Manchester, Michigan
Looking for a Manchester home inspector? We do certified home, commercial, mold and radon inspections in Manchester, 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 Manchester 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 Manchester and across Washtenaw 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 Manchester 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 reportManchester housing stock
Manchester has roughly 1,149 housing units and about 60% 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 years before 1940 than from any other decade — 353 homes, roughly 31% of the town.
The median owner-occupied home here is valued at $210,700.
This is not a forecast for any one address. It is where a Manchester 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 Manchester was built
85% of homes here run on utility gas. Another 18 use bottled or LP gas.
Local knowledge
Manchester publishes something most municipalities do not: a plain-English page telling residents which water problems are the house’s fault and which are the City’s. It is, almost word for word, the distinction a home inspection exists to draw, and it makes this an unusually easy place to ask the right question of the right person.
The first thing to know, though, is a money one. The City states that delinquent water utility bills remain with the property, not the occupant, and that under Michigan Compiled Law it may charge those bills to the property and place a lien against it. A buyer can inherit a seller’s unpaid water bill. Ask for the utility account status in writing before closing, every time.
Second, a naming point that trips people up. Manchester is a city. Its council, clerk and offices are all city ones, and the local construction authority lists the City of Manchester and Manchester Township as separate members. Plenty of people, listings and older documents still say village out of habit, so when you go looking for ordinances or offices, look for the city.
Third, the drainage history. Manchester used to run a combined sewer system, and the City records that in 1990 the storm sewers were fully separated from the wastewater sewers, significantly reducing overflows. That is a genuinely useful thing to know in a town where the largest group of houses predates 1940 — because it tells you the below-ground arrangement at an old house may have been altered mid-life.
The housing itself has two peaks and a hollow between them: about 353 units predate 1940 and about 312 went up in the 1990s, while the entire span from the 1940s through the 1980s accounts for roughly 359 between them. Around 40% of the stock is not a detached house, which is a high share for a town this size.
Before you buy
Water
The City’s common water problems page carries a table headed, in effect, when to call a plumber and when to call the City. We would happily hand that page to a client. It is honest, specific, and it saves people money.
On brown water the City points to hydrant flushing and other disturbances loosening deposits in the mains, and notes that in dead-end lines iron bacteria or iron deposits can accumulate. On cloudy water it names air entering the system, and lists a faulty water softener and the home’s own plumbing alongside hydrant flushing and main breaks as possible causes.
The detail we like most is this one: a rotten egg odor from the hot water only is usually the magnesium rod in the water heater. That is a home-inspection finding, published by a city, and it is correct. If the smell is in both hot and cold, the City suggests flushing the system first.
On low pressure the City is equally straight: it is most often something inside the home’s own plumbing, and only if nothing is found there does a main break become the likely explanation.
All of which lines up with what we do. We run fixtures to see how the system behaves under load rather than testing one tap, we look at the water heater’s age, its temperature and pressure relief valve and discharge arrangement, its venting and any visible corrosion, and we note the condition of softeners and treatment equipment. When a house shows staining or poor flow, our report says what we saw and where it appears to originate — which is the information you need to decide whether the next call is to a plumber or to the City.
The public supply comes from three alternating wells with a combined pumping capacity of over 800 gallons per minute, and the City states it serves all platted areas.
Utilities and money
This deserves its own section because it is the one item on this page that can cost a buyer real money on day one. In the City’s own words on its water and sewer services page, delinquent water utility bills remain with the property, not the occupant.
The City sets out its authority plainly: it may shut off utilities for nonpayment, charge delinquent bills to the property, and place a lien against the property for unpaid utilities. So the question to ask is not whether the seller has paid, but whether the account attached to the address is clear. Get it confirmed in writing.
Rates as published, effective July 2025, are a ready-to-serve charge of $10.80 a month for water plus $4.54 per thousand gallons, and $26.58 a month for sewer plus $5.81 per thousand gallons, with garbage and recycling at $13.06 a month. The ready-to-serve charge applies whether or not any water is used, and there is a $50 fee when service has to be turned on or off for repairs.
