Center Line, Michigan
Looking for a Center Line home inspector? We do certified home, commercial, mold and radon inspections in Center Line, 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 Center Line 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 Center Line and across Macomb 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 Center Line 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 reportCenter Line housing stock
Center Line has roughly 3,772 housing units and about 61% of them are single-family detached. The year a house went up decides more about what an inspection turns up than almost anything else about it, which is why it is where we start rather than where we finish.
More of it dates from the 1950s than from any other decade — 969 homes, roughly 26% of the town.
The median owner-occupied home here is valued at $131,900. Only 55% 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.
This is not a forecast for any one address. It is where a Center Line home inspector starts in a home of this age — and whatever we actually find, it goes in the report with photographs.
Housing figures: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2022 five-year estimates.
When Center Line was built
82% of homes here run on utility gas. Another 115 use bottled or LP gas.
Local knowledge
Center Line has the most sharply defined housing stock of any community we cover. Of roughly 3,772 units, 2,674 — about 71% — were built between 1940 and 1969, with 969 of them in the 1950s alone. Almost nothing has been added since: no units recorded in the 2010s, and none in the 2020s.
That is not a criticism of the city. It is a small, landlocked, fully built-out place, and what it means practically is that when you buy here you are almost always buying a house between fifty and eighty years old, built in a short window to broadly similar standards.
It also means the questions repeat. Electrical service and distribution sized for a 1950s household. Plumbing that has either been renewed or is now extremely old. A roof on its third or fourth covering. A basement that has had seventy years of Michigan weather to find every weakness. Windows, insulation and ventilation from an era with different priorities.
The City also publishes two programs that most municipalities either do not run or do not run for houses: a residential cross connection control program covering the water connections at every home, and a rodent control obligation that falls on every property owner and occupant. Both are worth reading before you buy, and both are things an inspection can speak to.
Before you buy
Water
Most Michigan communities run cross connection control on commercial and industrial premises and leave houses alone. Center Line does not. Its residential cross connection control program states that the exterior water connections of all residential properties must be inspected and evaluated for potential cross contamination with drinking water.
A cross connection is any arrangement of piping that could let contaminants flow back into the public supply. The City’s own examples are ordinary domestic ones: a garden hose left lying in a puddle or a swimming pool, a hose in a laundry tub full of detergent, supply lines to bottom-fed tanks, and supply lines connected to boilers.
The device requirements are specific. Lawn irrigation systems under continuous pressure need a pressure vacuum breaker. An atmospheric vacuum breaker must not be installed where it is subject to continuous pressure, and downstream shut-off valves are not permitted on one. Irrigation with chemicals injected into it needs a reduced pressure principle assembly. So does a solar system where chemicals are used, while a boiler supply without chemical additives needs a backflow preventer with an intermediate atmospheric vent.
And one item on the list deserves particular attention in a basement suburb of this age: water supplies to pool fills, fire sprinkler systems and water-activated sump pumps must also be protected against backflow and back pressure. A water-powered backup sump pump is a genuinely sensible thing to own in a city of 1950s basements — and it is a direct connection between the drinking water supply and a sump.
The City notes that these devices are mechanical and fail from wear, corrosion, freezing, water conditions and misuse, that only licensed plumbing contractors may work on them under state law, that a plumbing permit is needed before one is replaced or installed, and that test reports must be submitted on a City-provided form.
On an inspection we look at the accessible plumbing and report what we see, including hose bibs without vacuum breakers, sump and backup pump arrangements, and supply connections that are not what they should be. We do not test or certify backflow assemblies — that is the certified tester’s job — but knowing what is fitted before you own the house is worth a good deal.
Rodent control
The City states plainly that every property owner or occupant is responsible for preventing a condition of rodent infestation, and it publishes what that involves.
The required measures are practical: garbage kept inside or in a rat-proof container with a tight-fitting lid, premises kept clear of accumulated rubbish, firewood and materials stored at least twelve inches above the ground with an open space underneath and stacked no higher than four feet, bird feeders raised at least forty-eight inches, dog pens cleaned daily, and weeds and grass cut.
The facts the City lists are the part worth reading twice. A rodent can squeeze through a half-inch hole, climb horizontal and vertical wires, reach eighteen inches vertically, jump three feet, gnaw through soft metals, wood, electrical wires and cinder blocks — and swim up floor drains, sewer lines and through a toilet bowl trap.
That last one connects two things people usually think of separately. A defective sanitary lateral is not only a drainage problem; it is an entry route. A collapsed section, an open joint or an abandoned line that was never properly capped gives access from below, and no amount of sealing above ground closes it.
The City’s proofing specification is directly checkable on a walkthrough: seal all holes and openings within three feet of the ground using hardware cloth, sheet metal, concrete, brick or mortar. On a seventy-year-old house those openings are usually where services enter — around the water line, the gas line, the electrical service, dryer and combustion vents, and at the sill.
On an inspection we report the condition of the exterior envelope, including unsealed penetrations, gaps at the sill and foundation, damaged screening and vents, and any evidence of pest activity we can see. We are not a pest control company and do not treat, but we say clearly what we found and where.
A city of 1950s houses
When almost every house in a city was built in the same twenty-year stretch, the inspection develops a rhythm. Not because the houses are identical, but because they have all had the same amount of time to be altered.
The electrical system is usually the clearest example. A house wired in the 1950s was wired for a household with a fraction of today’s demand. Most have had a service upgrade at some point; many have had circuits added in stages by different hands; some still carry original distribution behind a newer panel. What matters is not the age but the quality and coherence of what has been done since, and that is visible.
Plumbing follows the same pattern. Supply lines have usually been replaced at least in part, often leaving a mix of materials joined at points worth looking at. Drain and vent arrangements are frequently the original layout with newer fixtures attached to them.
