Adrian, Michigan
Looking for an Adrian home inspector? We do certified home, commercial, mold and radon inspections in Adrian, 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 Adrian 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 Adrian and across Lenawee 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 an Adrian 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 reportAdrian housing stock
Adrian has roughly 8,943 housing units and about 54% 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 — 2,566 homes, around 29% of the town. It is also less detached-house territory than most of the area at 54%, so condominiums, duplexes and small multi-family buildings are a bigger share of what we inspect here — and those bring their own questions about what is yours to maintain and what belongs to the association.
The median owner-occupied home here is valued at $107,600. Only 54% of occupied homes are owner-occupied, so a good share of what we inspect here is bought as a rental or sold with tenants in place — which changes what access on the day looks like. There are around 628 manufactured and mobile homes in Adrian. Those are a different inspection — the questions are about the frame, the anchoring and the skirting rather than a basement. Around 1,256 homes sit in two-to-four unit buildings, where a shared roof, a shared wall and sometimes a shared furnace mean the report has to be clear about where one unit stops.
None of this is a prediction about a particular house. It is where an Adrian 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 Adrian was built
89% of homes here run on utility gas. Another 75 use bottled or LP gas.
Local knowledge
If you are buying a vacant house in Adrian between October and April, there is a rule that changes how the inspection has to be arranged — and it is worth knowing before you book anything.
The City will not turn water on at a property in those months unless it has had heat for 24 hours first. And if the water has been off for more than 48 hours, someone has to be present at the time of turn-on. Between May and September the rule relaxes: a presence is required only if the water has been off more than two weeks.
The reason is obvious once you think about it. Charging a cold, empty house with water is how you find out about a split pipe, and the City would rather find out with somebody standing there than three days later.
For a buyer the practical consequence is straightforward: on a vacant winter property, the plumbing cannot be properly tested until the heat has been on and the water restored with someone in attendance. That is a sequencing problem, not an obstacle, but it needs planning into the inspection period rather than discovering on the day.
Before you buy
Vacant houses in winter
This is the most practically important thing on the page, so it is worth being precise about it.
The City’s utilities department sets out what is required before water will be turned on at any property. The water, gas and electric meters must be installed. From October through April, the property must have had heat for 24 hours before turn-on. If the water has been off for more than 48 hours, somebody must be present when it goes back on. From May through September the presence requirement applies where the water has been off for more than two weeks.
On an occupied house none of this arises. On a vacant one it changes the sequence entirely, and vacant properties are a meaningful share of what sells in an older market.
What it means for a buyer’s inspection is simple. We can inspect the roof, structure, foundation, drainage, electrical, heating and the accessible interior of a dry house perfectly well. What we cannot do is run the plumbing, check the fixtures under pressure, look for active leaks or test the drainage properly without water in the system. If those matter to you — and on an old house they should — the heat and the water need arranging first.
It is worth adding that a house which has been cold and dry through a Michigan winter is exactly the house where charging the system finds something. That is an argument for doing it before closing rather than after, not for skipping it.
A free inspection you did not know about
Buried in the description of Adrian’s billing department is an offer no other city on this site makes.
Alongside reading meters, inspecting new and changed meters and disconnecting services, the Billing and Services Department provides a free general inspection of residences in regard to water leaks and loss. If a bill jumps after you move in, that is the first call to make and it costs nothing.
It is not a substitute for a condition report, and it is not looking at the things we look at. But a slow leak on the supply side is one of the few defects that announces itself through a bill rather than through anything visible, and having somebody municipal willing to come and check is genuinely useful.
On the inspection side, what we record is the accessible plumbing as found — visible materials, condition, evidence of leaks or past repairs, water heater age and condition, functional flow and drainage — along with the exterior water story: grading at the foundation, gutters and downspouts and where they discharge, the basement or crawlspace, floor drains and any sump equipment.
If you are buying a rental
Adrian’s rental inspection program is described in a way that matters: it is systematic and city-wide, not reactive.
The City states that it has adopted a comprehensive rental housing inspection program requiring all non-owner occupied residential properties to be inspected on a systematic city-wide basis. That is a different posture from the towns that inspect only when somebody complains — it means the property you are buying will come up in the rotation whether or not anyone has raised a concern.
