Find Out What It Is.
Not Just What It Looks Like.
2,000+ 5-Star Reviews
Mold needs three things: a spore, a surface and moisture. Only one of those can be taken away, so a mold inspection is really a hunt for water. We inspect the property, take air and surface samples where they will tell us something, and send them to a certified laboratory — then explain what came back in plain English, with the photographs that support it.
Following IAC2 sampling protocols:
The things that catch people out. Tap one to see what it means.
We inspect and test. We do not clean up mold and we do not sell you a cleanup, which means we have no reason to find a problem that is not there. If work is needed we will tell you to get an independent remediation contractor — and then we can come back and verify the work with a clearance inspection.
No agency publishes a safe indoor spore count, so a number on its own means very little. What matters is the indoor result compared with an outdoor control taken the same day, read alongside what the inspector actually saw. The EPA says the same.
Air and surface samples are sent to a certified lab for analysis, and the lab report comes to you with ours. Results are typically back within one to three business days.
Mold testing can be added to a home or commercial inspection for an additional fee at a discounted rate, and is carried out during the same visit. It is not part of a standard inspection. Works with a home buyer inspection or a commercial building inspection.
Where moisture is a problem, air quality usually is too. Radon gas testing is measured in house on a professional continuous monitor calibrated annually, and can run during the same visit. If the damp is at floor level and nobody can explain it, a sewer scope inspection is often what finds the reason.
Air sampling tells you what is in the air of a room. It does not tell you where it came from. The source is almost always somewhere nobody has looked in years — a crawl space, the back of an attic, the underside of a subfloor, a wall cavity behind something heavy that has not moved since the day it was put there.
So we go and look first, and we look in the places the air reading cannot reach. That visual inspection is what decides which test is worth taking and where to take it. A sample collected without knowing where to look is a number with no explanation attached to it.
What we are reading in those spaces is the water, not the mold. Ground that stays damp under a torn or missing vapor barrier. A duct that sweats through July. Insulation gone dark along one joist bay and clean along every other. Staining that stops in a straight line, which is where standing water once sat and then went down.
That is what decides your next move. A result naming a spore type but unable to point at the water is not something you can act on — you would be paying somebody to clean a surface that is going to get wet again in the spring. Finding the moisture first is what turns a laboratory number into a repair worth making.
Three ways to book it
Every one of these includes the laboratory fees and the laboratory report — there is no separate lab bill afterwards. Not sure which you need? Call 734-331-3269 and we will scope it with you.
Whole property
For when you do not know where it is, or you want the whole building cleared.
One area or floor
For when you know where the concern is — an attic, a basement, one room.
After remediation
Independent verification that the work actually worked — carried out by someone who did not do it.
How we test
Which method we use depends on what we find, and a visual inspection is what decides it. Every sample is analyzed by a certified laboratory, and the laboratory report comes to you alongside ours.
Indoor air is collected and compared against an outdoor control sample taken the same day. Indoor spore counts should be lower than, or comparable to, outdoors — a significantly higher indoor count points to hidden moisture. Because no universally accepted safe indoor level exists, the reading is only worth what the inspector reading it can interpret.
A clear adhesive bio-tape is pressed gently onto the affected surface and sealed for analysis. It is the usual choice when there is visible growth and the question is what it actually is.
A sterile swab is rolled across the suspect surface and sealed into a preservation gel for the laboratory. It suits textured or awkward surfaces where tape will not sit properly.
Why choose us
The company that tests for mold should not be the company that gets paid to remove it. We are an independent third party — we inspect, we sample, we report, and that is where our involvement ends. With more than 16,000 inspections completed and over 2,000 five-star reviews since 2009, that independence is most of why people call us. We also handle home buyer inspections, pre-listing inspections, annual maintenance inspections, commercial building inspections and radon gas testing, pre-drywall inspections and 11-month builder’s warranty inspections.
So we have no reason to find mold that is not there. Findings only.
The two bodies that set how mold is sampled, handled and reported.
Lab fees and the lab report are included, typically back in 1–3 days.
Including weekends, because a mold worry does not keep office hours.
We encourage it, and we will explain what we are sampling and why.
Reviews
Jim was prompt and thorough during the mold testing. Clearly gave us an explanation about mold and testing process he was going to conduct. Testing was followed by a written report. I would recommend everyone use a third party to test mold, independent from the company conducting remediation work. I would hire Trademark again and strongly recommend them.
Alberto PicconeNorthville, MIJustin with Trademark Inspection services did a fantastic job with the mold inspection in my house. They did a very thorough job, answered all of my questions and were very personal and professional. Afterwards, a comprehensive report was sent which was very helpful. I would highly recommend Trademark Inspection services for any type of inspection needs.
Stacy HayesGarden City, MICowboy “Jim” just did Mold Testing in my parents’ basement. He was Professional, explained the what, how and yet of everything to my Senior parents. Our results came back super quick. He even referred us to the resources on the Trademark website for me to use to fix the leaky basement. It’s 1 stop shopping with Trademark.
