Woodhaven, Michigan
Looking for a Woodhaven home inspector? We do certified home, commercial, mold and radon inspections in Woodhaven, 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 Woodhaven 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 Woodhaven 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 Woodhaven 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 reportWoodhaven housing stock
Woodhaven has roughly 5,536 housing units and about 61% 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 1970s than from any other decade — 2,045 homes, roughly 37% of the town.
The median owner-occupied home here is valued at $211,300. There are around 281 manufactured and mobile homes in Woodhaven. Those are a different inspection — the questions are about the frame, the anchoring and the skirting rather than a basement.
This is not a forecast for any one address. It is where a Woodhaven 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 Woodhaven was built
89% of homes here run on utility gas, and 12 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 25 use bottled or LP gas.
Local knowledge
Woodhaven requires an occupancy inspection on all residential sales or transfers, and it is the only city we write about that tells you when that started: 16 April 2010.
That date is more useful than it sounds. A house that last changed hands before it has never been through the City’s inspection at all. A house that has sold since has been through it at least once. On a street of similar-looking properties, that is a real difference in how much municipal attention each one has had.
The City added a second requirement later: from 1 January 2017, all rental properties must be registered with the city and rental units must be inspected. Same principle applies — a rental held by the same owner since before 2017 came into the system relatively recently.
The housing is mostly 1970s: of about 5,536 units, 2,045 date from that decade, with 1,032 from the 1990s, 939 from the 2000s and 621 from the 1960s. Around 61% is single-family detached.
Before you buy
The occupancy inspection
Twelve of the cities we write about run an inspection tied to a sale, and each one differs. Here is what Woodhaven publishes and where our knowledge stops.
The Building Department states that as of 16 April 2010 the City requires an occupancy inspection on all residential sales or transfers. That is the requirement, in the City’s own words, and the wording covers transfers as well as sales — which matters if your transaction is structured as something other than a conventional purchase.
What we did not find published was what that inspection examines, what it costs, how long a resulting certificate stays valid, or who is expected to arrange it. Other cities in this region publish all of that, and their models vary enormously — some put the obligation on the seller, some let violations transfer to the buyer, some bar occupancy until every violation is corrected. Borrowing any of those and applying it here would be guessing, so we are not going to. The Building Department is the place to confirm it, and that call belongs at the start of the transaction rather than the end.
What we can tell you is what the building is like. A buyer’s inspection is independent of the City and written for you: the roof, structure, foundation, drainage, electrical, heating and cooling, plumbing and the accessible interior, with what is failing, what is near the end of its service life and what to plan for. On a property facing a municipal inspection as well, having that report first means you are negotiating rather than reacting.
The permit record
Woodhaven’s permit scope is worth reading because it covers the ordinary replacements rather than only major construction.
The City states a permit is usually required for new buildings, additions, renovations, electrical systems, plumbing systems and HVAC — and, in its own list of residential work, for fences, garages, water heaters, concrete, pools, re-roofing, windows and siding.
On a 1970s house, a water heater, a roof, windows and siding are four of the biggest things that will have happened to it in fifty years, and all four should have left a record here. That makes the City’s records a genuinely useful starting point before an offer.
The City also gives advice worth repeating. When dealing with a contractor, it says, it is in your best interest to have them pull the permits and arrange the inspections; the permit fee is the same either way; and it strongly recommends asking the contractor for a copy of the permit. That last step is the one people skip, and it is the one that gives you evidence later.
For reference the City publishes the codes in force: the 2015 State of Michigan Residential and Building Codes, the 2021 Michigan Mechanical Code, the 2023 National Electrical Code and the 2021 Michigan Plumbing Code. Inspections can be scheduled after hours through a 24-hour voicemail, with detailed permit information left on the message.
Fifty years on
With 2,045 of about 5,536 units built in the 1970s, the typical inspection here is a house that is now around fifty years old.
