Algonac, Michigan
Looking for an Algonac home inspector? We do certified home, commercial, mold and radon inspections in Algonac, seven days a week. Home inspection reports come back in 24 hours.
Schedule your inspectionCall 734-331-3269
Services
For buyers, sellers, and homeowners keeping an eye on the place they already own. On new construction we also do pre-drywall inspections and 11-month builder’s warranty inspections. Our certified inspectors walk every major system in your Algonac home and tell you plainly what they found — then put it in a photo-rich digital report within 24 hours.
Following the InterNACHI Standards of Practice:
Included free with every home buyer inspection— and none of them require us to sell your information.
SatisfactionIf you are unhappy with your inspector on the day of the inspection, before you have seen your report, tell us and we will make it right — or you owe us nothing.
30-Day WarrantyA free 30-day Guard home warranty trial, negotiated for you with no obligation. Activate it whenever you are ready.
$100 OffThe buyer’s protection guarantee: if the first home we inspect for you does not make it to the closing table, for any reason, we take $100 off any further home buyer inspection within 30 days of the original.
Optional services at an additional cost — not part of a standard inspection. Tap one to see what it covers.
A camera down the main sewer line, watching its condition from the inside — roots, breaks, bellies and blockages no visual inspection can find. More about sewer scope inspections
The wood-destroying organism report VA buyers are typically asked to provide, on the federal NPMA-33 form. Carried out during the same visit. More about Veterans WDO inspections
Up to five air samples sent to an accredited laboratory, added to the same appointment rather than booked as a second visit. More about mold inspection and testing
View a sample report
Offices, retail, multifamily and warehouses in Algonac and across St Clair County. Know what condition a building is in before you sign — or stay ahead of problems in the one you already own. Reports in 24 to 72 hours depending on size.
Following the CCPIA commercial standards:
Commonly added to a commercial inspection at additional cost.
Commercial laterals are longer, older and carry more. A camera is the only way to see the condition of the one you are buying. More about sewer scope inspections
Air samples to an accredited laboratory, which matters most in buildings that have sat empty or had a roof or plumbing leak. More about mold inspection and testing
View a sample report
Add either to an Algonac home or commercial inspection, or book it on its own. We test and we never remediate, so there is nothing to sell you on the back of a result — the number you get is just the number.
Radon measured in house on a professional continuous monitor; mold samples to an accredited laboratory:
The other things worth testing while somebody is already there.
Carried out after remediation on the treated area and the areas next to it, to confirm what was found. More about mold inspection and testing
A damp basement can have several causes, and the buried sewer line is the one a visual inspection cannot check. A scope rules it in or out. More about sewer scope inspections
View a sample reportAlgonac housing stock
Algonac has roughly 1,948 housing units and about 81% of them are single-family detached. The year a house went up decides more about what an inspection turns up than almost anything else about it, which is why it is where we start rather than where we finish.
More of it dates from the 1970s than from any other decade — 463 homes, roughly 24% of the town.
The median owner-occupied home here is valued at $153,500.
This is not a forecast for any one address. It is where an Algonac home inspector starts in a home of this age — and whatever we actually find, it goes in the report with photographs.
Housing figures: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2022 five-year estimates.
When Algonac was built
85% of homes here run on utility gas. Another 19 use bottled or LP gas.
Local knowledge
Algonac is one of very few communities we cover that sends an inspector to look at the outside of every house in the city, and it is doing it right now.
Under a state mandate the City has implemented a residential cross connection control program, contracted to an outside firm. Every residential property gets an inspection of the water sources on the exterior of the home. The City says the sweep will take five years to cover every property, and that the whole process repeats every ten years.
The inspection is mandatory — the contractor has authority by ordinance to come onto private property to inspect water sources — and it takes about five minutes. What they are looking at is hose bibbs, sprinkler and lawn irrigation systems, and pools and hot tubs where those are not already on a hose.
The City is also careful about something worth repeating here: its inspectors will never enter or ask to enter a home, and residents are told not to let anyone in, with the sheriff’s non-emergency number given for anyone concerned. New owners are exactly the people who get confused by a stranger in a vest in the back yard, so it is worth knowing the program exists.
The housing is largely older: of roughly 1,948 units, 1,489 — 76% — were built before 1980, with 463 in the 1970s and 352 predating 1940. About 81% is single-family detached.
Before you buy
Cross connections
A cross connection is any arrangement of piping that could let undesirable water, sewage or chemicals reach the drinking water system through backflow. The classic domestic example is a garden hose lying in a puddle, a pool or a bucket of something, connected to a spigot with no vacuum breaker on it.
