Fourteen findings a push camera puts on the monitor, what each one actually means for the line, and the repair that fits it. The same catalogue the app prints on a homeowner report — written for the person paying for the work.
Findings here are graded on four levels that line up with how the NASSCO PACP scale of 1 to 5 treats severity, simplified so a homeowner can act on them. A true PACP grade is assigned by a certified operator from a coded observation; these grades are the judgement of the plumber who watched the monitor.
Info a note for the record — no repair implied. Low minor: watch it, keep it clear. Medium repair recommended. High urgent — the line is failing here.
The headline grade of the job is the single worst finding, never an average — the same idea as the PACP quick rating, which reports the worst case in the pipe. A line with three minor notes and one collapse is a collapse.
Tree and shrub roots have grown into a joint or crack and are choking the line.
Aligned to PACP Roots (R). Cutting roots without sealing the entry is a rental, not a repair — they come back down the same crack.
A hairline-to-open crack in the pipe wall; the pieces are still in place for now.
Aligned to PACP Crack (C). This is the cheap stage: lining a crack costs a fraction of digging up a break.
The pipe wall has cracked through and the pieces are starting to shift, losing strength.
Aligned to PACP Fracture (F). One step from a break — this is the window to line it before a section lets go.
Two pipe sections no longer line up — a lip or gap that catches waste and lets roots and dirt in.
Aligned to PACP Joint (J). An offset is a permanent snag point and a prime entry for roots, and it grows as the ground keeps moving.
A section has settled into a dip, so water and waste pool there instead of draining and clog again and again.
In PACP terms this is a water-level observation rather than a graded structural defect. Lining can smooth a ledge and seal a joint, but it cannot restore slope — a liner follows the same dip. If a quote offers to line a belly away, ask how the slope is restored, and whether what the camera showed is a belly at all: channeling looks identical on the monitor.
Grease, soap and mineral scale have caked on the walls and narrowed the pipe, so it drains slowly and clogs.
Aligned to PACP Deposits (DAGS/DAE). Reversible if caught early — but in old cast iron, heavy scale is a sign the pipe is corroding from the inside.
There's an actual hole where a piece of the pipe wall is gone — often with soil visible washing into the line.
Aligned to PACP Hole (H). Soil entering the line is soil leaving the ground around it — that void does not wait.
The pipe wall has broken apart or collapsed — pieces are displaced or missing and the line is failing here.
Aligned to PACP Broken (B). Active failure: waste cannot pass and soil is entering the line.
Groundwater is seeping into the line through a joint or crack, which carries in soil and overloads the system.
Aligned to PACP Infiltration (I). Sealing it early is cheap and stops the slow erosion under the yard.
A branch connection sticks into the main line, snagging waste and catching debris at that point.
Aligned to PACP Tap (T). Minor on its own, but it is where clogs start.
The pipe material is worn, corroded, or channeled (e.g. old cast iron or Orangeburg) and producing new defects.
Aligned to PACP material/condition. On an old line the honest question is repair versus replace, not which spot to patch.
Something is blocking the pipe here — flushed debris, settled grit, or a foreign object — stopping or slowing flow.
Aligned to PACP Obstruction (OB/DS). This is the symptom the homeowner already feels; the camera says whether it is a one-off or a defect.
A point of interest on the run — a cleanout, a material change, the camera's end of reach, or a located depth.
Aligned to PACP Miscellaneous (M). Feature pins are what make a report look like the whole line instead of a list of problems.
Something worth noting that doesn't fit a standard category; the plumber flagged it with a photo and note.
Aligned to PACP Miscellaneous (M). Better a free-form note than forcing a finding into the wrong box.
Both put the camera underwater, and they lead to completely different quotes. A belly is a slope problem: the pipe has settled into a dip, so water stands in it. Channeling is a wall problem: the bottom of the pipe has corroded or worn away — typically in old cast iron — leaving a trough that holds water while the pipe still runs downhill.
The distinction decides the repair. Lining can rebuild a channeled invert; it cannot lift a sagged pipe back to grade. So a "belly" that is really channeling may be a trenchless job, and a channel that is really a belly will keep pooling after the liner cures.
What separates them on the monitor: channeling usually runs continuously along an old cast-iron section with the worn wall visible above the water line, while a belly is a local dip with the pipe otherwise round, most often in clay or PVC that has settled. When it is not obvious, it is worth confirming — jet the line and re-run the camera, or have the depth and grade shot before anyone prices a dig.
A push-camera inspection is visual and non-invasive. It does not cover branch lines the camera never entered, sections it could not pass, the inside of joints, or any leak test, and defects can exist that a camera cannot see. Severity, footage and recommendations are the judgement of the plumber who watched the monitor — not a certified structural assessment.
Before you authorise a dig. Get independent confirmation of the recommended repair, and have depth, underground conditions and the exact scope confirmed by locating and a written estimate. A good report invites the second opinion instead of rushing past it.
Roots at the joints of an older clay line, grease and scale narrowing old cast iron, separated joints where the ground has moved, and standing water from a sag. Breaks and collapses are rarer, and they are the ones that change the price of a house.
The structural ones: a break or collapse, a hole with soil washing in, or a line that is at the end of its material life. Roots and buildup are maintenance, and an offset joint alone rarely justifies a dig. Ask for the footage and the photo of anything described as urgent.
It depends on how deep the dip is, how long it stands and whether the house is actually backing up. A shallow belly with no symptoms can be watched; a deep one clogs repeatedly, and only re-grading that section restores the slope. Before anyone digs, make sure it is a belly and not channeling.
Yes, and any honest report will say so itself. Ask for the recording or the photos, get the depth and the route located, and get the repair scope in writing. A second camera run costs a fraction of an excavation.
These fourteen findings, their severities and these recommendations are what DrainReport fills in for you on site — editable every time, because the call is yours.