The largest quote a plumber is likely to hand you, for a pipe you cannot see. So you get the footage, a written scope, and the cost of digging it up instead, priced beside it.
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Relining is the most expensive job most households will ever be quoted by a plumber, and it is for a pipe buried in the ground that they have never seen and did not know the layout of.
That combination is exactly where people get taken advantage of, so the answer is to make it checkable. On every relining inspection you get the camera footage, and it is yours to keep.
You also get a written scope: which section, how many metres, what method, and what it costs. And beside it, honestly priced, what it would cost to dig the same run up and replace it.
Two options, both in writing, plus the footage they were based on. Take it to another licensed plumber if you want. We would rather you were confident than quick, and nothing we quote expires because you took a few days.
Bring us the footage and the scope. We will give you a straight second opinion, including if we think the other quote is fair.
For work you cannot see, on a pipe you did not know you had, recommended by somebody you met an hour ago. That is a difficult position to be in.
It is worth saying plainly rather than pretending otherwise, because the discomfort is reasonable and it deserves an answer.
The answer is evidence, and the rest of this page is about what to ask for.
A camera records the actual condition of the pipe. There is no legitimate reason to recommend several thousand dollars of work and not show you what it is for.
Ask for the file rather than a viewing on a tablet in the driveway. You want a recording you still have next month.
We hand ours over as a matter of course, whatever it shows and whether or not there is work in it for us.
Which section, how many metres, sectional patch or full run, and what happens at the junctions. A price without those is not comparable to anything.
Two quotes that look far apart are frequently pricing different amounts of pipe, and neither has said so.
A scope in writing turns a decision about trust into a decision about work.
Relining is usually the better option, but not always, and you deserve both numbers for the same defect rather than one method presented as the only one.
Where the ground is open, the run is short and a machine can reach it, an excavation is sometimes cheaper and more durable.
A plumber who will only quote one method is selling a method rather than solving a problem.
The line from your house to the boundary is yours. Past it, the fault is generally the water authority's rather than yours, and it is not your bill.
That is worth establishing before authorising anything, and locating the defect answers it precisely.
It is one of the more common reasons a quote turns out not to be needed at all.
On a job this size it is a sensible thing to do, and we hand over the footage partly so you can. Nobody legitimate is offended by it.
The second plumber is then assessing the same evidence rather than performing a fresh survey, which is faster and cheaper for you.
If somebody discourages it or makes it difficult, that is information.
A soft liner full of resin goes in, gets inflated so it takes the shape of the host pipe, and hardens there. The old pipe becomes the form rather than the plumbing.
The finished liner is structural. That is the difference between this and any kind of coating or spray, and it is why it carries a design life rather than a warranty period.
Everything happens from an existing opening, which means the surface above the run is never touched.
A recommendation should point at something on the screen: a crack, a displaced joint, root intrusion, a length holding water. Something you can see.
The age of the pipe is not a defect. Plenty of old lines are in good condition and will outlast the people worrying about them.
If the reason given is the era of the house rather than the state of the pipe, ask what is on the footage.
It restores the pipe. It cannot change the gradient the pipe was laid at, because the liner takes the shape of the host it cures inside, settled sections included.
So a run that films as sound but keeps blocking in the same place is a fall problem, and a liner will not fix it.
That is worth knowing, because it is the most common thing a liner gets sold for when it should not be.
Making a blockage safe is urgent. Deciding on a major repair is not, and it never becomes urgent between the afternoon and the following morning.
So take the footage, take the written scope, and think about it. Get another quote if you want one.
Anybody applying pressure to sign on the day is telling you about their week rather than about your drain.
The length in metres, which section, whether it is a patch or a full run, what happens at the junctions, and what the figure includes if something is found on the day.
That is five things, all of them answerable, and a quote containing them can be compared against another quote honestly.
A single number with none of them is not a quote you can assess, however reasonable the number looks.
Quoted in writing off the camera footage, with the excavation alternative priced beside it. These are indicative 2026 ranges, published so you can hold any quote against them.
Footage handed over. Credited against the reline if you decide to go ahead.
One failed joint or a short damaged length, sealed without touching the rest.
Priced on length, diameter and how many bends the run has in it.
The line taken back to clean wall so the liner forms properly against it.
What we propose, what digging would cost instead, and where your responsibility ends.
We film the line and hand the footage over before anyone quotes anything, and we mark where your boundary sits.
The reline and the excavation, both priced, so you can compare them properly rather than take our word for which is better.
Nothing expires. Get a second opinion on the footage if you want one. We would rather you were sure.
The finished run recorded end to end and handed over, so you can see what you actually paid for.
Get the footage before you agree to anything. If the fault is past your boundary it may not be your bill at all.
Call 1300 381 569A resin-soaked liner is pulled through the existing drain, inflated so it presses against the pipe wall along the whole length, then cured until it hardens. The result is a continuous pipe formed inside the old one, with no joints along the lined section. Joints are where roots get in and where gaps open, so removing them is the point. The old pipe stays put and acts as the mould, which is why nothing has to be dug up.
Ask for three things, and any honest plumber will hand them over. First, the camera footage, so you can see the fault yourself. Second, a written scope: which section, how many metres, what method, what it costs. Third, the price of the alternative, which is excavating and replacing, so you can see both options side by side. If any of those is missing you are being asked to buy something you cannot check, and that is a reasonable thing to refuse.
On a job this size, yes, and we will not be offended. Take the footage we give you to another licensed plumber and ask what they would do. That is exactly why we hand it over rather than describing what we saw. A quote that is only valid today, or a plumber who discourages you from checking, has told you something important about themselves.
No, and we will say so when it is not. Relining needs enough sound pipe left to press a liner against, so a section that has genuinely collapsed or been crushed has to be dug up and replaced. Sometimes a short excavation in an accessible spot is simply cheaper than lining a whole run. We price both because the right answer depends on your pipe, not on which method we would rather sell.
A sectional patch over one failed joint is usually a few hours. A full run from the house to the boundary is generally most of a working day, and you get the window before we start so you can plan around it. Excavating the same run is typically several days of open ground plus reinstating whatever surface was over the top.
Then it is very likely not your bill, and you should not be quoted for it. The line from the house to the boundary is yours; beyond that it generally belongs to the water authority. We locate the fault and mark where your boundary is as part of the inspection, and it goes in the written findings. That has saved people the entire cost of a job more than once.
A sectional patch over one failed joint is about $900 to $2,200. A full run to the boundary is usually $3,500 to $7,000, priced on length, diameter and how many bends it has. A camera inspection is $250 to $450, credited against the reline if you proceed. Every one of those figures is written down before anything starts, alongside what digging would cost.
Tell us whether anyone has filmed it, and whether you already have a quote. We are happy to review someone else's and say plainly if we think it is fair.
Footage handed over, both options priced in writing, and no pressure to decide on the day.
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