Ray Township, Michigan
Looking for a Ray Township home inspector? We do certified home, commercial, mold and radon inspections in Ray 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 Ray 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 Ray Township and across Macomb 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 Ray 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 reportRay Township housing stock
Ray Township has roughly 1,646 housing units and about 95% of them are single-family detached. Homes built in a single stretch tend to wear out in the same places at the same time. That is why when somewhere was built is the first thing worth knowing about it.
The busiest stretch of building here was the years before 1940: 319 homes, about 19% of everything standing today. At 95% single-family it is almost entirely detached houses, so the inspection is nearly always of a whole building rather than one unit inside one.
The median owner-occupied home here is valued at $374,700.
None of this says anything about the specific house you are buying. It is the shortlist a Ray Township home inspector works through in a home of this age, and every item on it gets photographed and written up whichever way it turns out.
Housing figures: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2022 five-year estimates.
When Ray Township was built
79% of homes here run on utility gas, and 11 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 159 use bottled or LP gas.
Local knowledge
Ray Township publishes something most communities leave unsaid, and every buyer here should read it before making an offer.
Its land preservation page carries a formal notice to prospective residents: that the property they are about to build on may be close to the boundary of a farm or farm operation, that generally accepted agricultural and management practices may generate usual and ordinary noise, dust, odors and other associated conditions, and that those practices are protected by the Michigan Right to Farm Act.
That is a township being straight with people rather than a warning about a problem. But it is worth taking seriously, because it means the noise of machinery at five in the morning, dust at harvest and odors from field application are lawful and protected. They are not things you can complain away after you move in.
So if you are buying here, go and look at the property at more than one time of year if you can, find out what is farmed nearby, and decide with your eyes open. Plenty of people move to Ray Township precisely because it is farmland, and are entirely happy. The ones who struggle are the ones who did not realize.
The township is a founding member of a six-township committee working to preserve farmland and open space, and it encourages open space subdivision designs intended to keep its rural character while allowing residential growth.
On the practical side, the permit net here is wider than most: a lawn sprinkler needs a permit, and so does a pond.
Before you buy
Farmland
The township’s land preservation page sets the position out plainly, and the wording is worth reading rather than paraphrasing: prospective residents are informed that the property is within close proximity of a farm or farm operation, and that generally accepted agricultural practices may generate usual and ordinary noise, dust, odors and other associated conditions protected by state law.
Practically, that changes the questions a buyer should ask. Not "is it quiet?" but "what is farmed here, and when does the work happen?" Field operations run to the season and the weather, not to a timetable, which means very early starts, long days at harvest and application windows that arrive when the ground is right.
The township is also part of a wider effort. It describes itself as a founding member of a committee of six neighboring townships supporting the preservation of farmland and open space, noting that the area is experiencing both population growth and significant loss of farmland. It encourages open space development designs intended to preserve rural character, natural resources and agriculture while still allowing housing.
One thing worth checking on any rural parcel here is the title itself. Where farmland preservation is active, development rights are sometimes sold or restricted, and those arrangements run with the land rather than with the seller. The township page does not say which parcels are affected, and neither will we — ask your conveyancer to look, particularly if part of why you are buying is what you intend to build.
None of this is what a home inspection covers. We raise it because on a 95%-detached farmland township, the land and its neighbors are a large part of what you are buying.
Permits
The building department lists the projects requiring permits, and the list runs further than usual: new construction, structural changes, decks, swimming pools, accessory buildings and ponds.
Beyond the building permit, plumbing, electrical and mechanical permits are required for a range of work, and the township’s own examples are the useful part — lawn sprinklers, fireplaces, and replacing or adding a furnace or air conditioning.
A lawn sprinkler system needing a permit catches people out, and it is worth knowing in both directions. If you are having one installed, expect paperwork. If a property already has one, there should be a record of it, and its absence is a fair question.
One useful threshold: residential plumbing, electrical and mechanical permits are issued without a separate review process where construction is under 3,500 square feet. So on an ordinary house, the trades side is straightforward.
Wells and septic fields are not the township’s at all — the county health department regulates and issues those permits. On a rural township that is the more important call to make early, because a septic evaluation and a water test are specialist work with their own lead times.
A buyer’s inspection is not a permit search and cannot tell you whether a permit was pulled. What it does is tell you what was actually done and how well, so the records request you make is targeted. We deliver a full written report with photographs, generally the same day.
Inspections
Ray Township publishes its inspection arrangements in more detail than almost anywhere else we work, and if you are managing a project inside a contingency period, that detail is worth having.
Inspections are requested by phone during weekday office hours, with twenty-four hours’ notice, and are typically scheduled within five days of the request. Critically, they are scheduled for a specific day but not a specific time — so you are giving up a day rather than an hour.
Each trade has its own window. Building inspections run through the week; electrical inspections are on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, typically before noon; mechanical and plumbing run all day Tuesday and Wednesday and until noon on Thursday. All the township’s inspectors are part time, and return calls as their schedules allow.
When you book, the township asks for the type of inspection, the job address, the date needed, a name and phone number, and any special entry instructions. That last one matters on rural property with gates, dogs and long drives — give it properly and you avoid losing the visit.
Plans can be brought in, emailed or left in the township drop box with the fees. Card payments carry a three percent charge, so a check is cheaper.
The housing
Ray Township’s housing is spread evenly across the decades: 319 units predating 1940, 274 from the 1950s, 244 from the 1990s, 236 from the 2000s and 183 from the 1970s. Unlike most communities in this part of the county, it is still adding houses — 39 units in the 2020s.