The City’s residential program document sets out how the sweep works. A letter arrives on City letterhead about two weeks before the inspector reaches your neighborhood. Inspectors carry identification, wear high-visibility vests and put a board out in front of their vehicles. They need access to the front and back yard, will knock to ask for a pet to be moved, and leave a door tag or a letter if the property is locked or nobody is home.
The result comes back on a door tag, and there are three possibilities. Full compliance and no further action. A missing vacuum breaker — in which case one is left for the owner to install, with instructions for the approval process. Or corrections needed, and the City says the most common one is a backflow prevention system that has to be installed on a sprinkler or lawn irrigation system, which requires a licensed plumbing contractor to complete and certify.
That last outcome is the one worth knowing about when you are buying. A property with an irrigation system and no backflow protection has an obligation attached to it, and it is a question the seller or the City can answer directly.
The City adds a Michigan-specific tip that is genuinely useful: fitting an anti-frost vacuum breaker keeps ice from forming in the device and damaging it over winter. The parts are inexpensive and easy to fit before an inspection rather than after.
On our side, a buyer’s inspection looks at the accessible plumbing and reports what we find, including hose bibbs without vacuum breakers, visible backflow assemblies and connections that are not what they should be. We do not test or certify backflow devices — that is a certified tester’s job — but knowing what is fitted before you own the house is worth a good deal.
Water
Algonac draws its drinking water from the St Clair River and treats it at its own plant, with its own chief operator, at a separate riverside address. Very few communities of this size run their own surface water plant.
That is the context for the cross connection program. When a city treats and distributes its own water, protecting the distribution system from what might flow back into it is a direct operational responsibility rather than an abstract one. The City’s annual water quality reports describe the source and the measures it takes to protect it, including retention basins for runoff and its own laboratory analysis.
We do not test water. Water testing goes through a certified laboratory, and questions about the supply go to the City. What an inspection reports is the visible supply piping inside the building where accessible, the materials we can actually see, and any point where the material changes or a repair has been made — which on a stock where three quarters of the housing predates 1980 is usually a story of replacement in stages.
On the drainage side, the same attention applies to where household water goes. We trace sump and downspout discharges as far as they can be followed and report where they appear to go, and where a discharge disappears into a buried pipe we say so rather than guessing at its destination.
Permits
City departments here keep narrow and staggered hours, and it is worth knowing which day you need before you set off.
The Building Official is in on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Code compliance runs on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. The assessor is in on Tuesdays only. So the three people a buyer or an owner most often needs are each available on a different combination of days, with only Thursday common to all three.
For anyone researching a property, that is a reason to start early and to make the request by email or phone rather than by turning up. On a stock this old, the permit history you want may go back decades, and old files take longer to find than recent ones.
A buyer’s inspection is not a permit search and does not replace one. What it does is tell you which parts of a property to go looking for records about — a finished basement, a converted garage, an added bathroom, a deck, a replaced furnace — so the search you make is targeted rather than hopeful.
Policing here is provided through a county sheriff substation in City Hall rather than a separate city force, which is the kind of shared arrangement common in cities of this size and worth knowing if you ever need to reach someone outside office hours.
Older housing
The largest single block here is the 463 units from the 1970s, with 359 from the 1950s and 352 predating 1940 behind them.
On the 1970s stock the electrical service was sized for a very different household and has usually been upgraded, though upgrades range from a genuine rewire to a new panel with original distribution behind it. Plumbing has generally been renewed in part rather than in whole. Roofs are on their third or fourth covering. Heating and cooling equipment has turned over two or three times, and venting arrangements do not always keep pace with a newer appliance. Insulation and ventilation reflect the standards of the day, which usually means there is a worthwhile improvement available in the attic.
On a prewar house the questions are about accumulated alteration across eighty-five years or more: mixed generations of wiring meeting in the same box, material transitions in the plumbing, insulation and ventilation retrofitted into a building designed without either, and a foundation that has had a very long time to meet water.
In a riverfront city the lowest level of any house deserves particular attention. Ground near water carries a higher water table, seasonal levels move, and a basement that behaves in August is not necessarily the same basement in April. We describe what the building actually shows about water that has been there before — staining, efflorescence, previous patching, replaced flooring and how the space is used — rather than predicting what a particular spring will do.
Radon testing and mold inspection and testing can be added to any visit, and the latter is worth considering where a lower level shows a history of moisture.
The buried line
The sanitary line from the building to the main belongs to the owner. On a 1970s Algonac house that pipe has been in the ground half a century, and on one of the prewar houses considerably longer.
Ground near a river holds more water than ground elsewhere, and groundwater finds any opening in a buried drain line. A cracked or displaced joint that would merely be a slow drain somewhere drier can take on real volume here.
