Romulus, Michigan
Looking for a Romulus home inspector? We do certified home, commercial, mold and radon inspections in Romulus, 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 Romulus 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 Romulus and across Wayne 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 a Romulus 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 reportRomulus housing stock
Romulus has roughly 9,729 housing units and about 68% 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 — 2,148 homes, roughly 22% of the town.
The median owner-occupied home here is valued at $138,500. There are around 1,069 manufactured and mobile homes in Romulus. Those are a different inspection — the questions are about the frame, the anchoring and the skirting rather than a basement.
This is not a forecast for any one address. It is where a Romulus 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 Romulus was built
88% of homes here run on utility gas, and 55 still heat with oil. If yours is one of them, the tank is the thing to ask about — where it is, and whether it was ever buried. Another 72 use bottled or LP gas.
Local knowledge
Romulus publishes the bluntest warning about home improvement permits that we have found on any city website, and it explains something inspectors run into constantly.
The City states plainly that the contractor you hire should be the person who pulls the permit. If a contractor asks you to pull it instead, the City lists what that may mean: that they are trying to absolve themselves of liability and responsibility for quality and workmanship; that they may not be licensed; that a homeowner permit is neither cheaper nor faster; that you will be held to the same standards and inspections as a contractor; that the City cannot intervene in a dispute between you and them; and that you will be responsible for correcting any deficiencies or violations in the work.
That is worth knowing as a buyer as well as an owner. When we find work on a house that was permitted in the previous owner’s name but plainly done by a trade, this is usually the reason, and it tells you something about who stood behind the workmanship.
The housing is postwar and largely detached: of about 9,729 units, 2,148 date from the 1970s and 1,951 from the 1960s, with 1,365 from the 1950s. Around 68% is single-family detached.
Before you buy
Permits and who pulled them
Most cities publish a fee schedule and leave it there. Romulus explains the incentives, and the explanation is unusually useful.
On its homeowner and residential permits page, the City says the contractor you hire should be the one who pulls the permit, and sets out what it means when a contractor asks the owner to do it instead. The list is short and pointed: possible avoidance of liability for quality and workmanship, a contractor who may not be licensed, no saving in cost or time, the same standards and inspections either way, no City involvement in any dispute that follows, and the owner responsible for correcting anything wrong with the work.
For a buyer looking at a house with a finished basement, a rebuilt deck or a converted garage, that is a question worth asking: was the permit in the owner’s name, and who actually did the work? It is not proof of anything on its own. It is a reason to look harder at the work itself.
The City also sets out what a residential permit application requires — three copies of drawings showing elevations, floor plans, construction and foundation information, electrical drawings, heating and cooling and plumbing layouts, plus a plot plan, and a copy of the State of Michigan Residential Builders License where the applicant is a contractor. Permits apply not only to new construction but to any work that physically alters a structure.
What no record settles is condition. That is a buyer’s inspection: the roof, structure, foundation, drainage, electrical, heating and cooling, plumbing and accessible interior, with what is failing, what is near the end of its service life and what to plan for.
Drainage
Romulus asks a great deal of a single-family building site, and the result is a document worth chasing before you buy.
Its site drainage requirements call for a drainage plan bearing the seal and signature of a Civil Engineer or Land Surveyor registered in Michigan. That plan has to show existing and proposed grades around the lot perimeter and at the building corners, the proposed first-floor finish elevation, finish grades at adjacent buildings, sidewalks, ditch lines, the road centerline and contours extending a hundred feet beyond the site. It must show the proposed drainage pattern, driveway drainage grades, the location and size of the sanitary sewer, storm sewer and water main — and it must indicate the sump pump location and the system or means of disposal.
On newer construction here, in other words, a drawing exists showing how the lot was meant to shed water and where the sump was meant to discharge. Comparing that to what is actually on the ground twenty years later is a genuinely useful exercise, because grading settles, landscaping gets added, and discharge lines get shortened or redirected.
What we do on the day is record the reality: accessible grading and how the ground falls at the foundation, gutters and downspouts and where they discharge, the sump and its pump and discharge line as far as it can be traced, foundation conditions, the basement or crawlspace, floor drains, and evidence of past water entry. Where a line disappears underground we say so rather than guessing.
Assessment
If you see someone measuring and photographing a Romulus property, it is probably the City.
The Assessor is carrying out a city-wide re-inspection of all properties, which the City says is to assure fair and equitable assessment of each parcel, accurate assessing records, and compliance with State of Michigan assessment standards.
That is routine and it is not about condition — an assessor is recording what exists and its dimensions, not whether the furnace works. But it is worth knowing for two reasons. It explains an unfamiliar person in the yard, and it can affect a future tax bill where records turn out to have been incomplete.
Michigan buyers should already be budgeting from the uncapped taxable value rather than the seller’s current bill, because a transfer of ownership removes the cap the previous owner enjoyed. A re-inspection that corrects the record is a second reason not to rely on the number currently being paid.
The buried line
The sealed drainage plan covers the surface. Nothing covers the buried lateral running from the house to the sewer main, and no visual inspection reaches inside it.
On a house from the 1960s or 1970s that pipe has been in the ground fifty to sixty years, with mature trees around it — long enough for roots to find a joint, for ground movement to displace a section, or for a repair to have been made that nobody now remembers. We will not name a material from a build year, because no authoritative source establishes what Romulus laterals are generally made of.
