Fenton, Michigan
Looking for a Fenton home inspector? We do certified home, commercial, mold and radon inspections in Fenton, 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 Fenton 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 Fenton and across Genesee 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 Fenton 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 reportFenton housing stock
Fenton has roughly 5,484 housing units and about 58% 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.
It is also less detached-house territory than most of the area at 58%, so condominiums, duplexes and small multi-family buildings are a bigger share of what we inspect here — and those bring their own questions about what is yours to maintain and what belongs to the association.
The median owner-occupied home here is valued at $194,800. There are around 168 manufactured and mobile homes in Fenton. 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 Fenton 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 Fenton was built
78% of homes here run on utility gas. Another 160 use bottled or LP gas.
Local knowledge
There are two Fentons, they sit next to each other in the same county, and they take opposite views of the single most expensive thing on a house.
The City of Fenton has required a permit for all roof and siding work since 1 June 2009. Fenton Township, immediately around it, states that building permits are not required there for replacing a roof, windows or siding at all.
So the first question about a Fenton property is which Fenton it is in — and the answer changes what a permit search is worth. In the City, a roof replaced since 2009 should have a permit behind it. In the Township, the absence of one means nothing.
There is a second date worth knowing. The City states that from 11 November 2017 it has enforced the state electrical, mechanical and plumbing codes and issued permits for all work under them. Before that date it did not. If you are trying to reconstruct who rewired a house or replaced a furnace here, a permit search at the City has a floor under it, and the Protective Inspection Department is the place to ask where the older records went.
The housing spans a long range: of about 5,484 units, 939 date from the 1990s and 900 from the 2000s, with 804 from the 1950s and 690 predating 1940. Around 58% is single-family detached.
Before you buy
The question the City tells you to ask
The City publishes a short pre-project checklist called What Should I Consider Before I Begin?, and while it is written for people planning work, most of it is exactly what a buyer should be asking.
It asks whether the proposed use is permitted in the zoning district; whether the building meets the code for the projected use even if the zoning is fine; whether any part of the property is in a flood plain; whether there are wetlands on it; whether City water and sanitary sewer are available, directing anyone on septic and wells to the Genesee County Health Department; what the water and sewer tap fees would be; and whether the minimum setbacks and lot coverage requirements can be met.
Then it asks the one that matters most on a purchase: are there any outstanding violations and/or open permits on the property?
An open permit is a job that was started with the City’s knowledge and never signed off. It might be nothing — paperwork that was never closed on work that was finished properly. It might be a deck, a basement or a furnace that never passed its final inspection. Either way it is attached to the property rather than to the person who opened it, and the time to find out is before closing. One call to the Protective Inspection Department answers it.
What an inspection adds is the other half. The file tells you what was declared and whether it was signed off. A buyer’s inspection covers the roof, structure, foundation, drainage, electrical, heating and cooling, plumbing and the accessible interior, and reports the physical condition of what is actually there — including work nobody ever declared at all.
The City’s own criteria
Fenton publishes the complete property maintenance criteria it inspects rental properties against, and the actual report form its inspectors fill in. That is unusually open, and while the program applies to rentals rather than to every sale, the criteria are a good checklist for any older house here.
On the outside, the criteria require that the roof and flashing be sound and tight with no defects that admit rain; that roof drainage be adequate to prevent dampness or deterioration in the walls or interior; that roof drains, gutters and downspouts be in good repair and free from obstructions; and that roof water not be discharged in a way that creates a nuisance. Foundation walls must be plumb and free from open cracks and breaks. Exterior walls must be free from holes, breaks and loose or rotting material.
On surfaces, peeling, flaking and chipped paint must be eliminated and repainted, and siding and masonry joints — along with the joints between the building envelope and the perimeter of windows, doors and skylights — must be kept weather resistant and water tight. That last clause is the one that matters most for water getting into a wall, and it is the part people skip when a window is swapped without the opening being properly flashed and sealed.
Other specifics worth carrying into a viewing: stairways, decks, porches and balconies structurally sound with proper anchorage; handrails and guards firmly fastened; every openable window easily operable; glazing free from cracks and holes; chimneys structurally safe and sound; address numbers at least four inches high with a half-inch stroke, contrasting with their background and legible from the street.
On the ground, premises must be graded to prevent soil erosion and to prevent standing water accumulating on the property or inside any structure on it. Exhaust pipes, ducts, fans and blowers may not discharge gases, steam, hot air, grease, smoke or odors directly onto abutting property or another tenant’s. Pool barriers must have self-latching gates that positively close and latch from six inches open. And weeds over ten inches are a violation the City can act on itself, cutting them and charging the owner.
Every one of those is something we look at and report on, whether or not the property is a rental.
Permits
Since 2009 the City has required a permit for all roof and siding work, which makes the permit file genuinely informative on a Fenton house. A roof replaced in the last fifteen years should be in it.
The application forms page carries the rest: residential and commercial building permits, electrical, mechanical, plumbing and sign applications, zoning permits, lot division and consolidation, site plan review, planned unit development applications, a sign erectors license, landlord registration, rental inspection guidelines, a new business application — and a chicken permit.
