Freeland, Michigan
Looking for a Freeland home inspector? We do certified home, commercial, mold and radon inspections in Freeland, 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 Freeland 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 Freeland and across Saginaw 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 Freeland 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 reportFreeland housing stock
Freeland has roughly 2,162 housing units and about 74% 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 1990s: 634 homes, about 29% of everything standing today.
The median owner-occupied home here is valued at $232,700.
None of this says anything about the specific house you are buying. It is the shortlist a Freeland 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 Freeland was built
86% of homes here run on utility gas.
Local knowledge
Freeland is a community rather than a government — the municipality here is Tittabawassee Township, whose offices sit on Second Street in Freeland itself. All permits, records, utility accounts and ordinance questions go there.
The Township publishes something we have not seen anywhere else, and it is the most immediately useful thing on this page: a per-person water benchmark. It states that each person in a household uses an average of 5,000 gallons per quarter.
That single figure turns a water bill into a diagnostic. Multiply your household size by 5,000, compare it to the usage on the bill, and if the number is well above it with no pool or sprinkler to explain the difference, water is going somewhere it should not.
The billing structure here is worth understanding too, because it works differently from many places. Water is billed in two parts — a fixed readiness-to-serve charge that depends on meter size, and a usage charge per thousand gallons over a three-month period. Sewer, though, is a flat rate that does not change with usage at all.
So filling a pool or running a sprinkler system here affects the water side of the bill and nothing else. There is no second meter to install and no seasonal credit to claim; the sewer charge simply does not move.
The housing is modern by the standards of this area: 1,288 of roughly 2,162 units — 60% — have been built since 1990, and only 85 predate 1950.
Before you buy
The water bill
The Township’s guide to the water and sewer bill explains the structure plainly: fixed readiness-to-serve charges based on meter size, and variable usage billed per thousand gallons across a three-month period, with bills going out in January, April, July and October. Most homes here, it notes, have a 5/8, 3/4 or one inch meter.
It also explains why October bills look higher — that bill covers July, August and September, which is when lawns get watered and pools get filled.
The benchmark is the part to use. If a household of four is running well beyond 20,000 gallons a quarter without a pool or an irrigation system, that is a question worth asking before you take the house on rather than after.
Ask a seller for a recent bill or two. It is an unusual request and a perfectly reasonable one, and on a property that has stood empty during a sale, a high reading with nobody living there is about as clear a signal as you will get.
On the inspection itself we go looking for the causes. Toilets are the usual culprit, because a failed flapper wastes continuously and silently. We operate fixtures, look for weeping at accessible supply connections, shut-off valves and stops, check under sinks and around the water heater, examine visible piping in basements and crawl spaces, and look for the staining, corrosion and mineral trails that show a leak has been running a while. Where the meter is accessible we check it with nothing running in the house.
We do not open walls or pressure-test the system, so a leak inside a wall cavity or a buried line may leave nothing visible on the day. We will tell you clearly what we checked and what we could not reach — and if the bills and the benchmark disagree, that is worth pursuing regardless of what we could see.
The housing
The largest single group here is the 634 units from the 1990s, followed by 442 from the 2000s and 212 from the 2010s. There are 270 units from the 1970s and 242 from the 1950s, but only 85 predating 1950.
The mistake people make with newer housing is assuming it needs less looking at. A house built in the mid-1990s is now thirty years old, which is precisely when the first full round of replacements arrives — original roof coverings reaching the end of their service life, water heaters on their second or third, and furnaces and air conditioning condensers at the age where the next failure means replacement rather than repair.
Windows and exterior doors from that period are usually the original units, and their seals and hardware are where the wear shows first. Failed seals in double glazing appear as clouding or deposits between the panes, and we note them individually.
Decks built with these houses are at the age where the ledger connection, flashing, fasteners and post bases genuinely need examining rather than glancing at. On timber of this vintage the fastener question is a real one, and it is worth having somebody look properly.
Grading that was correct at handover has had thirty years of landscaping, settlement and downspout changes since. On a modern house the basement finishing often conceals what that has caused, so we look carefully for staining, efflorescence, mineral deposits and replaced lower wall finishes, and we report where the downspouts and any sump discharge actually go.
About a quarter of units here are not single-family detached, which brings the usual questions about shared walls and roofs and what an association covers.
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.
Moving in
The Township publishes a page for people moving in, and it is worth reading before the day rather than after.
Water and sewer service is set up by contacting the Township administration office directly — there is no automatic transfer, so this needs doing. Trash and recycling are collected on Wednesdays, and the Township asks for containers to be at the curb by seven in the morning. Electricity is through Consumers Energy, and the page reminds residents to call the state utility locating service before any digging that could reach electrical lines.
