Sewer Scope started in Indianapolis. Patrick Grayson founded the network here, on the back of the simple thesis that real-estate transactions deserve a specialist behind the camera, never a plumber with an upsell in mind. Indianapolis is now the headquarters metro, the model market for the franchise system, and the 74 five-star Google reviews on the Indy GBP are the proof point.
Patrick Grayson started Sewer Scope in Indianapolis because the math worked here first. Two structural factors made the metro the natural place to test specialist-not-plumber.
Mature housing stock. Roughly half the homes selling in the Indianapolis metro right now were built before 1980, which is the cutoff for Orangeburg pipe (peaked 1945 to 1972) and cast iron lines that have scaled with age (Wikipedia: Orangeburg pipe, Balkan Plumbing). Marion County housing data tracks closely to the U.S. Census American Community Survey median-year-built band for pre-1980 stock, especially in the bungalow belts of Broad Ripple, Meridian-Kessler, Crown Hill, and Devonshire (U.S. Census: Marion County). That housing-stock profile is the demand engine for a sewer scope service.
Real-estate-vendor density. The Indianapolis real-estate market has the brokerage volume to support a specialist vendor that lives in inspection-adjacent space without doing inspections itself. The Indianapolis Business Journal regularly tracks Indy real-estate market data showing the metro's sustained transaction count well above national per-capita averages (Indianapolis Business Journal residential real estate). Where there is transaction density, there is vendor demand. Patrick's bet was that specialist-not-plumber would land first in a metro where agents have the volume to need a vendor they trust on a same-week basis.
The 74 five-star Google reviews on the Indianapolis GBP say the bet worked. The Indy reviews are the largest verified review pool in the Sewer Scope network and the reason Indianapolis is now the model metro for franchise expansion.
The Indianapolis team is intentionally small. The standard is the camera, the report, and the no-upsell discipline that earned the 74 reviews.
Founder. Indianapolis-based. Sewer Scope started with Patrick's thesis that real-estate scope work should sit with a specialist, not a plumber with an upsell. Reachable at [email protected].
Michael brings over 10 years of experience in project management and customer relations, alongside a degree in Construction Management and a master's in Organizational Leadership. He takes great pleasure in building relationships with others and ensuring the delivery of outstanding service, and he is passionate about leading a company that builds up its people and offers peace of mind to home buyers during what is frequently a challenging and stressful process.
James “Bo” Clement III serves as Sewer Scope's Operations and Business Development Manager, bringing more than a decade of experience leading teams, managing multi-location operations, improving processes, and building strong client relationships. He has overseen large-scale operations, managed significant budgets, and helped drive meaningful growth throughout his career. At Sewer Scope, Bo combines that operational experience with a practical, people-first approach to keep the business running smoothly while creating new opportunities for growth. He is a graduate of Indiana University's Kelley School of Business.
Devon brings over 10 years of hands-on construction experience and has completed more than 1,000 sewer inspections since 2025. He is known for his lighthearted spirit, attention to detail, and commitment to providing clear, easy-to-understand results. Outside of work, Devon enjoys spending time with family, music, movies, and trying new cuisine.
The single sentence behind Sewer Scope is the same sentence Patrick has said since the Indianapolis launch: "We are not plumbers. We hand you the footage and the report. Just honest reporting, no ulterior motive."
That distinction is the whole product. A plumber doing scope work has a financial interest in finding repair work to quote. A specialist whose only job is the camera and the report has a financial interest in handing you a clean record (InterNACHI). NAR vendor selection guidance reinforces the same point: vendors recommended by an agent become a reflection of the agent's reputation. A vendor who upsells the agent's buyer is a vendor that costs the agent referrals.
Indianapolis was the metro where this thesis hit the market first. The reason it lands in Marion County is the same reason the franchise model scales: every metro with mature housing stock and real-estate-vendor density has the same pattern. Patrick is now positioning Sewer Scope to scale to a target of 50 metros over 5 years, with Chicago and Atlanta as the next priority markets after the current four (Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Denver, Fort Wayne).
Indianapolis remains the model. Every new metro inherits the Indianapolis playbook: same-week scheduling, report format, no repair quote attached, pay-after-inspection billing when the title-company integration ships.
The Indianapolis story is the foundation. The four services are what we do.
Watch the video to see how the Indianapolis crew does their inspections.