Brandon Township, Michigan
Looking for a Brandon Township home inspector? We do certified home, commercial, mold and radon inspections in Brandon Township, 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 Brandon Township 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 Brandon Township and across Oakland 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 Brandon Township 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 reportBrandon Township housing stock
Brandon Township has roughly 6,023 housing units and about 86% of them are single-family detached. Homes built in a single stretch tend to wear out in the same places at the same time. That is why when somewhere was built is the first thing worth knowing about it.
The busiest stretch of building here was the 1990s: 1,312 homes, about 22% of everything standing today.
The median owner-occupied home here is valued at $291,300. 94% are owner-occupied, which is high even for this area. There are around 615 manufactured and mobile homes in Brandon Township. Those are a different inspection — the questions are about the frame, the anchoring and the skirting rather than a basement.
None of this says anything about the specific house you are buying. It is the shortlist a Brandon Township home inspector works through in a home of this age, and every item on it gets photographed and written up whichever way it turns out.
Housing figures: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2022 five-year estimates.
When Brandon Township was built
75% of homes here run on utility gas, and 57 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 702 use bottled or LP gas.
Local knowledge
Brandon Township publishes a brick inspection requirement that is more specific than anything else we have come across, and one part of it stays visible for the life of the building.
The requirement is that brickwork must show a water resistant membrane, flashing, and weep holes with pea gravel between the weather barrier and the brick. Membrane and flashing disappear behind the wall the moment it is built. Weep holes do not — they sit in the base course, and their presence or absence is something an inspection can see and report on a house built thirty years ago.
That matters because a brick veneer wall is not waterproof and was never meant to be. Water gets behind it, runs down the membrane, and is supposed to leave through the weeps. A wall with no weeps holds that water against the structure behind, and the damage takes years to show and is expensive when it does.
The Township also runs two inspections nobody expects: a dual building-and-fire inspection for wood burners, and a fire department inspection of every new driveway. Both tell you what kind of township this is — rural, on private roads and long approaches, with solid fuel heating in the mix.
The housing runs across five decades: of about 6,023 units, 1,312 date from the 1990s and 1,269 from the 1970s, with 790 from the 1980s and 735 from the 2000s. Around 86% is single-family detached.
Before you buy
Brick, wood burners and driveways
The Township’s inspections and procedures page is unusually detailed, and three items on it are worth carrying into a viewing.
The first is the brick inspection, which requires a water resistant membrane, flashing and weep holes with pea gravel between the weather barrier and the brick. On a finished house only the weeps remain visible, and they are the part that has to keep working. We look at the base course of brick veneer for them as a matter of course, along with flashing at openings and any staining or efflorescence that suggests water is not getting out.
The second is wood burning appliances. The Township requires a dual inspection by both the Building and Fire Departments — which is a reasonable posture, because a solid fuel appliance and its chimney are among the higher-risk installations in any house. On a property with a wood stove or a wood-burning insert, whether the installation was ever inspected is a fair question, and the flue, clearances and hearth are things we report on.
The third is driveways: every new driveway must be inspected by the Fire Department after the rough building inspection. That is about apparatus access, and it hints at what a long rural approach has to accommodate. If the property has a long or steep drive, or sits on a private road, that is worth understanding.
The full building sequence also includes footings, pads, trenches and postholes — with property lines staked at the time of the footing inspection — back-fill, sand compaction for the garage floor, pea stone for the basement floor, brick flashing where applicable, rough framing, insulation and final. Plumbing and mechanical both include a gas pressure test, and propane hook-ups have their own inspection.
Wells, septic and private roads
You can learn a great deal about a community from what it asks for at the application stage, and Brandon Township’s list is revealing.
A new house here needs a plot plan showing property dimensions, setbacks, easements — and the septic system, well locations and the electric and gas service lines. It needs approved septic and well permits from the Oakland County Health Department. It needs a driveway permit from the Oakland County Road Commission where applicable, and where the approach is to a private road it needs culvert placement before construction begins plus a private road maintenance agreement. It needs a soil erosion permit from the county drain commission or a waiver, and energy code compliance including R-factors and window manufacturer specifications.
Read that list and the picture is clear: this is well-and-septic country, with private roads in the mix. Which means the first question on any property here is what it is actually connected to and how you get to it.
On a private well and septic system, the wellhead, pressure tank, pump, electrical supply, tank and drainfield are all equipment you take on, with their own service lives and their own maintenance. Testing the water and evaluating the septic system are separate disciplines with their own credentials — we do not take water samples, we do not analyze them, and we do not evaluate septic systems. The county health department is where those live.
What a buyer’s inspection covers is the building and its immediate ground: the roof, structure, foundation, drainage, electrical, heating and cooling, plumbing and the accessible interior, plus accessible grading, gutters and downspouts and where they discharge, foundation conditions, the basement or crawlspace and any sump equipment. On a large lot the water story extends well past the foundation, and we record what is accessible.
The Township’s building information pages also require foundation plans to show emergency egress location and size — worth knowing on any property with finished lower-level bedrooms.
Permits
Two things about how permits work here are directly useful to a buyer.
The first is who can hold one. The Planning and Building Department states that building, electrical, plumbing and mechanical permits are issued to licensed contractors only, that contractors must be currently registered with the township and provide federal identification numbers as state law requires — with an exception allowing homeowner permits, on the condition that homeowners are responsible for all work completed under them.
