The camera goes into your sewer line and sends back live footage of everything inside. Every crack, every root, every low spot has a name, a severity level, and a repair path. This is what a Contour technician looks for during a camera inspection, what each condition means, and what it typically calls for.
What the Camera Covers
The inspection starts at your sewer cleanout and runs a high-definition camera through the line to where your private lateral meets the city main. The technician records everything on video, noting pipe material, diameter, and any conditions along the way. Inspections in our industry follow the PACP standard maintained by NASSCO (the National Association of Sewer Service Companies), which gives every finding a consistent name and rating that any contractor can read and understand. The footage stays with you at the end, along with a written report you can share with anyone.
Root Intrusion
Root intrusion is the most common finding in Duluth and Superior. Tree roots follow moisture, and sewer joints are the most reliable source of moisture in a yard. In older clay tile pipe, joints are short bell-and-spigot connections held in place by gravity and soil pressure. Over decades, those joints shift just enough for roots to find a way in.
The severity ranges widely. Hair-fine roots at a single joint are a minor issue that a sewer cleaning can clear. A root mass filling half the pipe diameter across several feet is a different problem entirely.
What it means: Minor root intrusion usually calls for cleaning and an annual maintenance schedule. Moderate to heavy intrusion means you need a plan, whether that is repeated cleaning, chemical treatment, or pipe lining to seal the joints permanently. Read more in Tree Roots in Your Sewer Line: Signs, Causes, and How to Stop Them.
Cracked or Fractured Pipe
Cracks come in two types. Longitudinal cracks run along the length of the pipe and usually mean the soil has shifted or the pipe material has become brittle over time. Circumferential cracks run around the pipe and often signal that a section has been under sustained stress, whether from vehicle loads above, settled soil, or root damage that was left untreated long enough to cause structural failure.
What it means: Small cracks that have not spread and show no soil intrusion are a watch-and-wait situation. Cracks with visible sediment or water infiltration coming through the pipe wall need repair before the opening grows larger. Cracked pipe is a good candidate for lining if the rest of the run is in reasonable condition.
Offset and Shifted Joints
An offset joint means two adjacent pipe sections have moved out of alignment. In the Northland, freeze-thaw cycles are a major cause. When the ground freezes in January and thaws in April, the soil can pull sections in opposite directions. Do this enough winters and a flush joint shifts by a quarter inch, then a half inch, then more. That ledge inside the pipe is where debris catches, where roots grab, and where water can escape the line.
What it means: A single minor offset in an otherwise clean line is not urgent. Multiple offset joints, or significant displacement at any one point, indicate a line that is actively moving, and it will keep moving.
Sags and Pipe Bellies
A sag (sometimes called a belly) is a low point where the pipe has settled below the proper slope. Sewer lines depend on gravity, so they need a consistent downward grade from your home to the main. When a section loses that grade, water pools in the low spot instead of flowing through. That standing water collects debris, feeds root growth, and eventually backs up into the house.
Sags are common in older homes where the original bedding material under the pipe, usually sand or gravel, has compressed or washed away over the years.
What it means: A small sag with minor debris buildup needs monitoring. A severe belly with standing water visible in the footage is not going to drain on its own. It needs attention.
Collapsed or Deformed Pipe
A collapsed section means the pipe has lost its round shape, caving in from above or deforming from material failure. This is the most urgent finding a camera inspection can return.
The material most likely to look like this in Duluth and Superior is Orangeburg. Orangeburg is a wood pulp and pitch composite pipe installed between the 1940s and early 1970s. It was never designed to last more than 50 years, and a lot of it is now well past that mark. Learn more about what Orangeburg, clay tile, and cast iron look like in the ground under Northland homes.
What it means: Collapsed or severely deformed pipe requires replacement. Pipe lining needs a round host to form against. If the cross-section has lost its shape, lining is not an option.
Grease and Debris Buildup
Fats, oils, and grease cool and solidify on pipe walls. Over time the coating narrows the pipe’s effective diameter. A line that looks like a 4-inch pipe on the outside may have less than 3 inches of clear space inside after years of buildup.
What it means: Buildup is usually a maintenance issue, not a structural one. Hydro-jetting clears it. The real concern is whether the buildup is masking cracks or root intrusion underneath.
House Traps
A house trap is a P-shaped fitting installed at the base of a home’s lateral, designed to create a water seal against sewer gas entering the home. They were required by code in Duluth and Superior homes built before the 1960s. Building codes have since changed, and house traps are no longer required or recommended. They create a collection point for debris and can prevent a camera from passing through to inspect the full line.
What it means: If your inspection report mentions a house trap, it is worth noting. The Duluth I&I program has been addressing inflow and infiltration issues since 2012, and house trap removal has been part of that work. Grants have been available through both Duluth and Superior for qualified homeowners.
What the Whole Block Can Tell You
Here is something a camera inspection reveals that most homeowners do not expect.
Neighborhoods get their sewer infrastructure laid at the same time, usually by the same contractor, using the same materials. A clay tile pipe installed under your yard in 1955 is the same age and the same material as the pipes under the properties on either side. When an inspection finds root intrusion at 70 to 80 percent of joints, a belly at the 40-foot mark, and Orangeburg beginning to deform near the city connection, those conditions are consistent with a neighborhood aging into widespread sewer problems at the same pace.
The City of Duluth maintains over 400 miles of collection sewer and 53 wastewater pumping stations. A significant portion of the oldest pipe in that network and in the private laterals that feed it was installed in the same era. In Superior, the pattern holds the same way.
This does not mean your neighbor has the same problem. It means the inspection footage from your home can start a useful conversation about what is happening under the block.
How to Think About Urgency
Not every finding is an emergency. Here is a simple way to frame what the camera shows:
Monitor: Minor root intrusion at one or two joints, light coating buildup, small cracks with no soil infiltration, a single minor offset with no debris accumulation. Note it, plan a follow-up inspection in one to two years.
Plan and budget: Moderate root intrusion throughout the line, multiple offset joints, a belly with standing water visible in the footage, Orangeburg beginning to deform. These conditions will get worse. Get a scope of work and a timeline.
Act now: A root mass blocking flow, a collapsed section, cracked pipe with visible soil infiltration, an offset severe enough that the camera cannot pass. These are not watch-and-wait situations.
What You Get at the End
A camera inspection from Contour gives you a full video recording of the run, a written summary of conditions found, and a straight answer about what each finding means for your repair options. If lining is possible, we will say so. If the pipe needs to come out, we will say that too.
The footage belongs to you. You can share it with any contractor, use it to get multiple bids, or bring it to the city if there is a question about where private responsibility ends and city main responsibility begins. Getting a camera inspection does not lock you into working with one company. It qualifies or disqualifies the major issues before any money is spent on repair.
For a look at what an inspection typically costs in the Duluth and Superior area, read How Much Does a Sewer Camera Inspection Cost in Duluth, MN?
Ready to schedule? Contact Contour to set up an inspection.