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 — and it is added to the same visit rather than booked separately.
Alongside it, commercial building inspections follow the CCPIA standard for offices, retail, multifamily and warehouse property, which in a city with this much industrial and logistics property comes up often, and radon testing or mold inspection and testing can be added to a residential or commercial visit.
Local information from City of Romulus — homeowner and residential permits · City of Romulus — site drainage requirements · City of Romulus — city-wide re-inspection. Municipal requirements change — verify current details with the municipality.
Radon in Wayne County
Zone 3 is the lowest of the three EPA categories — the predicted average indoor level across the county is below 2 pCi/L. That puts Romulus at the calmer end of Michigan’s radon picture, which is worth saying out loud rather than glossing over. What a zone cannot tell you is anything about one house: 17% of tests actually run in Wayne County still came back at or above the EPA’s 4 pCi/L action level, which is about one in six. The zone describes a county. The only result that describes your basement is the one measured in it.
We place a continuous monitor for 48 hours and read the result on site — no mail-in kit, no lab wait. How radon testing works · Wayne County radon and inspection coverage
Zone from the EPA Map of Radon Zones. Elevated-result share from the Michigan Indoor Radon Program.
Why choose us
Five reasons people here pick us as their Romulus 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
Ora from Trademark did an incredible job with the inspection and sewer scope of the home I am in the process of buying. He was very thorough, explained everything to me from the start, and made it all super easy to understand which definitely helped to put me at ease a bit more. Highly recommend this company!
Mariah HartmanWestland, MIJim was prompt and thorough during the mold testing. Clearly gave us an explanation about mold and testing process he was going to conduct. Testing was followed by a written report. I would recommend everyone use a third party to test mold, independent from the company conducting remediation work. I would hire Trademark again and strongly recommend them.
Alberto PicconeNorthville, MICowboy “Jim” just did Mold Testing in my parents’ basement. He was Professional, explained the what, how and yet of everything to my Senior parents. Our results came back super quick. He even referred us to the resources on the Trademark website for me to use to fix the leaky basement. It’s 1 stop shopping with Trademark.
Becky JohnsonWayne, MIWhat happens
Questions
The City is unusually direct about this: the contractor you hire should be the person who pulls the permit. If a contractor asks you to pull it, Romulus lists what that may mean — that they may be trying to absolve themselves of liability and responsibility for quality and workmanship, that they may not be licensed, that a homeowner permit is neither cheaper nor quicker, that you will be held to the same standards and inspections, that the City cannot intervene in a dispute between you, and that you will be responsible for correcting any deficiencies in the work.
Because it tells you something about who stood behind the work. When we find a finished basement, a rebuilt deck or a converted garage permitted in a previous owner’s name but plainly built by a trade, the City’s warning is usually the explanation. It is not proof of a problem on its own — it is a reason to look harder at the work itself, which is what an inspection does.
On newer construction there may well be. Romulus requires a site drainage plan sealed and signed by a Civil Engineer or Land Surveyor registered in Michigan for single-family building sites, showing existing and proposed grades around the lot and at building corners, the first-floor finish elevation, finish grades at adjacent buildings, the drainage pattern, driveway grades, the sanitary sewer, storm sewer and water main — and the sump pump location and its means of disposal. Comparing that to what is on the ground now is worth doing.
Most likely the City. The Assessor is carrying out a re-inspection of all properties in Romulus, which the City says is to assure fair and equitable assessment of each parcel, accurate assessing records and compliance with State of Michigan assessment standards. It is routine, it is about dimensions and features rather than condition, and it can affect a future tax bill where the record turns out to have been incomplete.
Mostly postwar. Of about 9,729 housing units, 2,148 were built in the 1970s and 1,951 in the 1960s, with 1,365 from the 1950s and 906 from the 1940s. There is newer stock too — 1,097 units from the 2000s and 882 from the 1990s. Around 68% is single-family detached. On a house from the 1960s or 1970s, every original mechanical component has been replaced at least once, and the question is when and how well.
Nothing we could verify says so. Several cities in this region run point-of-sale or rental certificate programs and we are not going to import one that does not exist here. Confirm the current position with the Department of Building and Safety rather than relying on any web page, this one included.
More than new construction. The City states permits apply to any work that physically alters a structure, and cover work regulated by the Michigan Residential Building Code along with applicable City ordinances. A residential application needs three copies of drawings showing elevations, floor plans, construction and foundation information, electrical drawings and heating, cooling and plumbing layouts, plus a plot plan and, for a contractor applicant, a copy of the State of Michigan Residential Builders License.
It is worth considering. The buried lateral running from the house to the sewer main is the one component no visual inspection reaches, and on a 1960s or 1970s house it has been in the ground fifty to sixty years with mature trees around it. We will not guess a material from a build year — no authoritative source establishes what Romulus laterals are generally made of. Putting a camera down the line documents roots, cracks, displaced joints, bellies or blockages where they exist, and is added to the same appointment.
More on cost, timing and what is included on the FAQ page.
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From the blog
October 22, 2017
April 5, 2024
Your local Romulus home inspector, seven days a week. Home inspection reports in 24 hours.