That means there is no useful generalization about a Ray Township house, and the inspection has to start from what is actually in front of it.
On the pre-1940 stock, expect the accumulated history of a long-lived building: electrical rebuilt in stages across eighty years or more, plumbing renewed in part with material transitions at the joins, several generations of roof covering, and heating equipment several replacements from the original. Foundations of that era are typically stone or early block, and their condition tracks how water has been managed around the building.
On the 1950s to 1970s stock, service panels are often at or past the point where an upgrade is worth considering, roofs are on a second or third covering, and insulation and ventilation reflect the standards of the day. The 1990s and 2000s houses are at the first full round of replacements — roof coverings, water heaters, furnaces and condensers — and their decks need ledger connections, flashing and fasteners genuinely examined.
At 95% detached housing on farmland, outbuildings are common and deserve proper attention. Pole barns, detached garages and workshops frequently carry their own electrical supply, their own roof and structural questions, and are often where informal work has accumulated. On a working agricultural property they may be substantial buildings in their own right.
Radon testing and mold inspection and testing can be added to any visit, and commercial building inspections to the CCPIA standard are available for commercial property.
Water and waste
The township is explicit that wells and septic fields are regulated and permitted by the county health department rather than by the township. On a rural township that is the more consequential of the two authorities for most buyers.
A septic evaluation is specialist work carried out by or through the county. It answers questions no visual inspection can — whether a drainfield is failing, and the true condition of the tank — and it needs arranging early because it takes its own time. A water test on a private well belongs in the same conversation, and is worth repeating after any well repair.
What we inspect is the building and everything from the house side of the system inward: the accessible supply and drain lines, the vent arrangements we can see, how fixtures behave when the system is loaded, and the visible condition of any pump, pressure tank and treatment equipment.
Surface water matters more on a septic property than most buyers expect, and on farmland it has an extra dimension. A drainfield working in ground that is also receiving every downspout and a sump discharge is being asked to do two jobs at once, and field drainage and agricultural tile in the surrounding land change how water moves across a site.
We report where the downspouts terminate, where any sump pump discharges, whether there is a backup arrangement, and how the ground falls away from the building. Inside, we look for staining and tide lines on foundation walls, efflorescence and mineral deposits, replaced lower wall finishes, and corrosion at the base of mechanical equipment.
The buried line
On a septic property the line running out from the building to the tank belongs to the owner, and no visual inspection reaches inside it.
It is also the part nobody else is looking at. A septic evaluation examines the tank and the drainfield. The run between the house and the tank is nobody’s job by default, and on a rural lot with mature trees it is exactly where roots go.
On one of the 319 houses predating 1940, that pipe may have been in the ground eighty years or more. We will not name a material from a build year, because no authoritative source establishes what Ray Township 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 inside: roots, cracks, displaced joints, bellies or blockages where they exist, and a clear run where they do not. On the newer houses it is worth doing for a different reason — a line laid during a 1990s or 2000s build can carry construction debris or a settled section from the day it went in.
A camera inspection is added to the same appointment rather than booked separately. You can read what our clients say, look through answers to common questions, or get in touch about a specific address in Ray Township.
Local information from Ray Township — land preservation, the Right to Farm notice and open space development · Ray Township — building department: what needs a permit and how inspections are scheduled · Ray Township — forms and applications · Ray Township — ordinances. Municipal requirements change — verify current details with the municipality.
Radon in Macomb 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 Ray Township is not where the state’s worst readings turn up, and we would rather say that plainly than imply otherwise.
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 · Macomb County radon and inspection coverage
Zone from the EPA Map of Radon Zones.
Why choose us
Five reasons people here pick us as their Ray 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 did our inspection for the sale of our home and he was professional, efficient and friendly. The report was sent to me and my agent in a timely fashion and I appreciated how quickly the appointment was made and everything was finished! Would recommend to others.
Kendra AllenRoseville, 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
A formal notice the township publishes to prospective residents: that a property may be close to a farm or farm operation, and that generally accepted agricultural practices may generate usual and ordinary noise, dust, odors and other conditions protected by state law.
Go and look at the property at more than one time of year if you can, and find out what is farmed nearby and when the work happens. Field operations run to the season and the weather, which means early starts and long days at harvest.
Yes — the township gives it as one of its own examples, alongside fireplaces and replacing or adding a furnace or air conditioning. If a property already has an irrigation system, there should be a record of it.
New construction, structural changes, decks, swimming pools, accessory buildings and ponds, plus the trades permits. Residential plumbing, electrical and mechanical permits are issued without a separate review process where construction is under 3,500 square feet.
Requested by phone during weekday office hours with twenty-four hours’ notice, and typically scheduled within five days — for a specific day but not a specific time. Each trade has its own window, and all the inspectors are part time.
The county health department regulates and issues those permits, not the township. On a rural property that is the more important call to make early, because a septic evaluation and water test have their own lead times.
Yes, particularly if part of why you are buying is what you intend to build. Where farmland preservation is active, development rights are sometimes sold or restricted, and those arrangements run with the land rather than with the seller.
Yes, and here they are often substantial buildings in their own right rather than sheds. They frequently carry their own electrical supply and their own roof and structural questions, and are worth including in the scope rather than leaving to a later surprise.
More on cost, timing and what is included on the FAQ page.
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Claim the Hero DiscountNeed a Ray Township home inspector and not sure we reach you? Call 734-331-3269 and we will tell you.
Permits, assessing and property records for Ray Township are handled by Ray Township, Michigan, not by us.
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Your local Ray Township home inspector, seven days a week. Home inspection reports in 24 hours.
