Sewer Camera Inspection in Lilburn, GA

Tracking down a sewer smell

Few household problems are as frustrating as an odor you cannot place. It drifts out of a guest bathroom, hangs around the laundry room or rises from the crawlspace after a shower upstairs, then fades for a few days. A sewer camera inspection is one of the main tools for finding where that air escapes, because many lasting odors trace back to a cracked, separated or open pipe that nobody can see. In Lilburn houses of any age, though, a few simpler causes deserve a look before the camera comes out.

Easy causes to rule out first

• Dry traps. Every drain has a water seal that blocks sewer air. A floor drain or a shower that is rarely used can evaporate dry; pouring a quart of water into it often settles the question.
• A failing toilet seal. A toilet that rocks, or a smell concentrated at its base, can mean the wax ring has stopped sealing against the drain.
• An open cleanout outside. A cap that has cracked, been knocked off by a mower or gone missing lets sewer air out in the yard and near windows.
• Food in the kitchen drain. A sour smell at the sink is often trapped food waste rather than sewer gas.

When the odor points into the pipes

If those checks come up empty, the source is usually a gap in the drain system itself. Typical culprits include a drain pipe that has cracked inside a wall or under the floor, a joint that has pulled apart in the crawlspace, a building sewer broken close to the foundation, or a vent pipe that has come loose in the attic. A smell that grows stronger after heavy water use, or one that is worst in a crawlspace or basement, tends to point toward the drain and sewer lines rather than a single fixture.

What the camera can and cannot show

Inside the drain lines, the camera is very good at revealing cracks, holes, separated joints, missing sections and roots that have forced a joint open, each recorded with its distance from the access point. Where the camera head carries a transmitter, the spot can be traced from the surface. What it cannot do is follow air. A vent broken high in a wall, or a gap above the water line in a vertical stack, may be easier to find with a smoke test, in which smoke is blown into the drain system to see where it seeps out. The two methods often work best together.

Repairs that commonly follow

A cracked or separated pipe inside the house is handled through drain repair in Lilburn, which may mean opening a wall or working from the crawlspace. When the break is in the line running out to the street, the job becomes main sewer line repair, and a damaged cleanout can usually be fixed at the same time. For background on the equipment and what a full inspection covers, see our overview of camera inspections across Georgia.

Lilburn permits for drain and sewer repairs

Lilburn counts plumbing systems among the projects that need a permit and asks residents to check with its Business Services Department before work begins. Replacing even a short length of drain is not automatically exempt: the city's code lets an ordinary minor repair go without a permit when the planning director approves it. Filming the drains, by contrast, changes nothing in them.

Notes to make before the visit

Write down where the smell is strongest, what time of day it appears and whether it follows a shower, a load of laundry or rain. Clear a path to the crawlspace door, the attic hatch and any cleanout you know about. If a room has been closed up, open it the day before so the technician can tell whether the odor returns with normal use.

Sewer smell questions from Lilburn homeowners

Why does the smell come and go?

Intermittent odors usually follow water use or air pressure. A trap can be pulled partly dry when a nearby fixture drains, then refill later. A cracked pipe may only release air when the line is running or when wind pushes across the roof vents. Keeping a short log of when the odor appears helps narrow down which part of the system to inspect first.

Can a sewer smell come from outside the house?

Yes. A missing or broken cleanout cap, a damaged line near the foundation or a roof vent sitting close to a window or deck can all send sewer air toward the house. In those cases, the odor tends to be strongest near doors and windows on one side. The camera can check the outdoor portion of the line for breaks, and the cap is easy to inspect by eye.

Is a smoke test better than a camera?

They answer different questions. Smoke shows where air escapes, which suits vents and stacks above the water line. The camera shows the condition of the pipe itself and records exactly where a defect sits, which is what a repair plan needs. For a stubborn odor, a technician may use the camera first and add a smoke test if the footage does not explain the smell.

Find where the smell gets out

Tired of chasing a smell around your Lilburn home? Phone (404) 409-4448, and we will look inside the drains for the opening it is coming from.