We did not find a published inspection cycle or fee schedule; the City asks that you contact the Inspection Department to verify rates, so we are not going to state either. What we can say is that knowing what will be flagged before your first inspection is worth more here than in a complaint-driven city, because the inspection is coming regardless.
Alongside the rental program the City runs an active code enforcement program with two code enforcement officers, and it takes public service requests through its own website rather than the third-party system it previously used.
The buried line
With about 29% of the housing predating 1940, a great deal of Adrian’s buried infrastructure is as old as the houses above it.
On a prewar house the lateral running to the sewer main has been in the ground ninety years or more — long enough for roots to find a joint, for ground movement to displace a section, and for repairs to have been made and forgotten. We will not name a material from a build year, because no authoritative source establishes what Adrian laterals are generally made of.
There is a seasonal note here too: a sewer scope needs water to run, so on a vacant winter property it sits behind the same heat-and-turn-on sequence as the rest of the plumbing.
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 Adrian — water and sewer service, turn-on requirements · City of Adrian — rental housing inspection program · City of Adrian — code enforcement. Municipal requirements change — verify current details with the municipality.
Why choose us
Five reasons people here pick us as their Adrian 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
I 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, MIThis is one of the finest companies I have come across - that means serious customer service and professionalism. Justin was the inspector and he was very thorough yet very kind to answers all the questions that came in my mind during inspection. He took enough time, no rush, and a very detailed inspection was conducted. Extremely competitive pricing and timing from the company. 100% recommend to anyone looking for any kind of property inspection!!
Chirag R MiyaniMichiganWhat happens
Questions
Only once the water is on, and Adrian has rules about that. From October through April the City requires a property to have had heat for 24 hours before water is turned on, and if the water has been off for more than 48 hours somebody must be present at the turn-on. Between May and September the presence requirement applies where the water has been off more than two weeks. Plan that sequence into the inspection period rather than discovering it on the day.
Because charging a cold, empty house with water is how a split pipe announces itself, and the City would rather that happened with somebody standing there. It is a sensible rule and it is also a good reason to get the water on and the plumbing properly tested before you close rather than after — a house that has been cold and dry through a Michigan winter is exactly the house where charging the system finds something.
A great deal, but not everything. The roof, structure, foundation, drainage, electrical, heating and the accessible interior can all be inspected on a dry house. What cannot be done is running the plumbing, checking fixtures under pressure, looking for active leaks or testing drainage properly. A sewer scope also needs water to run. If those matter — and on an older house they should — arrange the heat and the water first.
Call the City first, because it is free. Adrian’s Billing and Services Department provides a free general inspection of residences in regard to water leaks and loss, alongside meter reading and meter inspection. A slow supply-side leak is one of the few defects that shows up in a bill rather than in anything visible.
Systematically. The City states it has adopted a comprehensive rental housing inspection program requiring all non-owner occupied residential properties to be inspected on a systematic city-wide basis — not only when somebody complains. We did not find a published cycle or fee schedule, and the City asks that you contact the Inspection Department to verify rates, so we are not going to state either.
Old and comparatively dense. Of about 8,943 housing units, roughly 2,566 — some 29% — predate 1940, with 1,214 from the 1950s, 1,034 from the 1970s and 970 from the 1990s. Only around 54% is single-family detached. On prewar housing every major system has been replaced or altered several times by different people, and the inspection is about which.
Worth checking. Adrian has a Historic District Commission, and on a property inside a district there is an additional layer governing exterior work. That is a planning question rather than a condition one, but it is much better settled before you commit to a renovation plan than after the report lands.
On housing this age, seriously. The buried lateral on a prewar house has been in the ground ninety years or more and no visual inspection reaches inside it. We will not guess a material from a build year — no authoritative source establishes what Adrian laterals are generally made of. Note that a scope needs water running, so on a vacant winter property it sits behind the same heat-and-turn-on sequence as the rest of the plumbing. 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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Your local Adrian home inspector, seven days a week. Home inspection reports in 24 hours.
