Frenchtown Township, Michigan
Looking for a Frenchtown Township home inspector? We do certified home, commercial, mold and radon inspections in Frenchtown 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 Frenchtown 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 Frenchtown Township and across Monroe 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 Frenchtown 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 reportFrenchtown Township housing stock
Frenchtown Township has roughly 9,750 housing units and about 65% of them are single-family detached. Housing that went up mostly in one era has mostly one era’s problems — which is genuinely useful to know before you buy, because it tells you what to look at first.
The median owner-occupied home here is valued at $169,300. There are around 1,536 manufactured and mobile homes in Frenchtown Township. Those are a different inspection — the questions are about the frame, the anchoring and the skirting rather than a basement.
None of this is a prediction about a particular house. It is where a Frenchtown Township home inspector starts looking in a home of this age, and what we photograph and write up either way.
Housing figures: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2022 five-year estimates.
When Frenchtown Township was built
84% of homes here run on utility gas, and 3 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 323 use bottled or LP gas.
Local knowledge
Frenchtown Township regulates something most municipalities never mention: how high you may make your own ground.
Under the Township’s zoning ordinance, bringing in 21 cubic yards of fill or more requires a permit — and the finished elevation may not exceed twelve inches above the crown of the road. The fill has to be covered with at least six inches of debris-free topsoil suitable for growing turf, and the plot plan has to show both current and proposed finished elevations. If the plot plan is not good enough, the Building Official can require a site plan prepared by a registered engineer or land surveyor. A separate application covers fill over 20,000 square feet, and the same rule catches farm ponds and landscaping ponds.
A township that measures your yard against the crown of the road is telling you what kind of ground this is: flat, low, and close enough to level that a foot of fill on one lot changes where water goes on the next. It is also why an elevation certificate appears on the Township’s own new-house checklist as a document you may need.
That shapes what an inspection here concentrates on. Grading, the fall of the ground away from the foundation, where the downspouts and the sump discharge end up, and whether the lot sits high or low relative to its neighbors are not background details on this kind of ground. They are the story.
Before you buy
Water in, water out
Frenchtown Township treats its own drinking water, which is unusual for a township this size. The Public Works department describes an 8.0 million gallon per day operation: a 4.0 MGD conventional plant online since 1994 with two Claricones and four rapid sand filters, plus a 6.0 MGD membrane filtration plant completed in 2006 with three 2 MGD membrane filters, a full supervisory control and data acquisition system, and an ozone system. The Township states that since the plant came online in 1994 it has never been in violation of federal or state drinking water standards, and that its distribution crew covers 43 square miles, maintaining meters, mains and hydrants in-house.
Wastewater is a different story. The Township’s own new house checklist ends with a line directing applicants to the City of Monroe for the sewer tap fee, and to check with City of Monroe Wastewater. So the water arriving at a Frenchtown tap and the water leaving a Frenchtown drain are handled by different authorities.
That is worth knowing before you need it. When something goes wrong with a water service here the Township is the number to call; when the question is about the sanitary side, the answer may sit with a different government. And to complete the confusion, Township offices carry a Monroe mailing address while the City of Monroe is a separate municipality — three distinct things sharing one word.
The checklist is a useful map of who else is involved in a project here: the Road Commission or the Resort Authority for a driveway, the Drain Commission for soil erosion approval, the Health Department for a well or septic system, and, where applicable, a vacant property application, an elevation certificate and an energy code compliance check. On the Treasurer’s side it lists a water supply fee, a water main extension fee that may involve a special assessment district, a physical tap fee and a sewer fee.
Lead, copper and PFAS
Two things the Water Department publishes are worth a buyer’s attention, and the first is visible from the street.
The Township has been spot-checking water services to verify its records for lead and copper compliance. Properties are selected at random across the whole township, and the crew digs at the curb box on the property line to confirm what the service line is actually made of, backfilling with sand temporarily before returning with topsoil and hydroseed. They use a hydro excavator to keep the damage to the lawn down.
That is Michigan’s service line inventory work made physical. It also means the authoritative answer to “what is my service line made of?” for a given address is the Township’s record, not a guess from a build year — and if you find a patch of new hydroseed at the curb, now you know why.
The second is that the Township publishes its per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances results, stating that its PFAS samples are well below the EPA lifetime health advisory level, alongside fact sheets and its annual water quality reports. That is a subject most municipalities in this region do not put on a departmental page at all.
Our own role is narrow and worth stating plainly: we do not test water. Water testing is a separate discipline with its own certified laboratories. What an inspection reports is the visible supply piping where it is accessible — what it appears to be where the service enters the building and along exposed runs in a basement or crawlspace, including where visible piping is galvanized rather than copper or plastic. That narrows a question the Township is best placed to answer outright.
Permits
Frenchtown publishes a full set of applications on its permit applications page — building, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, demolition, signs, pools, mobile homes, detached accessory structures, decks and pole barns, with construction guides and specification sheets alongside them. Contractors apply online through an account; fire alarm and fire suppression review documents go directly to a third-party reviewer, with only the permit application coming to the Building Department.