Township offices are open Monday through Friday, opening early and closing mid-afternoon on Fridays — a full five-day week, which is worth knowing if you need something answered late in a contingency period.
That utility locating reminder is worth taking seriously on a property where you plan any landscaping, fencing or drainage work. On modern subdivisions in particular, services run in predictable places and are shallower than people expect.
A buyer’s inspection is not a permit search and does not assess ordinance compliance. What it does is establish the condition of the building so the questions you take to the Township are specific ones. We deliver a full written report with photographs, generally the same day, while you still have room to act on what it says.
Outside water
Because sewer here is billed at a flat rate rather than by usage, outside water is cheaper in relative terms than it is in many communities. The Township says so directly: filling a pool or running a sprinkler system affects water usage only, and the sewer charge does not move.
That removes a complication a lot of buyers elsewhere have to think about. There is no second irrigation meter to install and no seasonal credit application to remember. What you use outside shows up once, on the water side, and that is the end of it.
It does mean an irrigation system can run for some time before anyone questions the bill, so if a property has one, ask when it was last serviced and whether it has been winterized properly each year. A cracked line or a stuck valve on an irrigation system is a slow, invisible expense.
On the inspection we note whether an irrigation system is present and the visible condition of what we can see of it, along with hose bibs and exterior taps and whether they have backflow protection. We do not commission, test or evaluate irrigation systems — that is separate specialist work, and on a system that has been shut down for the season it cannot meaningfully be assessed at all.
What matters more for the building is where all that water ends up. We report how the ground falls away from the foundation, where the downspouts terminate, and where any sump pump discharges. An irrigation system running against a foundation wall does more damage over time than most people expect, and it is entirely fixable once you know.
The buried line
The line running from the building out to the sewer main belongs to the owner, and no visual inspection reaches inside it.
On a house built in the 1990s that pipe is around thirty years old, which is young enough that people assume it is fine and old enough that it often is not. Roots find joints where trees have matured around a lot, and a section that settled during the original backfill is still settled today.
We will not name a material from a build year, because no authoritative source establishes what laterals here 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 community built largely in one push, a line laid during that build-out can also carry construction debris from the day it went in, and nothing about a thirty-year-old house suggests it.
It is worth remembering that because sewer here is a flat charge, a problem in the lateral will never show up on a bill the way a water leak does. The only way to know its condition is to look.
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 Freeland.
Local information from Tittabawassee Township — understanding your water and sewer bill, and the per-person usage benchmark · Tittabawassee Township — moving in: utilities, trash and contacts · Tittabawassee Township — public works · Tittabawassee Township — departments. Municipal requirements change — verify current details with the municipality.
Why choose us
Five reasons people here pick us as their Freeland 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
A shout out to Noah for the inspection of our new house. He was very professional and thorough. He is also accessible after the fact — I have called him twice for clarification on our roofing issue and he has been so friendly and answered all of my questions.
Susan LawhonBridgeport, 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
Tittabawassee Township, whose offices are on Second Street in Freeland itself. Permits, records, utility accounts and ordinance questions all go there, and the office is open Monday to Friday.
Do the arithmetic. The Township states each person in a household uses an average of 5,000 gallons per quarter, so multiply household size by 5,000 and compare it to the bill. Well above that, with no pool or sprinkler to explain it, means water is going somewhere.
Water has a fixed readiness-to-serve charge based on meter size plus usage billed per thousand gallons over three months. Sewer is a flat rate that does not change with usage at all. Bills go out in January, April, July and October.
No. The Township states plainly that filling a pool or running a sprinkler system affects water usage only, and sewer rates do not change because sewer is billed at a flat rate. There is no second meter or seasonal credit to arrange.
Yes, and it is a perfectly reasonable request. On a property that has stood empty during a sale, a high reading with nobody living there is about as clear a signal of a leak as you will get.
Yes. A house built in the mid-1990s is thirty years old, which is exactly when the first full round of replacements falls due: original roof coverings, water heaters on their second or third, and furnaces and condensers reaching the point where the next failure means replacement.
Ask when it was last serviced and whether it has been properly winterized each year. We note whether a system is present and the visible condition of what we can see, along with hose bibs and backflow protection, but we do not commission or test irrigation systems.
Yes, and for a specific reason: because sewer is billed at a flat rate, a problem in the lateral will never show up on a bill the way a water leak does. The only way to know its condition is to look. A camera inspection is added to the same visit.
More on cost, timing and what is included on the FAQ page.
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