Independence Township, Michigan
Looking for an Independence Township home inspector? We do certified home, commercial, mold and radon inspections in Independence 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 Independence 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 Independence 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 an Independence 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 reportIndependence Township housing stock
Independence Township has roughly 14,632 housing units and about 72% 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 1990s than from any other decade — 3,752 homes, roughly 26% of the town.
The median owner-occupied home here is valued at $330,000. There are around 843 manufactured and mobile homes in Independence Township. Those are a different inspection — the questions are about the frame, the anchoring and the skirting rather than a basement. Around 727 homes sit in two-to-four unit buildings, where a shared roof, a shared wall and sometimes a shared furnace mean the report has to be clear about where one unit stops.
This is not a forecast for any one address. It is where an Independence Township 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 Independence Township was built
88% of homes here run on utility gas, and 9 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 179 use bottled or LP gas.
Local knowledge
Not every property here is on township water and sewer, and that single fact changes what you need to arrange before closing.
The Township requires acceptance letters from the Oakland County Health Department or approved agencies for private wells and septic systems before it will issue a certificate of occupancy, and it requires a water meter to be installed before one is issued as well. Those requirements only exist because both situations are common here.
The housing is modern. Of roughly 14,632 units, about 26% date from the 1990s, 18% from the 1970s and 16% from the 1980s, with a median build year of 1985 and around 72% single-family detached. A house from the mid-eighties is now around forty years old, which is past the expected service life of an original roof, furnace, air conditioning condenser and water heater — and which of those have been renewed is not something the build year can tell you.
Before you buy
Wells and septic
This is the local requirement most likely to affect your timeline, and it involves a second authority.
The Township’s well and septic approval rule, in force since July 2005, requires acceptance letters from the Oakland County Health Department or approved agencies for private wells and septic systems before a certificate of occupancy will be issued. The county regulates those systems; the Township will not complete its own process without the county’s sign-off.
For a buyer that means establishing early which systems serve a property. A well and a septic system are specialist evaluations rather than parts of a standard home inspection, so if either is present, tell us when you book and allow time to arrange them separately. If a system turns out to be failing or near failing, the state environment department and Michigan Saves have partnered to offer low-interest financing to homeowners replacing one — worth knowing before you commission work.
What the Township does and does not check
We found no residential point-of-sale requirement here. The certificate of occupancy references attach to construction and to the well, septic and meter approvals described above rather than to a resale.
The Building, Planning and Zoning Department issues all building permits and oversees the required inspections for existing and new construction, and enforces the building and zoning codes. Permits and inspection scheduling run through an online system. Confirm the position for a specific address with the department, but do not plan a timeline around a municipal inspection of the house that may not exist.
Where none happens at sale, a home buyer inspection is the one looking at the property on your behalf — roof, structure, foundation, drainage, electrical, heating and cooling, plumbing and the accessible interior, photographed and written up with how urgent each finding is.
Rentals and records
The Township operates a rental program, so if you are buying a let property or intending to let one, that registration is part of what you take on. The building department is the place to confirm where a particular property stands.
On permits, the Township publishes its construction codes and runs permit applications and inspection scheduling online. On a house of this age, permit history is worth a look — particularly for a roof, a furnace, an electrical service upgrade or a finished basement.
Treat what you find as context rather than proof: a permit does not establish that work is in good condition today, and nothing on file does not establish that work was done badly. The inspection establishes what is actually installed and what condition it is in now.
The buried line
Where a property is on the public sewer rather than septic, it has a private lateral running underground to that system, and no visual inspection can see inside it.
Forty years is long enough for trees planted with a subdivision to reach a joint, for ground to settle around backfill and leave a belly, or for a line to be damaged during later work in a yard. We will not name a material from a build year, because no authoritative source establishes what Independence Township 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. It is added to the same visit. Alongside it, commercial building inspections follow the CCPIA standard, and radon testing or mold inspection and testing can be added to a residential or commercial appointment.
Local information from Independence Township — well and septic approval · Independence Township — Building, Planning & Zoning · Independence Township — construction codes. 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. 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 · 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 Independence 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
Yes, and the Township has a specific rule about them. Since July 2005 it has required acceptance letters from the Oakland County Health Department or approved agencies for private wells and septic systems before a certificate of occupancy will be issued. The county regulates those systems and the Township will not complete its own process without that sign-off. Establish early which systems serve a property — a well and a septic system are specialist evaluations rather than parts of a standard home inspection.
There is financing available. The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy has partnered with Michigan Saves to offer low-interest financing to Michigan homeowners replacing failing or near-failing septic systems. That is worth knowing before you commission work rather than after. We are not the authority on eligibility and will not tell you what you qualify for — but a septic evaluation that identifies a problem is the document those conversations start from.
We found no residential point-of-sale requirement. The certificate of occupancy references here attach to construction and to well, septic and water meter approvals rather than to a resale. The Building, Planning and Zoning Department issues building permits and oversees inspections for existing and new construction. Confirm the position for a specific address with the department, and in the meantime plan on your own inspection being the one examining the house on your behalf.
Mostly modern. Of roughly 14,632 housing units, about 26% date from the 1990s, 18% from the 1970s and 16% from the 1980s, with a median build year of 1985 and around 72% single-family detached. A house from the mid-eighties is now around forty years old, which is past the expected service life of an original roof covering, furnace, air conditioning condenser and water heater — so the useful question is which of those have been renewed, not what the build year was.
The Township operates a rental program, so registration is part of what you take on when you buy a let property. The building department is the place to confirm where a particular property stands in that process. Knowing the condition of the roof, heating, electrical and plumbing before you close is what tells you whether the property will meet a compliance standard comfortably or not.
Where the property is on the public sewer rather than septic, it is worth considering. The private lateral runs underground and no visual inspection can see inside it whatever the build year. Forty years is long enough for trees planted with a subdivision to reach a joint, for ground to settle and leave a belly, or for a line to be damaged during later yard work. We would not guess a material from a build year and no authoritative source establishes what laterals here are generally made of. Putting a camera down the line answers it directly and is added to the same appointment.
Yes. You can book an Independence Township home inspector with us seven days a week, and we cover the rest of Oakland County too.
A home inspection report reaches you within 24 hours. Commercial buildings are 24 to 72 hours depending on size, a radon result comes at the end of the 48-hour test, and mold samples come back from the lab in one to three business days.
More on cost, timing and what is included on the FAQ page.
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Your local Independence Township home inspector, seven days a week. Home inspection reports in 24 hours.