One quirk worth knowing if the property has any outdoor water use. Outside or second meters measure water that does not enter the sanitary sewer, are billed twice a year (both times in June) and carry a $12 annual administrative fee. If there is no outside meter and you have a one-off large use that never reaches the sewer — the City’s own example is filling a swimming pool — contact the City promptly, because a sewer billing adjustment may be available.
None of this is something an inspection reports on. We mention it because it is the kind of thing that is easy to find out before closing and expensive to discover afterwards.
Permits
Building permits and inspections here are handled by the Western Washtenaw Construction Authority, a shared authority covering Freedom Township, Bridgewater Township, Manchester Township and the City of Manchester. It is the permitting and enforcement agency for building work and for soil erosion and sedimentation control across all four.
It sits in the lower level of the Manchester city offices, and it opens Monday, Wednesday and Friday from eight until one, closed Tuesday and Thursday. As with any part-week office, gather your questions and ask them in a single visit. A fee schedule took effect in February 2024 and permit payments can be made online.
The Authority also publishes which code editions are actually in force — the 2015 Michigan Residential Code, the 2015 Michigan Building Code and a 2021 mechanical code among them. That is a rare courtesy. It matters because the standard a house was built or altered to is the standard it is fairly judged against, and knowing the current edition tells you what any new work will have to meet.
A home inspection is not a code inspection and we do not present it as one. We report condition and function, and we flag work that looks as though it was done without the benefit of a permit or an inspection — which on a house with a lot of history is a common finding and a reasonable thing to ask the Authority about.
Ask for the permit history on the specific address while you are there. On a town where roughly 353 units predate 1940, the gap between what was permitted and what is physically present has had a very long time to open up. Commercial building inspections to the CCPIA standard are available where the building is commercial.
Drainage
The City’s own history notes that early settlement here was slow because of boggy ground and tree stumps. That is a nice piece of local color and also a practical hint: ground that held water in 1832 has not necessarily stopped doing so, and low-lying parts of an old settlement are exactly where wet basements concentrate.
The City’s community systems page records that a combined sewer system previously caused stormwater management problems, and that in 1990 the storm sewers were fully separated from the wastewater sewers. It also notes the sanitary system was designed to accommodate moderate growth over a fifteen to twenty year period from 1989, and that it covers most but not all of the platted areas.
For a buyer that translates into two questions. Is this address actually on the public sewer, given the City says most and not all. And on a house that predates 1990, how is the roof and surface water handled now that the two systems are separate?
So we record where the downspouts terminate and whether they carry water clear of the walls or drop it at the foundation, where any sump pump discharges and whether there is a backup arrangement, and how the ground falls away from the building. On a pre-1940 house the original arrangement has usually been altered more than once.
Inside, we look for what water leaves behind: staining and tide lines on foundation walls, efflorescence and mineral deposits, replaced lower wall finishes, and corrosion at the base of mechanical equipment. Equipment sitting up on blocks usually means something happened once, and it is always worth asking about.
Washtenaw County averages around thirty inches of precipitation a year, with about seventy percent of it returning to the atmosphere and the rest going to lakes, streams and groundwater. The share that lands on a roof is the part a homeowner controls.
The housing
Roughly 353 of the housing units here predate 1940 and about 312 were built in the 1990s. The four decades in between produced only around 359 units altogether, so most Manchester houses are either genuinely old or comfortably modern, with relatively little in the middle.
On the pre-1940 stock the questions are about accumulated change. Electrical systems rebuilt in stages by different hands, with mixed wiring types meeting in the same box, ungrounded receptacles, overfilled panels and overfused circuits. Plumbing renewed in part rather than in whole, so the material transitions at the joins are where trouble concentrates. Several generations of roof covering. Heating equipment several replacements from the original. Foundations of stone or early block whose condition depends far more on water management than on original construction.