Becky JohnsonWayne, MINoah Scott was very thorough and explaining things to us, especially in regard to a possible mold problem.
Claudette GranvilleFlint, MIMitch was great and thorough the our inspection. He provided explanations and suggestions throughout the service. Highly recommend!
Jaynie GMonroe, MIJustin was fabulous! Super detailed and we understood everything he said! Thank you overall great experience.
Lucy MierzwaMichigan
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Claim the Hero DiscountQualified and certified
Michigan does not license mold inspectors, so the credential behind the person taking your samples is worth checking. The two that matter most here are IAC2, which sets the protocols for how mold is sampled and reported, and NAMP. Each is issued by the organization named and verifiable with them directly.
The core credential from the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors. It commits the inspector to InterNACHI’s Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics, and to continuing education every year rather than a one-off exam.
The profession’s top-level board certification. It is earned through inspection experience and continuing education over time, not bought — which is why comparatively few inspectors in Michigan hold it.
National Home Inspector ExaminationThe independently written, psychometrically validated exam from the Examination Board of Professional Home Inspectors, used by most states that license home inspectors. Michigan licenses nobody and asks for no exam at all, so sitting it here is entirely voluntary — which is rather the point.
Certified through the Certified Commercial Property Inspectors Association, the standards body for commercial building inspections. Commercial work follows a different discipline to residential, and this is the credential that covers it.
The International Association of Certified Indoor Air Consultants sets the protocols for how mold is sampled, handled and reported. Following them is what makes a laboratory result defensible rather than just a number.
The same body certifies radon measurement separately, because the discipline is different: where the monitor sits, how long it runs and what counts as a disturbed test all decide whether the reading means anything.
Certification from the National Association of Mold Professionals, covering how mold is identified, sampled and documented — the difference between spotting a stain and understanding the moisture behind it.
Training in running a sewer line camera and, just as importantly, reading what it shows. Roots, bellies, breaks and blockages all look different on screen and are easy to misread without it.
Certified Residential ThermographerCertified by Monroe Infrared in thermal imaging. A thermal camera reveals what the eye cannot — moisture behind finishes, missing insulation and overheating electrical connections — but only if the person holding it is trained to interpret it.
Licensed by the Federal Aviation Administration to fly commercially. That is what makes aerial roof and property imagery legal to carry out and legal to hand you — and it means a steep or unsafe roof can still be inspected properly.
Our service area
We test across fourteen Michigan counties — Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Washtenaw, Livingston, Genesee, Saginaw, Shiawassee, Lapeer, St Clair, Monroe, Lenawee, Jackson and Ingham — covering Metro Detroit, Ann Arbor, Flint, Saginaw and the communities in between. Tap a county to see where we work.
Not sure if we cover your area?
Call 734-331-3269 or schedule your inspection now.
Common questions
The things people ask us most before booking a mold inspection.
Musty odors, visible growth, recent water damage, or allergy and respiratory symptoms that ease when you leave the building are the usual prompts. If you can smell it but cannot see it, that is exactly the case testing is for.
Yes. Our inspectors are certified by NAMP — the National Association of Mold Professionals — and IAC2, the International Association of Certified Indoor Air Consultants, which sets the protocols for how mold is sampled and reported. Michigan does not license mold inspectors, so those credentials are the thing worth checking.
A thorough visual assessment of the property, moisture and thermal readings where something looks suspect, and air or surface sampling sent to a certified laboratory. You get our report and the laboratory report together.
No, and that is deliberate. As an independent third party we do not perform remediation, so we have no financial reason to find a problem. If work is needed we will tell you to appoint a qualified remediation contractor — and we can return afterwards for a clearance inspection to verify it.
Laboratory results are typically returned within one to three business days of the samples being collected, and we send the full report as soon as they are in.
Laboratory analysis identifies the types present, including Aspergillus, Cladosporium, Penicillium and Stachybotrys — the one usually called black mold — along with others commonly found in Michigan homes and businesses.
It depends which of the three inspections you need and the size of the property, so we price each one properly rather than quoting a number that turns out to be wrong. Laboratory fees and the laboratory report are included in all three. Call 734-331-3269 and we will scope it with you.
Often yes. Mold grows where moisture is, which is usually behind or under something — inside a wall cavity, under flooring, above a ceiling. A musty smell with nothing visible is one of the most common reasons people book, and air sampling is designed for exactly that.
An independent check after remediation has been done: we inspect the remediated area and the areas next to it, and sample to confirm the work achieved what it was supposed to. Because we did not do the remediation, the verification means something.
Yes. It can be added to a home buyer inspection or a commercial building inspection at a discounted rate and carried out during the same visit. It is an additional service at additional cost, not part of a standard inspection.
Yes, and we encourage it. You can ask questions as we go, and the inspector will explain what is being sampled and why before anything is sent to the laboratory.
A home inspection gives you a broad picture of the property’s condition. Mold testing is a focused service targeting microbial growth and airborne spore levels, and it includes laboratory analysis and separate certifications. They answer different questions.
Seven days a week, laboratory results in 1–3 days.
