Seeking opinions and experience in the need or no need for purchasing a locator for a sewer scope. I am in the market for a sewer camera and want to see the opinions of others on how often the locator is used or not used. Thanks for your input.
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We (the Plumber I contract) have used it a few times to locate an issue and take pictures of it for the report.
Personally, I don’t see the need for it during the inspection process since repairs aren’t going to be made at the time of inspection, and whoever does the repairs will need to located the issue themselves.
On the other hand, if a driveway or sidewalk needs to be torn up to make repairs, that may be something the client might want to know.
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I bought one
Rarely used it.
No one else on my team has one.
99.9% of the time, no one asks.
The fact is, whomever is going to do the repairs is going to want to do their own locator, and not rely on someone else’s locator.
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I do sewer scope inspections with a Scout 3 Pro Plus 512 hz sonde and self-leveling camera from Inspector Cameras. It’s a really versatile and mobile tool. It’ll fit easily into crawlspaces and other places. The Viztrac sewer camera that I used before was way too big and heavy. It also put some weird squiggly lines on the video when I did locates.
When I do sewer scope inspections I locate the pipe from above ground at joints, elbows and some defects. At the exterior of the property, I use bright green paint (little dots) or green flags to mark where the joints and defects are from above ground. If I did not locate those things along the way, it would be harder to locate a random item that’s a ways from the cleanout access. In the past when I didn’t locate the joints as I went, I got lost once or twice not knowing where the pipe was at. Then I felt like an idiot. Knowing how long each stick of pipe is also helps me determine what material the pipe is made of.
The Ridgid Navitrack Scout locator that I use is a little less annoying to use (no sounds to indicate proximity) than some other brands. I got one on Ebay for a good price. The locator is also useful at providing a depth of the camera from grade. The ability to tell a client how deep the pipe is from grade is a valuable service. I put those depth readings in the report as I go with the inspection. The excavation company or repair person will find that information helpful.
A big problem that I see with some pipes is that they are not deep enough, and the liquid inside freezes. A couple weeks ago I scoped a sewer line that had ice in areas because if was too shallow, and even exposed in one area. Think that locating the depth isn’t important? Well that’s what a realtor would say.
One client who I inspected a line for in a non-real estate transaction would not have hired me if I could not locate the depth of the line. However, the depth locator is only accurate to a certain depth.
What’s really valuable about locating defects is determining if the pipe is below a concrete slab or asphalt. A client who has to dig up defective pipe under those materials is looking at some serious excavation costs and possibly city permit fees. I will always locate the pipe as I go from now on, with every inspection, regardless of what a sleazy realtor says.
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I’d probably do a little sleuthing around and see what’s standard in your area. If agents expect locates you will definitely have your phone blowing up but if not I’d say skip it.
Scopes became standard in the Portland area shortly after I started inspecting in 2000 and the guys all did locates and that’s just the way the industry evolved there. No repair contractor should rely on your locates but as @kleonard says, it can be helpful information to know how deep and exactly where a problem is. There can be a HUGE difference in expense depending on those factors.
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Very good advice. All of the companies that do sewer scopes in my area use a locator and mark where the problem is. At least the half dozen or so that I know.
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I added on the locator when I bought my sewer scope camera because it was fairly cheap. So far, I have never used the locator on an inspection. I found these cheap locators difficult to use and it did not provide me enough confidence to include in a report. Also, the location of where my camera stops in the pipe isn’t necessarily the location of a defect that a plumber may need to repair. Having said that all that, you could still use a locator and mark the ground with proper disclaimers in your report, but I would only do so if you have a good locator like the one below.