Home Sales and Sewer Line Inspections

Generally the homeowner owns the lateral from the house to the connection at the main, and the utility owns the main. That means most sewer line repairs are the homeowner's, which is exactly why an inspection before buying is worth the hour.

Not always. The camera inspection tells us what the problem is and where, and that determines the options. Some failures can be addressed without full excavation, and some cannot. We will show you the footage and explain the choices rather than leading with the biggest job.

Root intrusion is the leading cause, and this region has both mature trees and older laterals. Beyond that: clay and cast iron pipe reaching the end of its life, ground movement causing offsets and bellies, and grease accumulation narrowing the line.

Several drains slow at once, gurgling toilets, sewage odour indoors or in the yard, water backing up in the lowest fixture, and unusually lush or sunken patches of lawn along the line's route. Any of those points past a single blocked drain and is worth a camera inspection.

You get the footage and an assessment, and it becomes information you can act on: negotiate a credit, ask for a repair before closing, or budget for it knowingly. The point is going in informed rather than discovering it in the first winter.

Usually well under an hour for a typical residential lateral, and it fits comfortably inside an inspection window. The recording matters as much as the visit, because it is the thing you can put in front of the other side of the transaction.

We run a camera the length of the lateral from the house to the main and record what is there: root intrusion, cracks, offsets, bellies, and the pipe material and condition. You get footage and a plain assessment of what it means, which is what you need if it is going to inform a negotiation.

Because a sewer line replacement is one of the most expensive surprises in home ownership, and a standard home inspection does not include it. In neighborhoods with older clay or cast iron laterals and mature trees, which describes much of this region, root intrusion and cracked lines are common enough to be worth checking.

Often the same day. If you call before 1pm we can usually get a technician to you that day, and members of our 5 Star Maintenance Plan go to the front of the queue. Our vans are stocked, so most common repairs are finished on the first visit rather than waiting on a part.

It is our annual maintenance membership. Members get discounted annual maintenance, priority service, no overtime charges, a discounted diagnostic fee that is free at the Platinum level, an extended repair warranty, discounted water heater service, and a reminder when your maintenance is due. Members who call before 1pm can usually be seen the same day.

A three year labor warranty on our work as standard, plus a Lifetime Workmanship Warranty. Manufacturer warranties on the equipment itself run separately and vary by brand and model. A Comfort Shield Extended Warranty is available if you want coverage beyond that, and we will explain what each one covers before you decide.

Yes. Ballard Heating, Cooling, Electric & Plumbing offers financing options to help you spread the cost of larger projects, such as a new heat pump, furnace, air conditioner, water heater, or electrical panel upgrade, into manageable monthly payments. Visit our Financing page to see current options, or call us at 206-784-8101 and our team will walk you through what's available for your project.

We quote upfront, before the work starts, so there is no surprise at the end. For larger jobs we put a detailed proposal together onsite and back it with our Price Lock Guarantee, which means the price we put in writing is the price you pay. Estimates are free.

Yes. We hold Washington contractor licenses BALLANG062QD and BASHAAP823QR, and our technicians are licensed professionals. We are also a Mitsubishi Diamond Elite Contractor, a Trane Comfort Specialist and a Lennox Premier Dealer, and a longstanding member of the Air Conditioning Contractors of America.

Since 1993. We have been locally-led and operated that whole time, which is more than thirty years working on homes in this region. That matters more than it sounds: Puget Sound housing stock runs from 1920s bungalows to new construction, and the right answer for one is rarely the right answer for the other.