Salem Township, Michigan
Looking for a Salem Township home inspector? We do certified home, commercial, mold and radon inspections in Salem 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 Salem 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 Salem Township 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 Salem 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 reportSalem Township housing stock
Salem Township has roughly 2,458 housing units and about 75% 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 years before 1940 — 575 homes, around 23% of the town.
The median owner-occupied home here is valued at $346,200. 89% are owner-occupied, which is high even for this area. There are around 544 manufactured and mobile homes in Salem Township. Those are a different inspection — the questions are about the frame, the anchoring and the skirting rather than a basement.
None of this is a prediction about a particular house. It is where a Salem Township 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 Salem Township was built
81% of homes here run on utility gas, and 87 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 187 use bottled or LP gas.
Local knowledge
Salem Township publishes something most municipalities do not: a dedicated list of the work you can do without a permit, with the thresholds spelled out precisely.
That is useful in both directions. It tells you what a previous owner could legitimately have done with no record at all, and it tells you where the line falls for your own plans. Two of those lines matter more than the rest on an inspection.
The first is plumbing. Stopping a leak in a drain, water, soil, waste or vent pipe does not need a permit, and neither does clearing a blockage or repairing a leak at a valve or fixture. But replacing defective pipe that is concealed does need one — and that is precisely the work that gets done informally inside walls and never appears in a records search.
The second is retaining walls. A wall up to four feet, measured from the bottom of the footing to the top, needs no permit unless it is supporting a surcharge. Above that, it does. On a lot with any real slope, that is a bright line you can check for yourself.
The other thing to establish early is the sewer. The Township operates a small municipal system serving the Hamlet of Salem, in service since 1996, and describes it as having limited service capacity. Anywhere else, the arrangement for a specific address needs confirming rather than assuming.
Before you buy
Permits
The Township’s page on projects that do not need permits is unusually specific, and reading it is fifteen minutes well spent before you buy.
On the building side, no permit is needed for a one-story detached accessory structure whose floor area does not exceed 200 square feet, for a fence under ten feet long and no more than three feet high, for a sidewalk or driveway no more than thirty inches above adjacent grade, for a prefabricated swimming pool less than twenty-four inches deep, for playground equipment accessory to a one or two-family dwelling, or for window awnings projecting no more than fifty-four inches from an exterior wall. Interior finish work — painting, papering, tiling, carpeting, cabinets, countertops and similar — is likewise exempt.
On the mechanical side, portable heating appliances under 30,000 Btu per hour, portable ventilation and cooling units, evaporative coolers and small self-contained refrigeration are all exempt. On the electrical side, minor repairs and maintenance are.
The value of knowing all this is that it reframes a permit search. A missing permit is not automatically a red flag here — a good deal of visible work legitimately leaves no paper trail. What you want to identify is work that falls on the other side of the line, and then ask about that specifically.
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, which is what turns a records request into a targeted question instead of a fishing trip.
Concealed plumbing
Of everything on the Township’s exemption list, the plumbing entries are the ones we would draw a buyer’s attention to.
Stopping a leak needs no permit. Clearing a stoppage needs no permit. Removing and reinstalling a water closet needs no permit, provided the work does not involve replacing or rearranging valves, pipes or fixtures. But replacing defective concealed pipe does require a permit — and concealed is the operative word.
Concealed pipe work is, by definition, work you cannot see afterwards. On a house that has been renovated, particularly one of the 575 units here predating 1940, sections of supply or waste pipe may well have been replaced inside walls, ceilings or floors. Done properly and permitted, that is a good thing. Done informally, it is unverified, and nothing about a finished wall tells you which it was.
On an inspection we work with what is accessible and we are clear about what is not. We examine visible supply and drain piping in basements, crawl spaces and utility areas, note transitions between materials where they are visible, operate fixtures and watch how the system behaves under load, look for weeping at accessible connections and valves, and look for the staining, corrosion and mineral trails that indicate a leak has been running.
Where a house shows recent finish work over older plumbing, we say so, because that combination is worth a question to the seller and, here, worth a look at the permit record as well. We do not open walls or pressure-test, and a concealed defect may leave nothing visible on the day.
Waste
The Township states on its sewer page that it operates a small municipal sewer system located in the Hamlet of Salem, put into service in 1996 with a limited service capacity. Day-to-day operation is handled by an outside treatment contractor, billing goes through the Township, and a hamlet sewer map is published.