On the 1990s houses the questions are about timing. Those homes are now thirty to thirty-five years old, which is when the first full round of replacements lands at once: original roof coverings reaching the end of their service life, water heaters on their second or third, furnaces and condensers at the point where the next failure means replacement. Windows are usually original, and failed double-glazing seals show as clouding between the panes. Decks from that era need their ledger connections, flashing, fasteners and post bases genuinely examined, because that is where deck failures start.
The 40% of stock that is not a detached house matters more here than the number suggests. In a small city that usually means converted upper floors above shops, small multi-unit buildings and mixed commercial and residential in the old core. Shared roofs, shared walls and shared services raise questions a single-family inspection does not, and access to common areas has to be arranged rather than assumed. Tell us what the building actually is and we will scope the visit properly.
Radon testing and mold inspection and testing can be added to any visit.
The buried line
The pipe running out from the building belongs to the owner, and no visual inspection reaches inside it. On a house predating 1940 in a town whose sewer arrangement was reworked in 1990, that pipe has had a long and possibly eventful life.
We will not name a material from a build year. No authoritative source establishes what Manchester laterals are generally made of, and a guess in a report is worse than no statement at all.
A sewer camera inspection records what is actually in there: roots, cracks, displaced joints, bellies or blockages where they exist, and a clear run where they do not. In an old platted town with mature street trees, roots are the common finding, and they give no warning until the day the drains back up.
If the address turns out not to be on the public sewer, the camera earns its place a different way: it documents the building drain out to the tank, which is the owner’s pipe and the part a septic evaluation does not examine. Take septic and well questions to the county health department, and start early, because that work runs to its own timetable.
A camera inspection is added to the same appointment rather than booked separately. We deliver a full written report with photographs, generally the same day. You can read what our clients say, browse answers to common questions, or get in touch about a specific address in Manchester — and if you are buying, a buyer’s inspection is the place to start.
Local information from City of Manchester — common water problems, plumber or City · City of Manchester — water and sewer services, rates and delinquent bills · City of Manchester — Western Washtenaw Construction Authority · City of Manchester — community systems, sewer separation and water supply. Municipal requirements change — verify current details with the municipality.
Radon in Washtenaw County
Zone 1 is the highest of the three EPA categories — the predicted average indoor level across the county is above the 4 pCi/L action level. What a zone cannot tell you is anything about one house: 38% of tests actually run in Washtenaw 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 · Washtenaw 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 Manchester 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
Mr. Cahoon was very thorough inspecting the home I am interested in purchasing. He explained everything clearly as he went along. Went above and beyond crawling into the very small crawl space! Thank you!
Amy CaragayYpsilanti, 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
The City states that delinquent water utility bills remain with the property, not the occupant, and that it may charge them to the property and place a lien against it. Ask for written confirmation that the utility account for the address is clear before closing.
A city. Its council, clerk and offices are all city ones, and the local construction authority lists the City of Manchester and Manchester Township as separate members. Many people still say village out of habit, so search for city ordinances and city offices.
The Western Washtenaw Construction Authority, a shared authority covering Freedom Township, Bridgewater Township, Manchester Township and the City of Manchester. It sits in the lower level of the city offices and opens Monday, Wednesday and Friday, eight to one.
The City says an odor in the hot water only is usually the magnesium rod in the water heater — a house issue rather than a supply one. If the smell is in both hot and cold, it suggests flushing the system first.
The City explains that flushing and other disturbances loosen deposits in the mains, and that iron bacteria or iron deposits can accumulate in dead-end lines. Running the largest faucet until it clears usually resolves it.
No. The City says the sewage system covers most of the platted areas, with some exceptions. Confirm what the specific address is actually connected to rather than assuming, and if it is on septic, take that to the county health department early.
The storm sewers were fully separated from the wastewater sewers, ending a combined system that had caused stormwater problems and overflows. On a house older than that, the below-ground drainage arrangement may have been altered part way through its life.
Yes. Around 40% of Manchester’s housing stock is not a detached house, and shared roofs, walls and services raise questions a standard single-family inspection does not. Tell us what the building actually is so we can scope it and arrange access properly.
More on cost, timing and what is included on the FAQ page.
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From the blog
October 22, 2017
January 24, 2025
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