Nothing mechanical in it is original. The roof is on its second or third covering, the furnace has turned over at least twice, the air conditioning condenser likewise, and the water heater has been changed four or five times. The electrical service may well have been upgraded, and the supply plumbing partly replaced. What matters is not the build year but the age and quality of each replacement, and those are rarely all the same vintage.
Water is the other constant on stock this age. We record accessible grading and how the ground falls at the foundation, gutters and downspouts and where they discharge, foundation conditions, the basement or crawlspace, floor drains and any sump equipment, along with staining, efflorescence and evidence of past repairs.
The City publishes flood plain information and links to FEMA, which is worth checking alongside your insurer. Whether a particular property sits in a mapped flood hazard area is a question for those maps and that insurer — a home inspection does not determine it, and we would not suggest otherwise.
The buried line
Whatever the City’s occupancy inspection covers, it does not see inside the buried lateral running from the house to the sewer main. Nothing visual does.
On a house from the 1970s that pipe has been in the ground fifty years or more, and the trees planted when the subdivision went in are fully mature — which is the combination that produces root intrusion at a joint. Add ground movement and the occasional forgotten repair and you have the usual picture. We will not name a material from a build year, because no authoritative source establishes what Woodhaven 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 — and 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 City of Woodhaven — Building and Ordinance Enforcement · City of Woodhaven — downloadable permits and forms · City of Woodhaven — flood plain information. 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. That puts Woodhaven at the calmer end of Michigan’s radon picture, which is worth saying out loud rather than glossing over. 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. 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 · 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 Woodhaven 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 states that as of 16 April 2010 it requires an occupancy inspection on all residential sales or transfers — note that the wording covers transfers as well as conventional sales. Build it into the timeline early rather than in the closing weeks, and confirm the current requirements with the Building Department.
We do not know, and we are not going to guess. The City publishes the requirement and its start date, but we did not find what the inspection examines, what it costs, how long any resulting certificate stays valid, or who is expected to arrange it. Other cities in this region publish all of that and their models differ enormously — some put it on the seller, some let violations pass to the buyer, some bar occupancy until everything is fixed. Borrowing one of those would be guessing. Call the Building Department.
Because it tells you whether a property has ever been through the process. A house that last changed hands before 16 April 2010 has never had the City’s occupancy inspection; one that has sold since has had it at least once. The same logic applies to the rental requirement, which started on 1 January 2017 — a rental held by the same owner since before then came into the system comparatively recently.
More of it than people expect. The City lists new buildings, additions, renovations, electrical, plumbing and HVAC systems, and within residential work specifically names fences, garages, water heaters, concrete, pools, re-roofing, windows and siding. On a 1970s house those are the biggest things that have happened to it, so the permit record is a genuinely useful starting point before an offer.
The City is clear: it is in your best interest to have the contractor pull the permits and arrange the inspections, and the permit fee is the same either way. It also recommends asking the contractor for a copy of the permit — which is the step people skip and the one that gives you evidence afterwards.
Registration and inspection. The City states that as of 1 January 2017 all rental properties must be registered with the city and rental units must have inspections performed. We did not find a published cycle length or fee, so we are not going to state either — the Building Department is the place to confirm both, and to find out where a specific property currently stands.
Mostly 1970s. Of about 5,536 housing units, 2,045 were built in that decade, with 1,032 from the 1990s, 939 from the 2000s and 621 from the 1960s. Around 61% is single-family detached. A house from 1975 is fifty years old: the roof is on its second or third covering, the furnace has turned over at least twice, and the water heater four or five times.
It is worth considering. Whatever the City’s occupancy inspection covers, no visual inspection sees inside the buried lateral running from the house to the sewer main, and on a 1970s house it has been in the ground fifty years or more with fully mature trees around it. We will not guess a material from a build year, because no authoritative source establishes what Woodhaven 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.
More on cost, timing and what is included on the FAQ page.
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Permits, assessing and property records for Woodhaven are handled by the City of Woodhaven, not by us.
From the blog
October 22, 2017
Your local Woodhaven home inspector, seven days a week. Home inspection reports in 24 hours.
