- Falmouth, Cornwall
Padstow's old harbour town was built on a tight footprint, and the drainage beneath it reflects that density. Original pipework serving the medieval and Georgian core now handles waste from a high concentration of restaurants, holiday lets, and tourism businesses alongside permanent homes, with seasonal occupancy creating sharp spikes in loading that the system was never sized for. Outside the town centre, rural properties toward St Issey, Little Petherick, and Trevone rely on private septic systems that are often undocumented. A CCTV drain survey records the condition, layout, and ownership boundaries of the system beneath your property. Clear Stream Drainage Solutions surveys across Padstow and the surrounding PL28 postcode with no call-out fee and a fixed price confirmed before we begin.
Padstow's drainage network reflects nearly 1,500 years of history, with centuries-old pipework serving historic buildings, former warehouses, fishermen's cottages, and modern businesses. As one of Cornwall's most important historic ports, much of the town's infrastructure developed gradually and is often poorly documented. The high concentration of restaurants around the harbour places additional strain on ageing drainage systems, while many properties in nearby areas such as Trevone, St Merryn, and Little Petherick rely on private septic tanks affected by local clay soils and bedrock. As a result, a CCTV drainage survey is often the only reliable way to understand the true condition and layout of the system beneath a property.
A drainage survey is something you book in advance, not something you call out in a crisis. The situations below are where Padstow property owners get the most value from one. If any apply to you, a survey is worth booking.
Before You Buy A Property
Recurring Faults at the Same Location
Extensions And Build Over Approval
Insurance, Legal, And Subsidence Evidence
Unexplained Damp, Smells, Or Garden Patches
Landlord And Hospitality Documentation
A survey is only as useful as the report it produces. Our engineers work to a structured process that delivers evidence usable by lenders, solicitors, insurers, and Building Control officers, not just a memory stick of raw footage.
A waterproof HD camera is fed through the drainage system from existing access points, with no excavation. Footage is reviewed live so defects can be discussed on-site as they are found. Crawler cameras are used where larger-bore commercial pipework requires them, which matters in Padstow given the concentration of restaurant and warehouse-conversion premises.
We trace the full layout of the pipework, identify every access point, and confirm where private responsibility ends and the public sewer network begins. In Padstow, where private runs frequently cross beneath the narrow lanes off Middle Street and Duke Street, shared courtyards behind the harbour terraces, and the strips of ground threading between Strand Street and St Edmunds Lane in the old warehouse quarter, this part of the survey is often the most valuable. For rural properties across the surrounding parishes, the mapping function is even more important, since deeds rarely capture the actual layout of septic systems, soakaways, and shared private runs between farms and cottages.
Every cracked joint, displaced section, root mass, scale deposit, misconnection, and pitch fibre deformation is logged, located, and graded. You see immediately which defects require attention and which can be left for ongoing monitoring.
The deliverable is a full report containing HD video, still images of each defect, a drainage plan, defect grading, and recommendations. Format is suitable for direct submission to solicitors, mortgage lenders, insurers, and Building Control.
The single most expensive blind spot in a property purchase is the drainage system. A standard building survey does not investigate it. A pre-purchase CCTV survey closes the gap before you exchange, and the cost is small relative to what it can reveal. Buyers use the report to negotiate the purchase price down to reflect defect repair costs, require the vendor to complete remedial work before completion, or pull out of a sale that would have left them with a major bill. In Padstow this matters most for the town's listed harbour-side stock, Georgian properties around Middle Street and Duke Street with original clay drainage, former warehouses converted into restaurants, holiday lets, or apartments where catering and turnover loads have far exceeded original design intent, restaurant and food business premises sold as going concerns, and the large number of rural homes on septic systems across the surrounding parishes where soakaway condition is invisible without inspection.
Build-over surveys are required wherever new construction sits within 3 metres of a public sewer. In Padstow this requirement comes up often, because the dense historic harbour quarter is served by sewer runs following the original street layout, and most extension, conversion, or restaurant fit-out work in the centre sits close to one. The continued programme of holiday let upgrades and barn conversions across the surrounding parishes adds further regular demand. Our build-over surveys document the location, depth, and structural condition of the affected sewer, identify any defects that must be addressed before construction begins, and provide the evidence Building Control and South West Water require before issuing approval. Reports are produced to the format and standard those bodies expect.
What We DoThe survey report provides the evidence base for whatever comes next: remedial work, scheduled maintenance, ownership clarification, or compliance documentation. Across the Padstow area we work with homeowners, buyers, holiday let owners, Airbnb hosts, restaurant and pub operators, hotel owners, retail premises, fish processing businesses, lettings agencies, developers, and rural property owners across the surrounding parishes.