Roofs on this stock are on their third or fourth covering. Basements have had seventy years of freeze and thaw. Windows and doors have generally been replaced once, sometimes without much attention to what happens at the opening rather than the unit. Heating equipment has turned over two or three times, and the venting arrangements do not always keep up with the appliance.
None of this is alarming and none of it makes a postwar house a poor buy — a great many of them are solid, well-kept and worth owning. But a buyer’s inspection here earns its keep, because the difference between a well-maintained 1955 house and a neglected one is not visible from the street.
Basements and water
In a city with no undeveloped land left, water has to go somewhere, and on any individual lot that somewhere is decided by grading, downspouts and a sump.
On a seventy-year-old house the original grading has usually settled toward the wall rather than away from it. Downspouts have often been shortened, redirected or left discharging at the foundation. Driveways and patios poured or replaced since the build frequently pitch the wrong way. Any one of those is a small thing; together they are the ordinary reason a basement takes water.
The sump arrangement is worth understanding before you own it. Where there is a backup pump, find out whether it runs on a battery or on municipal water pressure — the City’s cross connection program specifically names water-activated sump pumps as needing backflow protection, which tells you those are fitted here.
We report the drainage as we find it: the fall of the ground around the building, where the downspouts and any sump discharge appear to go, and what the foundation and basement show about water that has been there before. Staining, efflorescence, previous patching and storage habits all tell a story, and we describe it plainly rather than guessing at what happens in a storm we did not witness.
The City also runs a stormwater program and takes part in the local watershed council, so what leaves your lot is a shared concern rather than only a private one.
The buried line
The sanitary line from the building to the main is the owner’s. On a Center Line house that pipe has typically been in the ground for sixty to eighty years, under a lot that has had the whole of that time to grow trees over it.
We will not name a material from a build year, because no authoritative source establishes what Center Line laterals are generally made of, and a guess in a report is worse than nothing.
What a camera settles is what nothing else can reach: roots, cracks, displaced joints, bellies or blockages where they exist, and a clear run where they do not. On this housing stock, and in a city whose own literature notes that rodents travel up sewer lines, it is one of the more useful things you can buy before closing.
A sewer camera inspection is added to the same appointment rather than booked separately. Alongside it we offer radon testing, mold inspection and testing, and commercial building inspections to the CCPIA standard for offices, retail, multifamily and warehouse property.
You can read what our clients say, look through answers to common questions, or get in touch about a specific address in Center Line.
Local information from City of Center Line — residential cross connection control program · City of Center Line — rodent control requirements and proofing specification · City of Center Line — Department of Public Works, water and stormwater. Municipal requirements change — verify current details with the municipality.
Radon in Macomb County
Zone 3 is the lowest of the three EPA categories — the predicted average indoor level across the county is below 2 pCi/L. That puts Center Line at the calmer end of Michigan’s radon picture, which is worth saying out loud rather than glossing over.
We place a continuous monitor for 48 hours and read the result on site — no mail-in kit, no lab wait. How radon testing works · Macomb County radon and inspection coverage
Zone from the EPA Map of Radon Zones.
Why choose us
Five reasons people here pick us as their Center Line 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
Mitch did our inspection for the sale of our home and he was professional, efficient and friendly. The report was sent to me and my agent in a timely fashion and I appreciated how quickly the appointment was made and everything was finished! Would recommend to others.
Kendra AllenRoseville, MII 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, MIWhat happens
Questions
The City runs a residential cross connection control program, and its material states that the exterior water connections of all residential properties must be inspected and evaluated for potential cross contamination. Testing, repair, relocation and replacement must be done by a certified backflow tester or licensed plumbing contractor at the resident’s expense, with test reports submitted on a City-provided form.
No. Under the State Plumbing Act backflow preventers are part of the plumbing system, and only licensed plumbing contractors may work on one. The City also requires a plumbing permit from the Building Department before a backflow preventer is replaced or installed.
The City names lawn irrigation systems, irrigation with chemicals injected, boiler supplies, solar energy systems, pool fills, fire sprinkler systems and water-activated sump pumps. The required device differs by application — a pressure vacuum breaker on an irrigation system under continuous pressure, and a reduced pressure principle assembly where chemicals are involved.
Because it connects the drinking water supply to a sump. The City specifically lists water-activated sump pumps among the things needing protection against backflow and back pressure. They are a sensible thing to own in a city of 1950s basements, and worth identifying before you buy so you know what is fitted and how it is protected.
The City states that every property owner or occupant is responsible for preventing a condition of rodent infestation, and it publishes the required measures — rat-proof garbage containers, materials stored twelve inches off the ground, bird feeders raised at least forty-eight inches, dog pens cleaned daily, and openings within three feet of the ground sealed with hardware cloth, sheet metal, concrete, brick or mortar.
The City’s own material notes that rodents can swim up floor drains, sewer lines and through a toilet bowl trap. A collapsed section, an open joint or an improperly capped abandoned line gives access from below that no amount of sealing above ground will close, which is one more reason to know the condition of the lateral.
Almost certainly between fifty-five and eighty-five years old. About 71% of the city’s housing was built between 1940 and 1969, with 969 units in the 1950s alone, and effectively nothing has been added in the last two decades. The city is small and fully built out.
On this housing stock, yes. The lateral is the owner’s, it has usually been in the ground sixty to eighty years, and mature trees have had the same time to find it. A camera inspection documents roots, cracks, displaced joints, bellies or blockages where they exist, and is added to the same visit rather than booked separately.
More on cost, timing and what is included on the FAQ page.
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Permits, assessing and property records for Center Line are handled by Center Line, Michigan, not by us.
From the blog
October 22, 2017
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Your local Center Line home inspector, seven days a week. Home inspection reports in 24 hours.
