Home Inspector in Harper Woods, MI

Harper Woods was part of Gratiot Township until it incorporated in 1951, and it was built almost all at once. Nearly half its homes date from the 1950s alone, close to 80 percent were built between 1940 and 1969, and only about 6 percent predate 1940. The typical house is a brick or frame bungalow of roughly 1,000 square feet on a small lot, and most have been expanded, dormered, or sided over since.

That makes Harper Woods one of the more predictable cities I inspect, and predictable is useful. I know before I arrive that I am likely to find galvanized supply lines, a 60-amp fuse panel or an early breaker panel, a finished attic on wiring never sized for it, and a rear addition that meets the original house at a seam the roofer never solved. What I do not know is which of those the previous owners fixed; that is what the inspection answers.

Two local facts matter more here than anywhere nearby. The city exceeded the federal lead action level in its 2023 water sampling, with a 90th percentile of 47 parts per billion against a limit of 15, so I pay particular attention to the water service and the piping inside. And every sale requires a Certificate of Occupancy with a city checklist, which is not a home inspection.

1940s bungalows and frame houses (about 20%)

The first wave went up while this was still Gratiot Township. Homes from this era commonly have 60-amp fuse panels, galvanized supply lines, block foundations, clay laterals, asbestos in floor tile or duct wrap, and a finished attic or dormer added later on wiring that was never meant for it. Frame houses from this decade were often sided in aluminum later. I open the panel and count what has been added since, get the pole camera into the attic to look at dormer framing and blocked ventilation, check the sills and window openings behind the siding with the moisture meter, and run several fixtures at once to find the pressure drop galvanized pipe produces.

1950s brick bungalows and ranches (about 48%)

This is Harper Woods: roughly 1,000 square feet, brick, full basement, detached garage, on streets like Woodside east of Beaconsfield where every house is brick. Homes from this era commonly have galvanized supply at seventy years, cast-iron drain stacks, an original or once-upgraded panel, a roof on its second or third layer, and new furnaces on original, undersized ducts. I test flow at the farthest fixture, put the thermal camera on each register with the system running, check the roof deck from the attic for prior leaks, and look hard at the seam where any dormer or addition meets the original brick, because that is where these houses leak.

1960s–1980s ranches, condos, and apartments (about 24%)

About 11 percent of the city dates from the 1960s, inside the 1965 to 1973 aluminum branch-circuit wiring window, and I identify aluminum at the panel and receptacles and document it by circuit. Federal Pacific Stab-Lok and Zinsco panels and single-pane aluminum windows turn up here too. The 1970s and 1980s added about 14 percent, including much of the city’s condo and apartment stock along Harper and Kelly; anything built 1978 to 1995 gets checked for gray polybutylene supply. For a condo, the inspection covers the unit and what serves it.

Fraser Square and new construction, 2025 onward

Harper Woods had almost no new housing for decades until Fraser Square broke ground on Lennon Street in September 2025: 71 units, 48 duplexes and 23 townhomes, built by Robertson Brothers and Renovare with MSHDA support and priced mostly in the mid-$200,000s. New does not mean finished. Homes from this era commonly show grading that slopes toward the foundation, missing kick-out flashing, high-efficiency furnace venting mistakes, insulation gaps, and punch-list items the builder never closed. A pre-drywall inspection while the framing is open and an 11-month inspection before the builder warranty expires are the two a Fraser Square buyer should plan on.

Wayne County is EPA Radon Zone 3, the lowest category, and about 17 percent of county tests on EGLE’s map still come back at or above the 4.0 pCi/L action level. That is a county average, not a prediction for one bungalow. Block foundations have more joints and soil contact than a poured wall, and many basements here are finished and used daily. A 48-hour continuous-monitor test in the lowest livable level costs $175 and runs inside your inspection window.