Our team clears blockages quickly and safely, restoring full flow and preventing further damage to your system.
Drain Unblocking
Full inspection and condition reporting for private septic systems, including soakaway investigations and pre-purchase surveys for rural properties.
Drain Surveys in Padstow
Drain relining reinforces your pipes from within, repairing cracks and leaks without excavation to restore full function and prevent future damage.
Drain Relining Padstow
We remove built-up deposits that restrict water flow, improving drainage performance and extending the lifespan of your pipes.
Drain Pipe Descaling PadstowWe serve the whole of Padstow, Trevone, St Merryn, Little Petherick, St Issey, St Ervan, St Eval, Constantine Bay, Treyarnon, Harlyn, Crugmeer, Treator, Trethillick, Tregirls, and the surrounding PL28 postcodes.
A clear answer on ownership is one of the most practical outcomes of a Padstow CCTV survey, and one of the most common reasons homeowners and business owners book one. The principle is straightforward. Pipework inside your boundary, including the lateral connection running out to the boundary line, is yours to maintain and repair. Once that pipe joins a shared sewer carrying waste from multiple properties, responsibility transfers to South West Water. Padstow complicates this in ways the town's medieval port layout makes inevitable. Private drains routinely cross beneath the narrow lanes off Middle Street and Duke Street, shared courtyards behind the harbour terraces, the strips of ground threading between Strand Street and St Edmunds Lane in the old warehouse quarter, and the access routes serving the harbour quayside before reaching a public sewer, and the boundary point is rarely clear from deeds alone. Converted warehouses now operating as restaurants, holiday lets, and apartments add a further layer of shared private pipework that historic documents do not capture. Our survey establishes the actual layout, identifies the boundary point, confirms which sections belong to you, and provides the evidence needed to escalate any public-sewer fault to South West Water. For the high proportion of rural properties on septic systems toward St Ervan, St Eval, and the inland farms, the entire network is yours, and the survey produces a complete map of what that means in practice.
We agree a fixed price before any work starts, with no call-out fee and no diagnostic charge. Standard residential surveys typically fall within the range buyers and homeowners would expect to pay locally, with the exact figure depending on property size, number of access points, and the level of reporting required. You have the cost in writing before we book the appointment.
Most residential surveys take one to two hours on-site. The written report and footage are usually delivered within a few working days, formatted for sharing with solicitors, lenders, or insurers as needed.
Most high-street lenders do not require one as standard, but many request a survey when the main building survey flags drainage concerns, particularly on older properties or those with previous catering use. A significant proportion of Padstow buyers commission one voluntarily, especially on listed harbour-side stock, converted warehouses, and rural properties.
If significant defects are identified, the report and footage give you documented evidence to renegotiate the purchase price, require the vendor to complete repairs, or withdraw from the purchase. We provide the evidence; the negotiation sits between you and your solicitor.
If the proposed structure sits within 3 metres of a public sewer, a build-over survey is normally required for South West Water and Building Control approval. We handle build-over surveys regularly across Padstow and produce reports to the required standards.
Yes. We carry out full septic tank surveys, soakaway investigations, and CCTV inspections of private drainage across the rural areas around Padstow, including pre-purchase surveys for buyers of rural homes. The high proportion of properties on private systems across the parishes around Padstow means we work on them every week.
All repairs we carry out following a survey are covered by our 5-year guarantee. If a repaired section fails inside that period, we return and put it right at no cost.
If a fault needs immediate attention, we discuss the options with you on-site. In most cases we can quote and address the issue on the same visit, with the cost agreed in writing before any work begins.
Clear Stream Drainage Solutions is a Cornwall-based, family-run drainage business operating across Padstow and the wider county. Our engineers hold the relevant industry certifications, carry full public liability insurance, and arrive in branded vehicles equipped with high-definition CCTV cameras, drainage mapping equipment, and the diagnostic tools needed to deliver a complete survey on the first visit.
A CCTV drain survey replaces guesswork with documented evidence. Whether the trigger is a property purchase, a recurring fault, an extension, or a portfolio review, a single call gets an engineer on-site, a camera in the system, and a report you can act on with confidence. Call our team now on 01872 222555 to book a CCTV drain survey at a time that suits you, or request a fixed-price quote by text. Already had a survey done elsewhere? We provide independent second-opinion reviews of existing footage for buyers and landlords who want verification.