One clarification is worth making, because the phrase means different things in different municipalities. Frenchtown does publish a Certificate of Occupancy application — but reading it shows it is a use certificate for a building and its occupancy: business name, use classification from the standard assembly-through-utility groups, occupancy load, square footage, whether the building is sprinklered. It is not a residential point-of-sale inspection of the kind some nearby communities require before a house changes hands. If you are buying a house here, do not assume a municipal inspection is coming; if you are taking on a commercial space, the certificate is very much your business. The application also asks whether the owner or applicant is indebted to the Township for any fees, charges, taxes or other sums.
Which puts the assessment of the building squarely on you. A buyer’s inspection covers the roof, structure, foundation, drainage, electrical, heating and cooling, plumbing and the accessible interior, with photographs and plain language about what was found and what it means. On a commercial property, commercial building inspections follow the CCPIA standard for offices, retail, multifamily and warehouse space.
The housing here spans a long range: of about 9,750 units, 1,556 date from the 1990s, 1,435 from the 1970s and 1,203 from before 1940, with 877 built since 2010. Around 65% is single-family detached, which leaves roughly a third of the stock in attached and multi-unit buildings — a higher share than most townships in this region, and a reason to be clear about what an association is responsible for and what you are.
The buried line
On flat ground, a sanitary lateral has less fall to work with than it does on a slope, and less fall means less margin. A slight settlement that would be harmless elsewhere can be enough here to create a low spot where solids stop moving.
The buried lead running from the building to the main is the one component no visual inspection reaches. On a 1970s house it has been in the ground fifty years; on one of the 1,203 units that predate 1940, considerably longer, with the landscaping planted alongside it long since mature. That is enough time 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 Frenchtown Township laterals are generally made of.
On a property with a septic system, the question is a different one and belongs to a county health department evaluation rather than to us. We do not test water and we do not evaluate septic systems.
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. On ground this flat, a belly is exactly the kind of thing worth knowing about before you own it. It is added to the same visit rather than booked separately, and radon testing or mold inspection and testing can be added alongside. Get in touch to talk through a particular property.
Local information from Frenchtown Township — Public Works, water treatment, lead and copper, PFAS · Frenchtown Township — permit applications · Frenchtown Township — soil fill permit application, zoning ordinance 4.21.1 · Frenchtown Township — new house checklist. Municipal requirements change — verify current details with the municipality.
Radon in Monroe 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 · Monroe County radon and inspection coverage
Zone from the EPA Map of Radon Zones.
Why choose us
Five reasons people here pick us as their Frenchtown 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
Mitch was great and thorough the our inspection. He provided explanations and suggestions throughout the service. Highly recommend!
Jaynie GMonroe, 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, 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, MIWhat happens
Questions
If it is 21 cubic yards or more, yes. Frenchtown Township’s zoning ordinance requires a soil fill permit, and the finished elevation may not exceed twelve inches above the crown of the road. The fill must be covered with at least six inches of debris-free topsoil suitable for growing turf, and the plot plan has to show current and proposed finished elevations. A separate application covers fill over 20,000 square feet, and farm ponds and landscaping ponds fall under the same section.
Different authorities. The Township operates its own water treatment plant and maintains its own mains, meters and hydrants across 43 square miles. On the wastewater side, the Township’s own new-house checklist directs applicants to the City of Monroe for the sewer tap fee and to check with City of Monroe Wastewater. Establish which office covers which question before you need one urgently.
To verify service line material for lead and copper compliance. The Water Department selects properties at random across the township, digs at the curb box on the property line to confirm what the line is made of, backfills with sand temporarily and returns with topsoil and hydroseed, using a hydro excavator to limit damage to the lawn. It also means the Township’s records, not a build year, are the place to get an answer about a specific address.
Not in the way some nearby communities do. The Township publishes a Certificate of Occupancy application, but its content — business name, use classification, occupancy load, square footage, whether the building is sprinklered — shows it is a use certificate for a building and its occupancy rather than a residential point-of-sale inspection. Confirm with the Building Department for your situation, and do not assume a municipal inspection is coming as part of a house sale.
No, and it catches people out. The Township offices themselves carry a Monroe mailing address while sitting in Frenchtown Township, and the City of Monroe is a separate municipality with its own government — which also happens to handle wastewater for Frenchtown. Confirm which municipality an address actually falls in before relying on anything you have read about either.
It publishes its results. The Water Department states that Frenchtown PFAS samples are well below the EPA lifetime health advisory level, and posts fact sheets, a press release and its annual water quality reports alongside them. We do not test water — that is a separate discipline with its own certified laboratories — and the Township’s published reports are the authoritative source for what is in the supply.
Spread across the whole range. Of about 9,750 housing units, 1,556 date from the 1990s, 1,435 from the 1970s and 1,203 from before 1940, with 1,099 from the 2000s and 877 built since 2010. Around 65% is single-family detached, leaving roughly a third of the stock in attached and multi-unit buildings. In practice that means a very wide range of construction eras and mechanical vintages inside one township.
On flat ground, more than usual. A lateral laid across level ground has little fall to spare, so a settlement that would be harmless on a slope can create a low spot where solids stop moving. The buried line is the one component no visual inspection reaches, and 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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Permits, assessing and property records for Frenchtown Township are handled by Frenchtown Charter Township, not by us.
From the blog
October 22, 2017
April 5, 2024
Your local Frenchtown Township home inspector, seven days a week. Home inspection reports in 24 hours.
