Lincoln Park, Michigan
Looking for a Lincoln Park home inspector? We do certified home, commercial, mold and radon inspections in Lincoln Park, 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 Lincoln Park 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 Lincoln Park and across Wayne 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 Lincoln Park 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 reportLincoln Park housing stock
Lincoln Park has roughly 16,048 housing units and about 85% 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.
Most of it went up in the 1950s — 6,580 homes, around 41% of the town.
The median owner-occupied home here is valued at $109,500. Around 740 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.
None of this is a prediction about a particular house. It is where a Lincoln Park 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 Lincoln Park was built
89% of homes here run on utility gas. Another 211 use bottled or LP gas.
Local knowledge
Lincoln Park will not let a house change hands until the City has inspected it, and its version of that rule is tied to the transaction rather than to a calendar.
The housing is older than much of Downriver. Of roughly 16,048 units, about 41% date from the 1950s, 18% from the 1940s and 13% from before 1940 — something like 72% built before 1960 — with a median build year of 1954 and around 85% single-family detached. Nearly everything here is a whole house, and most of it is seventy years old or more.
The City has a dedicated chapter of its ordinances for the sale process: Chapter 1488, Inspection of Residential Dwellings Prior to Sale or Transfer. It is worth understanding what that certificate covers, how long it lasts and what counts as a transfer, because the answers are more specific than people assume.
Before you buy
Two inspections, two purposes
Several communities in this region inspect a house before it changes hands. What differs between them is how long the resulting certificate is good for, and Lincoln Park has taken a third approach.
Under Chapter 1488, the Building Department issues a Certificate of Approval certifying compliance with the codes and ordinances of the City for residential dwellings — and it is valid for one sale or transfer. A new inspection and a new Certificate of Approval are required each time the dwelling is sold or transferred.
Compare that with neighboring cities and the variety is striking. Some issue a certificate good for twelve months, one for six, and one that lasts as long as you own the property. Lincoln Park ties it to the transaction itself. The practical effect for a buyer is the same in every case: whatever the seller holds, a fresh inspection is happening for your purchase.
Two definitions in the ordinance catch people out. A dwelling includes accessory uses — the ordinance lists garage, shed, pools, gazebo, doghouses, playhouses and similar — so outbuildings and a pool are within scope. And a transfer means a sale or conveyance of title for consideration, a land contract, or the exercise of an option to purchase; it expressly does not include a conveyance by lease, gift, devise or lien foreclosure.
None of that replaces a buyer’s inspection. The City is confirming compliance with its codes so the property can change hands. An inspection is commissioned by you and reports condition — roof, structure, foundation, drainage, electrical, heating and cooling, plumbing and the accessible interior, with how urgent each finding is. On a house built around 1954, that second question shapes what you do after moving in.
Rentals and empty houses
Lincoln Park runs separate schemes for rented property and for vacant property, and both interact with a purchase.
For rentals, a Certificate of Compliance certifies compliance with the City’s codes for rental dwellings and units. It is valid for three years from issue — but not through a sale. The ordinance requires a new inspection and a new Certificate of Compliance prior to the sale or transfer of a rental dwelling or rental unit, so buying a let property means a fresh inspection regardless of how recently the last one happened.
The City’s codified ordinances also carry a chapter on vacant properties. If the house you are considering has been standing empty, raise that with the Building Department before you close rather than after.
The department administers the Michigan Building, Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing Codes alongside the City’s planning and zoning, sign, rental and resale ordinances, and publishes a resale application and checklist. Reading the checklist before the inspection is the straightforward way to avoid surprises on it.
Seventy years on
With roughly 72% of the housing built before 1960 and 85% of it single-family detached, Lincoln Park is a city of whole houses that have been standing a long time.
A house of that age has had everything replaced at least once, or is overdue — roof, furnace, water heater, windows — and its electrical service and supply plumbing have had seventy years or more to be extended, altered or partly renewed. We will not reason from the build year to what is installed, because on housing this old that reasoning is unreliable.
Water management is where older houses most often show their age, and it is entirely observable. During an inspection we look at accessible grading around the building, gutters and downspouts and where they discharge, foundation conditions, the basement or crawlspace, and sump equipment where present — documented as we find it rather than as the property was originally built. After several owners and several rounds of landscaping, those are often quite different things.
