewer line, like the ones above, show up on screen. A contractor quoting sewer repairs can see the exact spot of a misalignment, a break or tree root intrusion, and how deep it sits. Without that, an estimate is a guess about your plumbing system.

Our camera inspection services cover all of northern New Jersey, from Bergen to Union County, so home buyers looking at houses in several towns can book the same check on each NJ home. We are serving Cranford and the towns near Cranford every day, and our New Jersey service area also takes in Passaic and Hudson County, including Jersey City, for homes and commercial properties alike. Call (908) 666-8686 today to schedule your sewer inspection.

Buying a house in Cranford? Get a sewer inspection first

The sewer lateral is usually not part of a standard home inspection, because it runs underground. One home inspection software maker puts it this way: "it's very hard to tell the state of the sewage system from a traditional home inspection, which requires documentation only of what can be seen."

Book the camera early in your inspection window and share the link with your realtor. If it finds trouble, you will have video, a location and a depth to show the seller, your attorney or any contractor you ask for a second opinion. One New Jersey homeowner on Reddit gave this advice: "get several opinions before paying to replace a main sewer line."

Camera first, then the right tool

The camera also decides how we clear a line. About 98% of the clogs we clear come out with a snake. When the camera shows grease or scale on the walls, or a clog past a snake's reach, we use the jetter, and only on pipe that can take it. See hydro jetting in Cranford.

More near you: all our Cranford services, sewer camera inspection in Union County, and sewer camera inspection in Westfield.

Sources

• US Census ACS 2024 5-year, table B25036
• John Martino, "Should You Get a Sewer Line Inspection Before Buying a Home in NJ?"
• City of Ann Arbor, "Orangeburg Sewer Piping"
• Township of Cranford, Public Works FAQ
• Township of Cranford, Permits
• Borough of Garwood Ordinance 21-16, RVSA member towns
• HomeGauge, "What Do Home Inspectors Need to Know About Sewer Scope Inspections?" (2021)
• r/newjersey thread
• Power Rooter maintenance plans