Burns Township, Michigan
Looking for a Burns Township home inspector? We do certified home, commercial, mold and radon inspections in Burns Township, 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 Burns Township 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 Burns Township and across Shiawassee 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 Burns Township 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 reportBurns Township housing stock
Burns Township has roughly 1,286 housing units and about 91% of them are single-family detached. Homes built in a single stretch tend to wear out in the same places at the same time. That is why when somewhere was built is the first thing worth knowing about it.
The busiest stretch of building here was the 1970s: 350 homes, about 27% of everything standing today. At 91% single-family it is almost entirely detached houses, so the inspection is nearly always of a whole building rather than one unit inside one.
The median owner-occupied home here is valued at $185,400. 93% are owner-occupied, which is high even for this area.
None of this says anything about the specific house you are buying. It is the shortlist a Burns Township home inspector works through in a home of this age, and every item on it gets photographed and written up whichever way it turns out.
Housing figures: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2022 five-year estimates.
When Burns Township was built
38% of homes here run on utility gas, and 86 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 487 use bottled or LP gas.
Local knowledge
There is one question worth asking the township before you close on anything here, and it has nothing to do with the building: what special assessments are levied on this property, and what is proposed?
Burns Township has published notice of a public hearing on a special assessment for ambulance services. We have not read the notice itself and we are not going to state an amount, a term, or an outcome — a hearing is a hearing, and it may or may not result in an assessment being levied.
But the general point matters a great deal to a buyer. A special assessment is a charge levied on properties and collected with the tax bill, and it attaches to the property rather than to the person who was living there when it was approved. You inherit it, along with the house.
So ask two things: what is currently assessed against this parcel, and what is under consideration. Both are answerable, and neither will appear in a listing.
On the building side, the township handles zoning, building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing itself, so a single records request should cover the whole permit history of a property.
One piece of housekeeping: the township hall has a Byron mailing address, but Byron is a separate village. A Byron postal address does not mean a property is in the village, and the two have different authorities.
Before you buy
Special assessments
Special assessments are one of the least understood things a buyer takes on, and the township’s current hearing notice is a good reason to explain them.
Unlike general property taxes, which fund everything a municipality does, a special assessment funds a specific thing for a specific set of properties — a road, a drain, a fire or ambulance service. It appears on the tax bill, usually as a separate line, and it typically runs for a set number of years.
The critical part for a buyer is that it runs with the land. If a property is inside an assessment district, the obligation transfers to you at closing along with everything else. It is not a debt of the seller that gets settled and disappears.
So the question to ask the township is straightforward and specific: is this parcel inside any special assessment district, what does it pay, and how many years are left to run? Then ask what is currently proposed, because a hearing under way today becomes a line on a tax bill tomorrow.
None of this is a criticism of the township. Special assessments are how small rural communities fund services that would otherwise be unaffordable, and an ambulance service is a good example of exactly that. It is simply a cost that belongs in your arithmetic before you buy rather than after.
It is also, for what it is worth, the kind of thing a home inspection cannot tell you. We inspect buildings. The township knows what is levied on the land.
The housing
Burns Township’s housing splits between two very different groups. About 350 units — 27% — date from the 1970s, and 277 predate 1940. There are also 238 units from the 2000s, and almost nothing from the 1980s, which contributed just 43.
On the 1970s stock, service panels are often at or past the point where an upgrade is worth considering, and fifty years of circuits added in stages by different hands is normal rather than exceptional. We report what the panel actually contains, how the accessible wiring is arranged, and where work appears to have been added piecemeal.
Plumbing on those houses has usually been renewed in part rather than in whole, leaving material transitions at the joins, which is where problems concentrate. Roofs are on a second or third covering, and heating equipment is two or three generations from the original — with a newer high-efficiency appliance fitted into an older chimney or vent arrangement being a common and specific thing we check.
Insulation and ventilation reflect 1970s standards, which usually means a real and worthwhile improvement is still available in the attic. Windows are commonly on their second set, and the quality of that replacement work varies enormously.
On the 277 pre-1940 houses the questions go back much further: electrical rebuilt across eighty years or more, plumbing renewed in part with material transitions at the joins, four or five generations of roof covering, and foundations of stone or early block whose condition depends far more on how water has been managed around the building than on how it was originally built.
At 91% detached housing on rural Shiawassee County land, outbuildings are common and deserve proper attention rather than a glance. Pole barns, detached garages and workshops frequently carry their own electrical supply, their own roof and structural questions, and are often where informal work has accumulated over the years.
Radon testing and mold inspection and testing can be added to any visit, and commercial building inspections to the CCPIA standard are available for commercial property.
Permits
Burns Township handles zoning, building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing itself rather than contracting any of it out or devolving it to the county. That is worth knowing because plenty of townships this size do the opposite, and it makes a buyer’s job simpler.
One records request to the township should cover the full permit history: what was built, when the electrical was upgraded, when the furnace was replaced, whether an addition or an outbuilding was permitted. There is no second office to chase and nothing to fall between two authorities.
The township publishes very little permit detail online, so what needs a permit and what it costs are questions to ask directly rather than look up. We are not going to guess at either.
On a township where half the housing is either 1970s or pre-war, that permit record is worth requesting. Buildings of that age have been worked on repeatedly, and the question is rarely whether work was done but whether it was done properly and recorded.