The second is more unusual and more useful: permits may be transferred on written request by property owners, from the original permit holder of record to a new contractor or to the property owner. Across this project, inheriting a house with an open, unfinished permit comes up repeatedly and is usually a problem with no published solution. Here there is a mechanism, and it is worth knowing about before closing rather than after.
On timing: plan review takes up to ten days for residential work and a minimum of thirty days for commercial. Inspections run on narrow windows — building Monday to Thursday and typically after 1pm, mechanical and electrical on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 10:30 and 3:30, plumbing on Mondays and Wednesdays in the same window — and must be scheduled or canceled by 7am on the day. The Township also requires that the address be posted and that acceptable site access is provided, or the inspection does not happen.
One jurisdiction note: the Township’s offices carry an Ortonville mailing address, and the Village of Ortonville is a separate government. Confirm which one an address actually falls in before relying on anything you have read about either — we researched the Township, not the Village.
The buried line
On a property connected to a public sewer, the buried lateral running from the building to the main is the one component nothing visual reaches.
On a house from the 1970s that pipe has been in the ground fifty years or more; on one from the 1990s, thirty, with the landscaping planted alongside it now mature. Either is 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 Brandon Township laterals are generally made of.
On a property with a septic system — which the Township’s own new-construction requirements suggest is common here — the question is a different one and belongs to a county evaluation rather than to us.
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, and radon testing or mold inspection and testing can be added to a residential or commercial visit.
Local information from Brandon Township — inspections and procedures · Brandon Township — building information and application requirements · Brandon Township — Planning and Building Department. Municipal requirements change — verify current details with the municipality.
Radon in Oakland County
Zone 2 is the middle EPA category — the predicted average indoor level across the county sits between 2 and 4 pCi/L. What a zone cannot tell you is anything about one house: 29% of tests actually run in Oakland County still came back at or above the EPA’s 4 pCi/L action level. A zone is an average taken across a whole county, and no house is an average.
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 · Oakland 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 Brandon Township 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, MIExcellent sums up the entire experience, from the initial call to set up the appointment with staff that was informative and helpful, up until the actual inspection that was very professional and thorough with any and all questions I had answered. I would highly recommend Trademark to anyone who needs inspection services. Thanks again Curt, my inspector, for an excellent job.
Johnny Thomas JrSouthfield, MIWhat happens
Questions
They are the small openings in the base course of a brick veneer wall that let water out. Brandon Township requires brickwork to show a water resistant membrane, flashing, and weep holes with pea gravel between the weather barrier and the brick. Brick veneer is not waterproof and was never meant to be — water gets behind it, runs down the membrane and is supposed to leave through the weeps. A wall without them holds that water against the structure, and the damage takes years to show. Unlike the membrane and flashing, weeps stay visible, so an inspection can check for them.
Worth asking. The Township requires a dual inspection by both the Building and Fire Departments for wood burners, which is a sensible posture — a solid fuel appliance and its chimney are among the higher-risk installations in a house. On a property with a wood stove or insert, we report the flue, clearances and hearth as far as they are accessible, and whether the installation was ever formally inspected is a question for the Township.
Access. The Township requires every new driveway to be inspected by the Fire Department after the rough building inspection. On rural properties with long or steep approaches, and on private roads, whether apparatus can reach and turn matters. If the property has a long drive or sits on a private road, that is worth understanding — along with any road maintenance agreement attached to it.
Ask about transferring it. The Township states that permits may be transferred on written request by property owners, from the original permit holder of record to a new contractor or to the property owner. That is unusual — inheriting an open permit is a common problem with no published solution in most municipalities. Sort it before closing rather than after.
In limited circumstances. The Township states that building, electrical, plumbing and mechanical permits are issued to licensed contractors only, who must be currently registered with the township and provide federal identification numbers as state law requires. The exception is homeowner permits — and the Township is clear that homeowners are then responsible for all work completed under them.
Quite likely, and it is the first thing to establish. New construction here requires approved septic and well permits from the Oakland County Health Department, and plot plans must show the septic system and well locations. We do not test water and we do not evaluate septic systems — both are separate disciplines with their own credentials, and the county health department is where they live. On a property with private systems you will want those arranged alongside a building inspection.
Spread across five decades. Of about 6,023 housing units, 1,312 were built in the 1990s and 1,269 in the 1970s, with 790 from the 1980s, 735 from the 2000s and 609 from the 1960s. Around 86% is single-family detached. A 1970s house has had at least one full round of mechanical replacements; a 1990s house is reaching its first.
If the property is on a public sewer, yes. The buried lateral is the one component no visual inspection reaches, and on a 1970s house it has been in the ground fifty years or more. We will not guess a material from a build year. Putting a camera down the line documents roots, cracks, displaced joints, bellies or blockages where they exist, and is added to the same appointment. On a septic property the question is a different one and belongs to a county evaluation.
More on cost, timing and what is included on the FAQ page.
Police, fire, rescue, military and educators — our way of saying thank you for your service. Enter code HERO at checkout.
Claim the Hero DiscountNeed a Brandon Township home inspector and not sure we reach you? Call 734-331-3269 and we will tell you.
From the blog
February 18, 2025
April 5, 2024
October 22, 2024
November 11, 2020
Your local Brandon Township home inspector, seven days a week. Home inspection reports in 24 hours.
