New Haven, Michigan
Looking for a New Haven home inspector? We do certified home, commercial, mold and radon inspections in New Haven, 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 New Haven 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 New Haven 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 New Haven 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 reportNew Haven housing stock
New Haven has roughly 2,159 housing units and about 59% of them are single-family detached. Age is the most useful single fact about a house before anyone has seen it. It narrows down what is worth checking first, and it is why two places of much the same size can need quite different inspections.
If the town has a defining decade it is the 2000s, which accounts for 762 homes, around 35% of the housing stock. It is also less detached-house territory than most of the area at 59%, 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 $176,400. There are around 740 manufactured and mobile homes in New Haven. Those are a different inspection — the questions are about the frame, the anchoring and the skirting rather than a basement.
Treat this as a starting list, not a diagnosis. A New Haven home inspector checks these things early in a home of this age and then records what is genuinely there, which is often not what the era would suggest.
Housing figures: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2022 five-year estimates.
When New Haven was built
89% of homes here run on utility gas. Another 19 use bottled or LP gas.
Local knowledge
New Haven has the newest housing stock of any community we cover. Of roughly 2,159 units, 1,662 — 77% — were built since 1990, and the whole of the 1940s accounts for no recorded units at all. There is a prewar core of about 174 houses, then almost nothing for fifty years, then a very large recent expansion.
The Village also has an unusually complete approach to paperwork. Its building department states that any structure, fence or project that does not need a building permit still requires a zoning permit — and repeats the point for emphasis: work exempt from a building permit must still be submitted for zoning review and compliance.
In other words there is no category of work here that requires nothing at all. Put that together with a housing stock built almost entirely in the last thirty-five years, and the permit history on a typical New Haven property should be more complete than almost anywhere else on our list.
That is genuinely good news when you are buying. A records request here is likely to produce something rather than a shrug, and it covers the whole life of most of the houses.
One practical warning before you plan a visit: the building inspector’s published office hours are a single hour in the middle of each weekday, and the Village asks that you contact the office before coming.
Before you buy
Permits
The building department sets out its permit triggers in plain terms, and two of them are worth knowing before you own a house here.
The first is the list itself: new construction, alterations and structural repairs, electrical and plumbing and heating and cooling installation, accessory structures, decks and porches, a re-roof where the old roofing is removed to bare wood, occupancy and land use, all signage, and any repair with an estimated cost of more than six hundred dollars. That last threshold is low enough to catch a great deal of ordinary work.
The second is the catch-all. Anything that does not need a building permit still needs a zoning permit, submitted for review and compliance. There is no bracket of work that passes unrecorded.
The Village also draws a clear line on who does the work. A homeowner can obtain a permit by filing an affidavit affirming they are doing the work themselves. Where a contractor pulls the permit, the person holding the license has to sign the application — and to register with the Village in the first place, the license holder must appear in person with their state license, photo identification and proof of liability insurance. Registrations expire when the state license does.
On inspections, at least twenty-four hours notice is required, and the Village is explicit that work must not continue until the inspection has been completed. Its inspectors hold state licenses, are registered with the state, and must complete approved continuing education.
A buyer’s inspection is not a permit search and does not replace one. What it does is tell you which parts of a property to go looking for records about, so the search you make is targeted rather than hopeful — and in a village with records this complete that is worth doing properly.
Newer houses
The single largest block of housing here is the 762 units built in the 2000s, with 554 from the 1990s and 285 from the 2010s behind them. Those are the houses buyers most often assume are fine, and they are where a careful report earns its keep quietly rather than dramatically.
The roof comes first. An asphalt covering from 2003 is at or past the age where the manufacturer’s expectation runs out, and on a house that has never been re-roofed that is a real number to have before you agree a price rather than after.
Mechanical equipment follows. Furnaces, water heaters and air conditioning from the original build are being replaced now, and the quality of that work varies enormously. Venting that has not kept pace with a newer appliance is one of the more common findings on housing of exactly this age.
Then the envelope: window seals, caulking, flashing details, and exterior finishes at the stage where deferred maintenance starts to show. Decks deserve a proper look rather than a glance — the ledger connection to the house, the flashing behind it, and the condition of hangers and fasteners, which on modern treated lumber can corrode faster than the boards they hold.
And grading, which on a house built on filled and graded ground has had twenty years to settle, usually toward the building rather than away from it. On a subdivision built quickly that is the single most common route water takes to a foundation wall.
Build quality is the last piece. A period of rapid building is a period of busy trades, and the difference between two houses on the same street from the same year can be considerable. That is not a criticism of anyone; it is why an inspection is done house by house rather than by reputation.
Water
New Haven buys its drinking water through the regional authority, drawn from the lower Lake Huron watershed, with the state rating that source as having moderately low susceptibility to potential contamination. The Village operates the mains that carry it to each home’s service line.