We will not name a material from a build year, because no authoritative source establishes what Algonac laterals are generally made of, and a guess in a report is worse than no statement at all.
A sewer camera inspection records what is actually inside: roots, cracks, displaced joints, bellies or blockages where they exist, and a clear run where they do not. It is added to the same appointment rather than booked separately, and on this housing stock it is among the most useful things you can buy before closing.
We also offer commercial building inspections to the CCPIA standard for offices, retail, multifamily and warehouse property. You can read what our clients say, look through answers to common questions, or get in touch about a specific address in Algonac.
Local information from City of Algonac — residential cross connection control program · City of Algonac — annual water quality reports and source water · City of Algonac — department directory and office hours. Municipal requirements change — verify current details with the municipality.
Why choose us
Five reasons people here pick us as their Algonac home inspector.
Family owned since 2009, more than 16,000 inspections completed and over 2,000 five-star reviews across Michigan. We also handle home buyer inspections, commercial building inspections, mold testing and radon testing.
We do not sell mold remediation or radon mitigation, so there is nothing to gain from a result that comes back bad. The number you get is just the number.
Radon, mold, sewer scope and wood-destroying organism inspections go on the same appointment as the home inspection rather than costing you a second morning.
Most people do, and it is the most useful hour of the whole purchase. Ask anything while we are standing in front of it.
InterNACHI and CCPIA certified, with four Certified Master Inspectors and National Home Inspector Examination passes on the team — none of which Michigan requires. The standards we inspect to are published and you can hold the work against them.
Including weekends, because inspection windows sit on closing dates and closing dates do not care what day it is.
Reviews
I recently hired Trademark for a full home inspection on a new purchase, including sewer scope and radon testing. It was a phenomenal experience from beginning to end. Our inspector, Mitch, did a fantastic job explaining all the findings, and the digital report with photos and videos was superb. Would definitely recommend without hesitation.
Salina HamiltonOak Park, MIWe had Mitch inspect our prospective house and he was amazing. He was thorough, patient to answer my questions and provide feedback on what areas he would recommend having a follow up expert and why. The office was responsive and I was able to book multiple services to be done in the same visit (inspection, radon test, sewer scope).
Chris PlaweckiOak Park, MIThis is one of the finest companies I have come across - that means serious customer service and professionalism. Justin was the inspector and he was very thorough yet very kind to answers all the questions that came in my mind during inspection. He took enough time, no rush, and a very detailed inspection was conducted. Extremely competitive pricing and timing from the company. 100% recommend to anyone looking for any kind of property inspection!!
Chirag R MiyaniMichiganWhat happens
Questions
Probably. The City runs a mandatory residential cross connection control program under a state mandate, using a contracted firm whose inspectors carry identification, wear high-visibility vests and post a board by their vehicles. A letter on City letterhead arrives about two weeks beforehand. Crucially, the City states its inspectors will never enter or ask to enter a home — so do not let anyone in on that basis.
Exterior water sources: hose bibbs and spigots, sprinkler and lawn irrigation systems, and pools and hot tubs where those are not already on a hose. They are checking that each has working backflow protection. The inspection takes about five minutes and needs access to the front and back yard.
The result comes back on a door tag. Either you are compliant, or a missing vacuum breaker is left for you to install with instructions for the approval process, or corrections are needed — and the City says the most common one is a backflow prevention system for a sprinkler or irrigation system, which a licensed plumbing contractor must install and certify.
The City says the sweep takes five years to reach every residential property, and that the whole process repeats every ten years. So a property you buy will come round again in due course.
Yes. If a backflow prevention system is not already fitted you can install one before the inspection, and the City recommends an anti-frost vacuum breaker in Michigan to keep ice from forming and damaging the device over winter. The parts are inexpensive.
The St Clair River. The City treats it at its own plant with its own chief operator, which is unusual for a city this size, and publishes annual water quality reports describing the source and the measures it takes to protect it.
Wednesdays and Thursdays. Code compliance runs Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, and the assessor is in on Tuesdays. Only Thursday is common to all three, so it is worth calling or emailing ahead rather than turning up.
On this housing stock, yes. The lateral belongs to the owner, on a 1970s house it has been in the ground fifty years, and ground near a river holds more water — which finds any opening in a buried pipe. A camera inspection documents roots, cracks, displaced joints, bellies or blockages where they exist, and is added to the same visit.
More on cost, timing and what is included on the FAQ page.
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Permits, assessing and property records for Algonac are handled by the City of Algonac, not by us.
From the blog
October 22, 2017
February 24, 2026
Your local Algonac home inspector, seven days a week. Home inspection reports in 24 hours.
