Leoni Township, Michigan
Looking for a Leoni Township home inspector? We do certified home, commercial, mold and radon inspections in Leoni 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 Leoni 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 Leoni Township and across Jackson 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 Leoni 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 reportLeoni Township housing stock
Leoni Township has roughly 5,884 housing units and about 88% of them are single-family detached. Age is the most useful single fact about a house before anyone has seen it. It narrows down what is worth checking first, and it is why two places of much the same size can need quite different inspections.
The median owner-occupied home here is valued at $164,600. 85% are owner-occupied, which is high even for this area. There are around 300 manufactured and mobile homes in Leoni Township. Those are a different inspection — the questions are about the frame, the anchoring and the skirting rather than a basement.
Treat this as a starting list, not a diagnosis. A Leoni Township home inspector checks these things early in a home of this age and then records what is genuinely there, which is often not what the era would suggest.
Housing figures: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2022 five-year estimates.
When Leoni Township was built
79% of homes here run on utility gas, and 40 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 462 use bottled or LP gas.
Local knowledge
Leoni Township is currently publishing a public notice about lead in drinking water, and the first thing to say about it is what the Township itself says: this is a corrosion control measure, not a verdict on every tap in the township.
The Township sampled ten homes. The lead 90th percentile came back at 19 parts per billion, above the Action Level of 12 ppb, with two of the sampled sites over the Action Level. The notice is explicit that the Action Level is a measure of corrosion control effectiveness and is not a health-based standard — while also being clear that the goal for lead in drinking water is zero.
What the exceedance triggers is process: educational outreach, sampling every six months at twenty sites, work toward a corrosion control treatment strategy, and replacement of service lines. The Township states the exceedance is resolved after two consecutive six-month rounds below the action levels. Because that sampling is ongoing, the figures above are the round the Township published rather than the last word — ask the Township where things currently stand.
The relevance to a property here is direct, because the Township’s own first piece of advice is to find out what your service line is made of. The housing stock makes that a live question: of about 5,884 units, 4,338 — roughly 74% — were built before 1990, and 1,030 predate 1940 altogether.
Before you buy
Lead in drinking water
The Township’s public notice is a good piece of plain writing and worth reading in full. Its practical advice comes down to a few things.
First, learn what your service line is made of — lead, galvanized, or something else — through the Township or a licensed plumber. Second, use a filter certified to NSF/ANSI Standard 53 for lead reduction and Standard 42 for particulates if the home has, or may have, lead or galvanized plumbing, a lead service line, copper plumbing with lead solder from before 1988, or faucets and fittings sold before 2014. Third, flush the tap before drinking or cooking — thirty seconds to two minutes without a lead service line, at least five minutes with one. Use cold water; boiling does not remove lead; clean the faucet aerator.
We want to be exact about our own role here. We do not test water. Water testing is a separate discipline with its own certified laboratories, and the Township points to the state’s list of them. Nothing in a building inspection is a substitute for a water test.
What an inspection does contribute is directly relevant to the Township’s first question. Where the supply piping is accessible — typically at the point the service enters the building, and along exposed runs in a basement or crawlspace — we report what the visible piping appears to be, and we note where visible supply piping is galvanized rather than copper or plastic. That is an observation of what can be seen, not a laboratory finding and not a determination of what is buried beyond the wall. But on a house where nobody has ever looked, it is a useful starting point for the conversation the Township is asking people to have.
Given the age profile here — three quarters of the stock built before 1990, and a fifth of it before 1940 — the plumbing history of an individual house is worth understanding properly rather than assuming. A buyer’s inspection covers the roof, structure, foundation, drainage, electrical, heating and cooling, plumbing and the accessible interior, and reports the plumbing as it is found.
The sewer ordinance
Leoni Township’s sewer use regulations contain a provision we have not found stated this plainly anywhere else. Section 38-127 allows old building sewers, or portions of them, to be used in connection with new buildings — but only when they are found, on examination and test by the inspector, to meet all the requirements of the division.
Read that as a statement of principle and it is exactly the argument for looking inside a buried line rather than assuming it. The Township does not take an existing lateral on trust. It expects the pipe to be examined and tested before it carries anything new.
The same section is unusually specific about what is permitted. Section 38-127 names vitrified clay, asbestos cement, extra heavy cast iron soil pipe, concrete sewer pipe, ABS extra strength solid wall plastic and PVC to ASTM D-3034 DR-35, and requires cast iron in filled or unstable ground unless the pipe is laid on an approved bed or cradle. Residences need a minimum four-inch pipe, average commercial six-inch, at a fall of one eighth of an inch per foot. Joints and connections must be made gastight and watertight, and a separate, independent building sewer is required for every building, with a narrow exception for a rear building on an interior lot.
That list is worth knowing because it describes the range of what may be under a property here — clay, cast iron, concrete, asbestos cement and plastic have all been permitted at different times. It does not tell you which one is under any particular house, and neither will a build year. The only thing that answers that question is looking.
One more line matters to a buyer: all costs and expenses incidental to the installation and connection of the building sewer are borne by the owner. The pipe is yours, and so is what happens to it.
Sewer or septic
Section 38-125 sets out when a property has to be on the public sewer, and the terms are firmer than most.
Where a public or combined sewer runs in an abutting street, alley or right-of-way, and passes not more than 200 feet at the nearest point from a structure in which sanitary sewage originates, the owner is required at their own expense to install suitable toilet facilities and connect them directly to the sewer — within 180 days of official notice to do so. The same section makes it unlawful, except as the division provides, to construct or maintain a privy, privy vault, septic tank or cesspool.