It also maintains two backup wells for emergency use when the regional supply is unavailable — a sensible arrangement for a village at the end of a long transmission run, and not something every community has.
The Village runs a residential water assistance program as well, which is worth knowing exists rather than discovering later.
We do not test water and we do not determine buried service line materials. What an inspection reports is the visible supply piping inside the building where accessible, the materials we can actually see, and any point where the material changes or a repair has been made. On housing built since 1990 that is usually a simpler picture than on older stock — but it is still worth confirming rather than assuming.
On the 174 units here that predate 1940, the picture is entirely different: plumbing renewed in stages over eighty-five years, with material transitions worth examining closely.
Enforcement
Code enforcement in the Village runs on complaints, reported by email or by phone to the code enforcement officer with the location and the nature of the concern. The noise ordinance restricts activity between nine at night and six in the morning.
A complaint-driven system means an absence of enforcement history on a property tells you nobody complained, not that anybody examined it. That is the gap an inspection fills, and it is why the back of a house and the parts not visible from the street are where we spend proportionally more time.
The planning commission takes a different role, reviewing site plans for any new use, change of use, addition to an existing use, multi-family, commercial or industrial building and all new subdivisions — but not for permitted one and two family dwellings. So an ordinary house goes through the building department rather than a public hearing.
With around 41% of the housing something other than a detached house, attached and multi-unit property comes up regularly. On a condominium the association documents decide where your responsibility ends and the association’s begins, and reading them before closing is worth the evening it takes. For a small multi-unit building bought as an investment, a commercial inspection to the CCPIA standard is usually the right scope.
Radon testing and mold inspection and testing can be added to either kind of visit.
The buried line
The drain line from the building to the main belongs to the owner, and on most New Haven houses it is comparatively young. That does not make it a non-question; it makes it a different question.
On a lateral laid in the 1990s or 2000s the risks are early-life ones: settlement after backfill, damage during construction or landscaping, and poorly bedded pipe that has developed a belly. Those do not announce themselves for a decade or two, and then show up as a drain that runs slow for no obvious reason — which, on housing of exactly this age, is roughly now.
On one of the prewar houses the familiar issues apply instead: roots, cracks and displaced joints under a lot that has had eighty-five years to mature. We will not name a material from a build year, because no authoritative source establishes what New Haven laterals are generally made of.
A sewer camera inspection records what is actually inside the line either way, and is added to the same appointment rather than booked separately.
You can read what our clients say, look through answers to common questions, see the Village’s code enforcement contact, or get in touch about a specific address in New Haven.
Local information from Village of New Haven — Building Department, permit triggers and contractor registration · Village of New Haven — code enforcement and the noise ordinance · Village of New Haven — 2025 water quality report. 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. So on the state’s map New Haven sits well away from the worst of it, and we are not going to dress that up into something it is not.
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 New Haven 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
Effectively, yes. The Village states that any structure, fence or project not needing a building permit still requires a zoning permit, and that work exempt from a building permit must still be submitted for zoning review and compliance. There is no bracket of work that requires nothing at all.
The Village lists new construction, alterations and structural repairs, electrical, plumbing and heating and cooling installation, accessory structures, decks and porches, a re-roof where the old roofing is removed to bare wood, occupancy and land use, all signage, and any repair with an estimated cost of more than six hundred dollars.
Yes. The Village allows homeowners to obtain permits by filing an affidavit affirming they are doing the work themselves. Where a contractor pulls the permit, the person holding the license must sign the application, and contractors must register in person with their state license, photo identification and proof of liability insurance.
Newer than anywhere else we cover. About 1,662 of roughly 2,159 units — 77% — were built since 1990, with 762 in the 2000s alone, and no units at all recorded from the 1940s. There is a prewar core of around 174 houses behind that.
Yes, and this is exactly the age where one pays for itself. The original roof is at or past its expected life, the first furnace and water heater are being replaced, window seals and exterior finishes are showing wear, grading has settled, and deck fasteners are at the age where they are worth examining rather than glancing at.
The published office hours are a single hour in the middle of each weekday, and the Village asks that you contact the office before visiting to ensure availability. Inspections need at least twenty-four hours notice, and work must not continue until the inspection has been completed.
From the regional authority, drawn from the lower Lake Huron watershed, with the state rating that source as having moderately low susceptibility to potential contamination. The Village operates the mains that carry it to each home’s service line, and maintains two backup wells for emergency use.
Often yes. On a lateral laid in the 1990s or 2000s the risks are early-life ones — settlement after backfill, construction or landscaping damage, poorly bedded pipe that has developed a belly — and they typically surface fifteen or twenty years later as a drain running slow for no obvious reason. A camera inspection documents the actual condition and is added to the same visit.
More on cost, timing and what is included on the FAQ page.
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Permits, assessing and property records for New Haven are handled by the Village of New Haven, not by us.
From the blog
October 22, 2017
Your local New Haven home inspector, seven days a week. Home inspection reports in 24 hours.
