My main sewer line has a problem with tree roots. It got clogged from a
tree root 5 years after I moved into my house. It happened again 2 years
after that, and last week it happened 1 year after the previous time.

The sewer people who cleared my main line told me the locations of the
blockages. The first time they used a snake to remove a rather large root
from my line and said the location was around 12 feet from the house. The
2nd time it got clogged, they used a cutter at the end of the snake to break
up blockages (did not remove anything) and said there were two blockages,
one of which was 16 feet from the house and the 2nd was 24 feet from the
house. The 3rd time it got clogged (last week) they used a cutter again,
and said there was one blockage around 11 feet from the house (which pretty
much jibes with the location of the original blockage).

My sewer plumber (who doesn't do replacement work) thought it was time to
have something done about fixing the problem. It seems there are some sewer
contractors who believe that a video inspection is necessary before
determining whether or not to replace the line, while others feel that
replacement is the way to go based on what I already know, and say that I'm
not gonna learn anything more than I already know from a video inspection.

Could a video inspection tell me anything I don't already know, or is it
likely just a waste of money?

Is it possible that repairing the line could be a reasonable long-term
solution, or is replacement of the line the only reasonable long-term
solution to this problem?

BTW, one sewer contractor said that an option is to restore the existing
pipe with a PVC liner (a tube that they put in, then inflate and then cure).
Is a PVC liner an effective long-term solution as an alternative to
replacement, or should I stay away from that?

Thanks.

Jeff