Home inspections in Clio, from Pine Run to Thetford Center
We cover the Clio area from our Grand Blanc office: the City of Clio, Vienna Township, which surrounds the city on every side, and Thetford Township to the east, with Pine Run, Farrandville and Thetford Center in between. Clio was platted along the 1861 railroad and became a village in 1873, so the core is a small-town grid of late-1800s and early-1900s frame houses with 1960s and 1970s streets and a good share of manufactured homes around it, and the townships are farmland with subdivisions strung along the county water and sewer corridors. The add-ons that matter most here are a sewer scope on the older streets, a lead test on anything built before 1978, a radon test, and the well and septic package with the water test on the township parcels beyond the county mains.
Every inspection is done by a certified inspector and the digital report is in your inbox the same day. Thermal imaging of the heating, cooling, plumbing and electrical systems and of any area showing signs of water intrusion is included in every home inspection, along with a drone view of the roof when the weather allows and a sump pump test. We test; we never repair or remediate, so nothing in the report is a sales pitch. A home inspection starts at $425; the final price depends on the size and age of the home, which is why the instant quote asks for the address.
0%
of homes in Clio, Vienna Township and Thetford Township were built before 1980, when lead paint and asbestos flooring, siding and insulation were still in use (Census ACS 2020 to 2024). We test for both.
0%
of homes in the City of Clio are manufactured homes, against 3.8% in Vienna Township and 3.0% in Thetford Township (Census ACS 2020 to 2024). Piers, tie-downs and the underbelly get checked, with the crawlspace robot where an inspector cannot fit.
0%
of Thetford Township homes heat with propane, which usually means a private well and a septic system too (Census ACS 2020 to 2024). The well and septic package covers both, and the water test covers the arsenic that runs through Genesee County groundwater.
What buyers run into in Clio
A 1972 median on both sides of the city line
The median home in both the City of Clio and Vienna Township was built in 1972; 62% of the city's 1,207 homes and 68% of the township's 5,562 went up before 1980, and Thetford Township's median is 1975 (Census ACS 2020 to 2024). Nearly a quarter of the city's houses, 23%, date from before 1950, the railroad-era grid around downtown, where pre-1940s houses can still carry knob-and-tube wiring that many insurers refuse. Lead paint was legal until 1978 and asbestos was still common in flooring, siding, insulation and ceiling texture into the 1980s, so anything of that age gets a lead test (from $100) and, if you plan to pull up floors or siding, asbestos sampling (from $300, with or without a home inspection): flooring installers, including Home Depot's, will not pull up pre-1980 vinyl or linoleum without an asbestos test (Home Depot's own installation guidance says so), so we sample flooring, siding and insulation and send it to an accredited lab. We recommend a sewer scope (from $150) on any home built before 1980, any home that has been a rental, and any lot with mature trees near the sewer line, because roots are what break clay and cast iron pipe.
Lake Huron water since 2017, and three main breaks in one week
The City of Clio runs no wells: since November 27, 2017 it has taken Lake Huron water from the Karegnondi Water Authority pipeline, treated by the Genesee County Drain Commissioner, and Vienna and Thetford townships buy the same water and sewer service from the county. The detections in the water data are disinfection byproducts, not lead or arsenic. What the city did have in April 2025 was three water-main breaks and three boil-water advisories in one week, April 7, 9 and 10, at Allen and New streets and near Clio and Dodge roads, the first lifted only after two clean bacteria samples 48 hours apart. Clio's lead service-line counts are not published in a form we could read, so we check the service material at the meter, and a lead water test (from $100) settles it in an older house. Outlying parcels in both townships are on private wells: The Genesee County Health Department says naturally occurring arsenic runs through the county's groundwater, so a private well here gets our water test (from $175), which covers arsenic along with coliform bacteria, nitrates, nitrites and lead.
Radon
Michigan EGLE (the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy) says about 1 in 4 homes in Michigan tests above the EPA action level of 4 pCi/L. Clio's own sample is thin: only 43 tests in ZIP 48420 on EGLE's map, too few to read much into, though 6 of them (14%) came back above that level against 9% for Genesee County. A 48-hour radon test starts at $200 when added to a home inspection and runs during the inspection.
Vienna Township's sewer discharge inspection before closing
Vienna Township requires a sewer discharge inspection before closing on any house connected to the public sewer. That is the township's inspection, not ours: the fee is $50, paid in advance, and any violation has to be corrected and re-inspected within 10 days. It is aimed at improper discharges into the sanitary sewer, so passing it says nothing about the condition of the house or of the lead from the house to the street; our sewer scope does that. Thetford Township parcels and the rural parts of Vienna beyond the county districts are on septic, permitted by the Genesee County Health Department. Genesee County has no county-wide time-of-sale rule for wells and septic systems and the City of Clio itself has no point-of-sale inspection that we know of, so the buyer's inspection is the only look the house gets before closing. The well and septic package starts at $500 when added to a home inspection, or the well alone from $275 and the septic alone from $300. Our mold inspection (from $275) is done by an IAC2-certified inspector: thermal imaging and moisture meters to find the source, spore-trap air samples and surface samples, and accredited lab results that name the species. The EPA's rule of thumb is that anything that stays wet longer than 24 to 48 hours will usually grow mold, and a finished basement hides exactly that.
Services and starting prices in Clio
Prices are starting points. Add-on services (radon, well and septic, water, mold, sewer scope, termite, lead, pool and spa) are priced as shown when added to a home inspection; booked on their own they are quoted separately. Asbestos sampling starts at $300 with or without a home inspection. Thermal imaging of the heating, cooling, plumbing, electrical and water-intrusion areas is part of every home inspection; the energy-efficiency scan of windows, doors and insulation is the add-on. The final price depends on the size and age of the home, and the instant quote gives you a firm number before you book. Commercial building inspections are quoted by the building.
- Home inspection, starting at $425
- Radon testing, starting at $200 when added to a home inspection
- Well and septic inspection package, starting at $500 (well alone from $275, septic alone from $300) when added to a home inspection
- Water testing, starting at $175 when added to a home inspection
- Sewer scope, starting at $150 when added to a home inspection
- Mold testing, starting at $275 when added to a home inspection
- Termite (WDI) inspection, starting at $200 when added to a home inspection
- Energy‒efficiency thermal scan, starting at $125
- Lead testing, starting at $100 when added to a home inspection
- Pool and spa inspection, starting at $125 when added to a home inspection
- Pre‒listing inspection, starting at $425
- New build blue tape inspection, starting at $525
- Investor property verification, starting at $250
- Soil testing, starting at $250
- Asbestos testing, starting at $300
Areas we cover around Clio
The City of Clio, Vienna Township and Thetford Township, including Pine Run, Farrandville, Thetford Center, the Clio Road, Saginaw Road (M-54) and Vienna Road (M-57) corridors and the streets around the I-75 Clio exit. Next door: Montrose, Birch Run, Mount Morris, Flushing Township, Otisville and Flint's north side.
This page is part of our Genesee County coverage; the county page has the county-wide radon numbers, the township well and septic rules and every town we work in. All 18 counties are on the Areas We Serve page.
Questions from Clio buyers
Do you serve the Clio area?
Is the Clio house on city water?
Does anything have to be inspected before closing?
Why did Clio have boil-water advisories?
I am buying a rental in the city. What does Clio require?
Can I be there for the inspection?
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