Power Washing in East China Township, Michigan

River Frontage, Canals and the Belle River

East China Township is a charter township formed in 1859, about 7.8 square miles, with 3,704 residents at the 2020 census and the 48054 ZIP code. The St. Clair River forms its east edge, and the far bank is Ontario. Freighters in the shipping channel pass in view of River Park at the south end. Homes sit in two clusters, one above Marine City and one just below the City of St. Clair, with DTE Energy land between them holding the Blue Water Energy Center and the closed St. Clair Power Plant site. On the deep riverfront lots east of M-⁠29 the lawn ends at the river, so a wash there is planned from the water's edge back.

Two residential canals, Kraft Haven Canal and Baker Canal, reach into the neighborhoods. Kraft Haven Canal serves the Kraft Haven Subdivision, and Baker Canal serves Labar Riverbranch Subdivision and the Supervisor Robert Baker plats. Open water a few yards from a house adds moisture to the air around it, so dew forms readily on cool nights and dries slowly on any wall the sun misses. Our guide to canal home upkeep covers each surface on a canal lot.

Inland, the Belle River flows through the township toward Marine City inside an extensive FEMA-mapped floodway, and part of the Pine River crosses the township. The master plan describes most of the soil as poorly to very poorly drained clay and loamy sand over clay with a seasonally high water table, on flat ground at 580 to 600 feet. Rain soaks into this clay slowly, so water from a roof or a driveway collects where it lands. Wetlands follow both floodplains, and woodlands scattered across the township shade the houses beside them, which slows drying further.

MPWS is based at 21366 Hall Rd in Clinton Township, just off M-⁠59. The route runs up I-⁠94, across on Marine City Hwy and King Rd, and onto M-⁠29, roughly 35 to 40 minutes in light traffic, and Fred W. Moore Hwy reaches the north end. The company carries $2M general liability plus workers' compensation, and Google shows a 4.9-star rating from 177 reviews. Businesses on Park Dr between Recor Rd and M-⁠29, and the medical offices around the River District campus at M-⁠29 and Puttygut Rd, can book through our commercial power washing service.

What East China's Housing Calls For

The township has about 1,804 housing units, and roughly 82% are detached single-family homes. About 55% were built between 1970 and 1999, while only 85 went up in the 2010s and none are recorded since 2020. The three one-family zoning districts require lots of 7,800 to 14,500 square feet, 65 to 100 feet wide, so most houses have lawn on each side. That side room gives the crew space to work, and on this slow-draining clay the rinse is kept light and out of the canals, the river and any storm drain.

The river lots hold older houses in places. The master plan says many riverfront homes began as cottages and were converted to year-round use, on deep lots along the St. Clair River, and about 170 of the township's housing units date from 1939 or earlier. A converted cottage often joins an original section to additions from later decades, each with its own trim, joints and flashing. One wall can need a gentler mix than the next, and the seam where an addition meets the old walls is where water gets in if a stream hits it hard.

Not every house sits on a subdivision street. Large-acreage parcels lie mostly in the west, and a few dead-end residential roads are unpaved. Dust from those roads settles on lower siding and screens in dry weeks, then turns to a brown film when dew wets it, and that film comes off with detergent rather than a growth treatment.