A buyer’s inspection is not a permit search and cannot tell you whether a permit was pulled. What it does is tell you what was actually done and how well, which is what makes the records request worth making. We deliver a full written report with photographs, generally the same day, while you still have room to act on what it says.
The township also maintains a fire and EMS function, a cemetery, and a hall available for rental, and publishes its board, planning commission and board of review information along with links to local resources.
Water and waste
The township publishes nothing about water supply or waste water — no water department, no sewer information, no guidance on wells or septic systems.
On a rural township that is 91% detached houses, it would be easy to assume most properties are on a well and a septic system, and easy to be wrong about a specific address. So we are not going to assert it. Get the answer in writing for the parcel you are buying.
Take well and septic questions to the county health department. A septic evaluation is specialist work carried out by or through them. It answers questions no visual inspection can — whether a drainfield is failing, and the true condition of the tank — and on rural property it needs arranging early because it takes its own time. A water test on a private well belongs in the same conversation, and is worth repeating after any well repair.
What we inspect is the building and everything from the house side of the system inward: the accessible supply and drain lines, the vent arrangements we can see, how fixtures behave when the system is loaded, and the visible condition of any pump, pressure tank and treatment equipment.
Surface water matters more on a septic property than most buyers expect. A drainfield working in ground that is also receiving every downspout and a sump discharge is being asked to do two jobs at once. We report the grading and the discharge points so you know what you are dealing with.
Drainage
On a township where the largest single group of houses is fifty years old, most of what we report on the outside comes down to where water goes once it leaves the roof.
We record where the downspouts terminate and whether they carry water clear of the walls or drop it at the foundation, where any sump pump discharges and whether it has a backup arrangement, and how the ground falls away from the building. On a house of that age all three have usually been altered at least once by somebody thinking about the garden rather than the basement.
On a rural lot the driveway and its drainage matter too. We look at the condition of the surface and at culverts or drainage crossings at the road where they are visible, because a blocked culvert backs water up onto the property rather than away from it.
Inside, we look for what water leaves behind: staining and tide lines on foundation walls, efflorescence and mineral deposits, replaced lower wall finishes, and corrosion at the base of mechanical equipment. Equipment raised up on blocks is usually a story about something that happened once, and it is always worth asking about.
Most of what we find on the drainage side is straightforward to put right and cheap relative to what it prevents. It is the difference between a dry basement and a recurring problem, and far better known before you own the house than after.
The buried line
Whatever a property here drains to, the line running out from the building belongs to the owner, and no visual inspection reaches inside it.
On a 1970s house that pipe has been in the ground half a century, under a lot whose trees have had exactly that long to mature. On one of the 277 houses predating 1940, considerably longer. We will not name a material from a build year, because no authoritative source establishes what Burns Township laterals are generally made of, and a guess in a report is worse than no statement at all.
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. On a septic property it documents the building drain out to the tank — the owner’s pipe, and the part a septic evaluation does not examine.
That gap matters on rural property. A septic evaluation looks at the tank and the field; the run between the house and the tank is nobody’s job by default, and on a wooded lot with fifty-year-old trees it is exactly where roots go.
A camera inspection is added to the same appointment rather than booked separately. You can read what our clients say, look through answers to common questions, or get in touch about a specific address in Burns Township.
Local information from Burns Township — notice of public hearing on an ambulance services special assessment · Burns Township — useful links and local resources · Burns Township — contact and township hall · Burns Township — planning commission. Municipal requirements change — verify current details with the municipality.
Why choose us
Five reasons people here pick us as their Burns Township 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
A charge levied on properties to fund a specific thing — a road, a drain, a fire or ambulance service — collected with the tax bill and usually running for a set number of years. Critically, it runs with the land, so a buyer inherits it at closing.
Two things: whether the parcel sits inside any special assessment district, what it pays and how many years are left; and what is currently proposed. The township has published a hearing notice on an ambulance services assessment, so both questions are live.
No. We have not read the notice and a hearing may or may not result in an assessment being levied. Stating an amount or an outcome would be inventing information. Ask the township directly.
Not necessarily. The township hall itself has a Byron mailing address, but Byron is a separate village with its own authorities. Confirm which municipality an address actually sits in before relying on anything.
One place. Burns Township handles zoning, building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing itself, so a single records request should cover the whole picture. The township publishes little permit detail online, so ask directly.
The service panel and what "upgraded" actually means, then partial plumbing renewals and the material transitions at the joins, second or third roof coverings, and heating equipment two or three generations from the original — sometimes fitted into venting that has not kept pace.
Ask, and get it in writing. The township publishes nothing about water or waste water, so we will not assume. Take those questions to the county health department and arrange any septic evaluation and water test early.
Yes, and at 91% detached housing on rural land they are common and worth including rather than leaving to a later surprise. They often carry their own electrical supply and their own roof and structural questions.
More on cost, timing and what is included on the FAQ page.
Police, fire, rescue, military and educators — our way of saying thank you for your service. Enter code HERO at checkout.
Claim the Hero DiscountNeed a Burns Township home inspector and not sure we reach you? Call 734-331-3269 and we will tell you.
Permits, assessing and property records for Burns Township are handled by Burns Township, not by us.
From the blog
October 22, 2017
April 5, 2024
February 1, 2023
Your local Burns Township home inspector, seven days a week. Home inspection reports in 24 hours.