Two things follow from that for a buyer. If a property is in the hamlet, establish that it is actually connected and what that costs. If it is not in the hamlet, do not assume anything — confirm in writing how the property handles waste water, because the Township publishes nothing further on the subject.
The phrase "limited service capacity" is worth taking seriously if you have plans. A system built in 1996 for a defined area is not necessarily able to take a new connection or a substantially increased load, and that is a question for the Township before you commit to anything, not after.
Where a property is on a septic system, a septic evaluation is specialist work carried out by or through the county health department. It answers questions no visual inspection can — whether a drainfield is failing, and the true condition of the tank — and on rural property it needs arranging early because it takes its own time. A water test on a private well belongs in the same conversation.
What we inspect is the building and everything from the house side inward: 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.
The housing
Salem Township has one of the more barbelled housing profiles we work with. There are 575 units predating 1940, which is nearly a quarter of the township. There are 1,153 units built between 1990 and 2019, including 414 in the 2010s alone. And there are only 238 units from the whole of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s combined.
That means the two most likely houses you will look at here are eighty years apart, and nothing about inspecting one prepares you for the other.
On the pre-1940 stock, expect the accumulated history of a long-lived building: electrical rebuilt in stages by different hands across eighty years or more, plumbing renewed in part rather than in whole with material transitions at the joins, four or five generations of roof covering, and heating equipment several replacements from the original, sometimes vented through arrangements that have not kept pace. Foundations of that era are typically stone or early block, and their condition depends far more on how water has been managed around the building than on original construction.
The 2010s houses are a different exercise. They are young enough that the systems are original, which shifts the focus onto how well the house was actually built: flashing and weather sealing details, grading and drainage established at handover and how it has settled since, deck construction, attic ventilation and insulation coverage, and the quality of finish work. A new house is not automatically a sound one, and problems found early are still within reach of the people who built it.
Roughly a quarter of units here are not single-family detached, so attached and multi-unit housing is a meaningful part of the stock.
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.
The buried line
Whether a property here connects to the hamlet sewer or to a septic system, the line running out from the building belongs to the owner, and no visual inspection reaches inside it.
On one of the 575 houses predating 1940, that pipe may have been in the ground for eighty years or more, through more than one era of drain material. We will not name a material from a build year, because no authoritative source establishes what Salem 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 a septic property it documents the building drain out to the tank — the owner’s pipe, and the part a septic evaluation does not examine.
It has a particular value here given the permit rules. Underground drain work is not something you can see, and a camera is the only way to establish what condition that run is actually in rather than what anybody believes about it.
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 Salem Township.
Local information from Salem Township — projects that do not need permits, with thresholds · Salem Township — the Hamlet of Salem sewer system · Salem Township — building department · Salem Township — zoning department. 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. 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 · 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 Salem 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
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
Quite a lot. Detached accessory structures up to 200 square feet, fences under ten feet long and no more than three feet high, driveways no more than thirty inches above grade, prefabricated pools under twenty-four inches deep, playground equipment, window awnings up to fifty-four inches, and all interior finish work.
It depends on the work. Stopping a leak, clearing a stoppage, and removing and reinstalling a water closet do not — provided valves, pipes and fixtures are not replaced or rearranged. Replacing defective concealed pipe does require a permit.
Because concealed work is work you cannot see afterwards. On a renovated house, sections of pipe may have been replaced inside walls. Permitted, that is reassuring; done informally, it is unverified, and a finished wall tells you nothing either way.
Not up to four feet, measured from the bottom of the footing to the top — unless the wall is supporting a surcharge. Above four feet, yes. On a sloping lot that is a bright line you can check for yourself.
Only if it is in the Hamlet of Salem. The Township operates a small system there, in service since 1996, which it describes as having limited service capacity. Anywhere else, confirm the arrangement in writing rather than assuming.
Take it seriously if you have plans. A system built in 1996 for a defined area is not necessarily able to accept a new connection or a substantially increased load. That is a question for the Township before you commit, not after.
Yes, and 414 units here date from that decade. The systems are original, so the focus shifts to how well the house was built: flashing and weather sealing, grading and drainage, deck construction, attic ventilation and insulation coverage. Problems found early are still within reach of the builder.
Yes. Underground drain work is not something anybody can see, and on a house predating 1940 the run has been in the ground eighty years or more. A camera inspection records its actual condition and is added to the same visit.
More on cost, timing and what is included on the FAQ page.
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Permits, assessing and property records for Salem Township are handled by Salem Township, Michigan, not by us.
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Your local Salem Township home inspector, seven days a week. Home inspection reports in 24 hours.