For a buyer that is a question to settle before closing rather than after: is this property on the public sewer, is it on a septic system, and if it is on a septic system, is there a sewer within 200 feet? A yes to the last one means an obligation that can arrive on a 180-day clock, at the owner’s expense.
We do not evaluate septic systems — that is a separate discipline with its own credentials, and the county health department is where it belongs. What we do cover on the water side is the building and the ground immediately around it: accessible grading and how it falls away from the foundation, gutters and downspouts and where they discharge, foundation conditions, the basement or crawlspace, and any sump equipment and where it sends what it pumps.
The Township’s utility department handles water and sewer billing and publishes its rate changes; it is also the place to confirm what serves a given address. One jurisdiction note while you are asking: Michigan Center is a community within Leoni Township rather than a separate municipality, so a Michigan Center address is a Leoni Township address and these are the rules that apply to it.
Older housing
Of about 5,884 housing units here, 1,030 were built before 1940 and another 533 in the 1940s. The 1950s added 942 and the 1970s 793. Only 33 units have been built since 2010. Around 88% is single-family detached.
A township whose housing is largely pre-war and mid-century asks specific things of an inspection. Prewar houses were built before wiring, plumbing and heating standardized, which means the systems in them have almost always been replaced in stages by different people over different decades. The panel and the branch circuits often disagree. Original supply plumbing has passed the end of any normal service life. Foundations are frequently stone or unreinforced masonry, with the drainage arrangements of their day.
None of that makes an old house a bad house — plenty of them have outlasted things built fifty years later. But it does mean the interesting questions are about the junctions: where new work meets old, where an addition meets the original structure, where a finished basement covers what used to be visible, and whether the building has been maintained as a whole or patched a piece at a time.
On houses of this age, radon testing is worth considering as an add-on to the same visit, and where there is any history of water in a basement, mold inspection and testing can be added too. Read what clients say about how the reports read.
The buried line
The Township’s ordinance sets the standard: an old building sewer may serve a new building only when it is found, on examination and test, to meet the requirements. The same logic applies to a house changing hands.
On a prewar house that pipe has been in the ground eighty years or more; on a 1950s house, seventy; on a 1970s house, fifty, with the landscaping planted alongside it long since mature. Any of those is more than 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. The ordinance names the materials that have been permitted here over the years — clay, cast iron, concrete, asbestos cement, plastic — but which one runs under a particular house is not something a build year answers.
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 rather than booked separately, and on housing this old it is one of the more useful things you can put on the list.
Alongside it, commercial building inspections follow the CCPIA standard for offices, retail, multifamily and warehouse property. Get in touch to talk through what a particular property needs.
Local information from Leoni Township — public notice on elevated lead levels in drinking water · Leoni Township Code of Ordinances — Sec. 38-127, building sewers and connections · Leoni Township Code of Ordinances — Sec. 38-125, use of public sewers required · Leoni Township — Utility Department. Municipal requirements change — verify current details with the municipality.
Why choose us
Five reasons people here pick us as their Leoni 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
Justin Frey was my Inspector. He was very nice, very professional, and made sure I had all my questions answered. If I had a business, I definitely would hire him!
Tonya HConcord, 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
That sampling showed elevated lead in drinking water in some homes. The Township sampled ten homes; the lead 90th percentile came back at 19 parts per billion against an Action Level of 12 ppb, with two sampled sites over the Action Level. The notice is explicit that the Action Level measures corrosion control effectiveness and is not a health-based standard, while also saying the goal for lead in drinking water is zero. Sampling continues every six months at twenty sites, so ask the Township where things currently stand rather than relying on any single published round.
No. Water testing is a separate discipline with its own certified laboratories, and the Township points residents to the state list of them. Nothing in a building inspection substitutes for a water test. What we can do is report what the visible supply piping appears to be where it is accessible — including where the service enters the building — which is a useful starting point for the question the Township asks residents to answer.
The Township asks residents to contact it, or a licensed plumber, to determine whether the line connecting the home to the water main is lead, galvanized or another material. That is the authoritative route. An inspection can tell you what the piping looks like where it is visible inside the building, which often narrows the question but does not settle what is buried beyond the wall.
State guidance suggests it can. The Township’s notice reproduces MDHHS advice to use a certified lead-reducing filter where a home has, or may have, lead or galvanized plumbing, a lead service line, copper plumbing with lead solder from before 1988, or faucets and fittings sold before 2014. About 74% of the housing here was built before 1990, and 1,030 units predate 1940 — so for most properties in the township those markers are worth checking rather than dismissing.
Only after it is checked. The Township’s ordinance allows old building sewers, or portions of them, to be used in connection with new buildings only when they are found on examination and test by the inspector to meet all requirements. That is a municipality declining to take a buried pipe on trust, and the same reasoning applies when a house changes hands.
Possibly, and on a short clock. Where a public sewer runs in an abutting street and passes not more than 200 feet at the nearest point from the structure, the owner is required at their own expense to connect within 180 days of official notice. The ordinance also makes it unlawful, except as it provides, to construct or maintain a privy, privy vault, septic tank or cesspool. Establish what the property is on, and how close the nearest sewer runs.
Old, and very little is new. Of about 5,884 housing units, 1,030 were built before 1940 and 533 in the 1940s, with 942 from the 1950s and 793 from the 1970s. Only 33 units have been built since 2010, and around 88% is single-family detached. On housing of that age the systems have almost always been replaced in stages by different people over different decades, which is why the junctions between old work and new are where an inspection spends its time.
Yes. Michigan Center is a community within Leoni Township rather than a separate municipality, so a Michigan Center address is a Leoni Township address and the Township’s ordinances and utility arrangements are the ones that apply. Worth confirming with the Township if you are relying on it for anything that matters.
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