The Protective Inspection Department runs three divisions — building, zoning, and code and ordinance enforcement — and describes itself as the clearinghouse for zoning compliance, licensing, permits, construction restrictions and reviews, coordinating with Fire, Planning and Public Works. It also controls signs, fences and accessory structures, and runs a 24-hour inspection line.
For a buyer, the practical value of a permit regime this broad is that gaps mean more. Where a municipality permits roofs and siding, an undocumented roof is a question rather than a shrug. And on the flip side, a documented one tells you when the work was done, which is the single most useful number for estimating what remains of its service life.
That is where a physical inspection and a paper trail complement each other. We can tell you the condition and apparent age of a covering, whether it was laid over an older one, how the flashings and penetrations were handled, and what the attic shows underneath. The file can tell you the date and who did it.
The buried line
Fenton’s housing runs from before 1940 to the 2010s in fairly even measure, and its sewer laterals do the same.
On one of the 690 units built before 1940 that pipe has been in the ground the best part of a century. On a 1950s house, seventy years. On a 1990s or 2000s house, twenty-five to thirty, with the landscaping planted alongside it now fully grown. Any of those 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 Fenton laterals are generally made of — and across a stock this varied more than one material is almost certainly in the ground.
The buried lead is the one component no visual inspection reaches, and it is not covered by the City’s rental criteria either. On a property with a septic system rather than a sewer connection, the question is a different one and belongs to the county health department; we do not evaluate septic systems and we do not test water.
A sewer camera inspection records what is actually inside the line: roots, cracks, displaced joints, bellies or blockages where they exist, and a clear run where they do not. 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. Get in touch to talk through a particular property.
Local information from City of Fenton — Building Department information and permit announcements · City of Fenton — building FAQs, pre-project checklist and rental inspection criteria · City of Fenton — application forms. Municipal requirements change — verify current details with the municipality.
Radon in Genesee County
Zone 2 is the middle EPA category — the predicted average indoor level across the county sits between 2 and 4 pCi/L.
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 · Genesee County radon and inspection coverage
Zone from the EPA Map of Radon Zones.
Why choose us
Five reasons people here pick us as their Fenton 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
Outstanding precision and attention to detail! Helps being able to make a truly informed decision about a home! Also, they are very veteran-friendly! No complaints here!
Desmond SheppardFlint, MINoah Scott was very thorough and explaining things to us, especially in regard to a possible mold problem.
Claudette GranvilleFlint, MII 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, MIWhat happens
Questions
In the City of Fenton, yes — a permit has been required for all roof and siding work since 1 June 2009. In Fenton Township, immediately around the City, building permits are not required for replacing a roof, windows or siding at all. Two adjacent governments sharing a name and taking opposite views, so confirm which one the property is in before assuming anything about its permit history.
For building work, further than for the trades. The City states that as of 11 November 2017 it enforces the state electrical, mechanical and plumbing codes and issues permits for all work under them — which means it did not before that date. If the mechanical history of a house matters to you, ask the Protective Inspection Department where the older records sit.
It is work that was started with the City’s knowledge and never signed off. Fenton puts the question on its own pre-project checklist: are there any outstanding violations or open permits on the property? It might be nothing more than paperwork, or it might be a deck, a basement or a furnace that never passed a final inspection — and it attaches to the property rather than to whoever opened it. One call to the department answers it, and the time to make it is before closing.
Fenton publishes the full criteria and the actual report form. They cover roof and flashing sound and tight with drainage adequate to prevent dampness in walls or interior; foundation walls plumb and free from open cracks; exterior walls free from holes and rotting material; peeling and flaking paint eliminated; siding and masonry joints and the joints around windows, doors and skylights kept weather resistant and water tight; decks, porches and stairs structurally sound; handrails and guards firmly fastened; glazing free from cracks; and grading that prevents standing water on the property or inside a structure.
What the City publishes is a rental inspection program, not a point-of-sale one, and we are not going to tell you otherwise. The criteria are still a useful checklist for any older house here. If you are letting a property, or are unsure which requirements apply to your situation, the Protective Inspection Department is the place to confirm it.
Worth establishing early, and the City’s own checklist asks it. It directs anyone dealing with septic and wells to the Genesee County Health Department, and suggests finding out the water and sewer tap fees before committing to anything. We do not test water and we do not evaluate septic systems — both are separate disciplines with their own credentials.
Spread more evenly than most. Of about 5,484 housing units, 939 date from the 1990s and 900 from the 2000s, with 804 from the 1950s, 690 predating 1940, and 267 built since 2010. Around 58% is single-family detached. In practice that means the age and condition of the specific building tells you far more here than any generalization about the city.
On a public sewer, yes. The buried lateral is the one component no visual inspection reaches, and it is not covered by the City’s rental criteria either. On a prewar house it has been down there close to a century; even on a 1990s house it is thirty years old with mature landscaping over it. 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.
More on cost, timing and what is included on the FAQ page.
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From the blog
October 22, 2017
July 2, 2020
Your local Fenton home inspector, seven days a week. Home inspection reports in 24 hours.