The buried line
On a housing stock this old, the private sewer lateral is one of the least known and most consequential things about a property.
It runs underground from the house to the public system, and no visual inspection can see inside it. Seventy years or more is ample time for tree roots to find a joint, for ground movement to displace a section, or for repairs to have been made that nobody now remembers. We will not name a material from a build year, because no authoritative source establishes what Lincoln Park 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 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 Lincoln Park — Chapter 1488, inspection of dwellings prior to sale or transfer · City of Lincoln Park — Building Department · City of Lincoln Park — forms and applications. Municipal requirements change — verify current details with the municipality.
Radon in Wayne County
Zone 3 is the lowest of the three EPA categories — the predicted average indoor level across the county is below 2 pCi/L. So Lincoln Park is not where Michigan’s alarming radon numbers are, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. What a zone cannot tell you is anything about one house: 17% of tests actually run in Wayne County still came back at or above the EPA’s 4 pCi/L action level, which is about one in six. A zone is a prediction of an average, and nobody lives in 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 · Wayne 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 Lincoln Park 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
Ora from Trademark did an incredible job with the inspection and sewer scope of the home I am in the process of buying. He was very thorough, explained everything to me from the start, and made it all super easy to understand which definitely helped to put me at ease a bit more. Highly recommend this company!
Mariah HartmanWestland, MIJim was prompt and thorough during the mold testing. Clearly gave us an explanation about mold and testing process he was going to conduct. Testing was followed by a written report. I would recommend everyone use a third party to test mold, independent from the company conducting remediation work. I would hire Trademark again and strongly recommend them.
Alberto PicconeNorthville, MICowboy “Jim” just did Mold Testing in my parents’ basement. He was Professional, explained the what, how and yet of everything to my Senior parents. Our results came back super quick. He even referred us to the resources on the Trademark website for me to use to fix the leaky basement. It’s 1 stop shopping with Trademark.
Becky JohnsonWayne, MIWhat happens
Questions
Yes. The City has a dedicated chapter of its codified ordinances — Chapter 1488, Inspection of Residential Dwellings Prior to Sale or Transfer — under which the Building Department issues a Certificate of Approval certifying compliance with the codes and ordinances of the City for residential dwellings. The department publishes a resale application and a resale checklist, and reading the checklist before the inspection is the simplest way to avoid surprises.
For one sale or transfer, which is unusual. The ordinance states that a Certificate of Approval is valid for one sale or transfer of a dwelling, and that a new inspection and a new certificate are required each time the dwelling is sold or transferred. Neighboring cities take different approaches — some issue a certificate good for twelve months, one for six, and one that lasts as long as you own the property. Lincoln Park ties it to the transaction, so whatever the seller holds, a fresh inspection happens for your purchase.
Yes. The ordinance defines a dwelling as a residential structure and its accessory uses, and defines accessory use as a garage, shed, pools, gazebo, doghouses, playhouses or similar uses. So outbuildings and a pool fall within the scope of the inspection rather than sitting outside it. Worth knowing if the property you are buying has a detached garage or a pool that has seen better days.
The ordinance is specific. A transfer means the sale or conveyance of title to another for consideration, the execution of a land contract, or the exercise of an option to purchase a dwelling. It expressly does not include a conveyance by lease, gift, devise or lien foreclosure. If your acquisition is one of the excluded kinds, the position may be different — that is a question for the Building Department rather than for us.
No. A rental Certificate of Compliance is valid for three years from issue, but the ordinance adds that this is unless the property is sold or transferred, and requires a new inspection and a new Certificate of Compliance prior to the sale or transfer of a rental dwelling or rental unit. So buying a let property means a fresh inspection regardless of how recently the last one was carried out.
On this housing stock it is worth serious consideration. Roughly 72% of the city was built before 1960, so a great many laterals here have been in the ground seventy years or more. The line is buried and no visual inspection can see inside it, and we would not guess a material from a build year — no authoritative source establishes what Lincoln Park laterals are generally made of. Putting a camera down the line documents roots, cracks, displaced joints, bellies or blockages where they exist, and is added to the same appointment.
Yes. You can book a Lincoln Park home inspector with us seven days a week, and we cover the rest of Wayne 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 Lincoln Park home inspector, seven days a week. Home inspection reports in 24 hours.
