Westland, Michigan
Looking for a Westland home inspector? We do certified home, commercial, mold and radon inspections in Westland, 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 Westland 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 Westland and across Wayne 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 Westland 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 reportWestland housing stock
Westland has roughly 37,862 housing units and about 57% 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 — 8,713 homes, roughly 23% of the town. It is also less detached-house territory than most of the area at 57%, 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 $164,900. There are around 825 manufactured and mobile homes in Westland. Those are a different inspection — the questions are about the frame, the anchoring and the skirting rather than a basement. Around 2,486 homes sit in two-to-four unit buildings, where a shared roof, a shared wall and sometimes a shared furnace mean the report has to be clear about where one unit stops.
This is not a forecast for any one address. It is where a Westland 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 Westland was built
85% of homes here run on utility gas, and 16 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 451 use bottled or LP gas.
Local knowledge
Westland is one of the communities in this region that will not let a house change hands until the City has looked at it — and it is unusually focused on one system in particular.
The housing itself is classic postwar Wayne County, spread over three decades rather than concentrated in one. Of roughly 37,862 housing units, about 23% date from the 1950s, 20% from the 1960s and 19% from the 1970s, with a median build year of 1968 and around 57% single-family detached. That means a fair amount of attached and multi-unit housing here too.
What sets Westland apart is the process. The City requires a Certificate of Approval on all houses being sold or transferred before the residential sale closes, and as part of that it requires the heating system to be tested and certified as safe by a licensed mechanical contractor. Its rental process asks for a furnace safety and carbon monoxide test as well. No other community we have written up puts heating equipment at the center of both.
For a buyer that is genuinely useful, and it also makes it clearer than usual what a private inspection adds. The City is establishing that a furnace is safe to operate. An inspection tells you what condition it is in and roughly how much service life is left in it — along with the roof, the structure, the drainage and everything else.
Before you buy
Two inspections, two purposes
The City states the position plainly: when buying or selling a home, the Building Division wants to make sure the property is safe and healthy for human habitation, and to that end a Certificate of Approval is required on all houses being sold or transferred to another party before the residential sale closes.
The process runs like this. The seller completes a Home Sale or Transfer Application and pays a fee. A housing inspector carries out a code inspection, and the City publishes a pre-inspection checklist so it goes smoothly. The heating system must be certified by a licensed mechanical contractor. If the seller completes everything, a Certificate of Approval is issued and is good for six months.
There is a sensible fallback if the seller does not finish in time, and it is worth knowing because it can land on the buyer. The buyer purchases an Approval Letter To Close, which lets the closing go ahead, and returns a Remaining Violations Disclosure Form along with the signed purchase agreement. The buyer then has ninety days to carry out the repairs and schedule a final inspection to obtain the Certificate of Approval. If that is the route your transaction is taking, you are inheriting a list of outstanding items and a deadline — and you would want to know what is on it before you agree to it.
None of that replaces a buyer’s inspection, and it is not meant to. The City is checking compliance with its codes so the property can be occupied. An inspection is commissioned by you and reports condition: roof, structure, foundation, drainage, electrical, heating and cooling, plumbing and the accessible interior, photographed and written up with how urgent each finding is. Both happen before the same closing, and they answer different questions.
Heating
Follow the City’s paperwork and a theme emerges: Westland cares about furnaces more than most municipalities do.
At sale, the dwelling’s heating system must be tested and certified by a licensed contractor to be safe for use, on a Furnace/Boiler Certification form filled out by the mechanical contractor and submitted before final approval allowing occupancy. In the residential rental program, registration runs every three years with an initial and a final inspection by a building inspector, and a furnace safety and carbon monoxide test. Prospective tenants can even check whether a rental has a current certificate through the City’s records search.
Here is the distinction worth holding on to. A contractor certifying a furnace is answering “is this safe to operate right now?” An inspection answers a broader question: what condition is the equipment in, how old is it, what does the installation look like, is the venting right, how is it performing on the day, and roughly how much service life is left. Neither answer substitutes for the other, and on a house of Westland’s typical age you generally want both.
The City also publishes a standing warning about furnace cleaning scams, and two pieces of its advice are worth repeating whoever you are: get more than one written estimate from licensed local mechanical contractors before agreeing to a repair or replacement, and make final payment contingent on the building department’s mechanical inspection of the work. That is good practice anywhere, and it is the City’s own guidance.
The buried line
This is the single most actionable thing on this page, and almost no homeowner knows it until they need it.
The City publishes that anyone experiencing an overflow or backup of a sewage disposal or storm water system under the City’s jurisdiction should contact the Department of Public Service immediately. It then sets out the written notice requirement: under Public Act 222 of 2001, amending Michigan’s governmental immunity statute, a resident seeking compensation for physical injury or property damage from a sewage disposal system event must notify the City in writing within 45 days of discovering the damage. The notice needs the claimant’s name, address and telephone number, the address of the affected property, the date of discovery, the injuries or damage, and a brief description of the event. The City warns that failing to comply may prevent recovery of damages and bar the claim.
That flows from state law rather than being a Westland invention, and the City deserves credit for publishing it clearly. We are relaying it, not advising on it — if it ever applies to you, the City and your own professional advisers are the people to talk to. But knowing the clock exists is worth a great deal on the day.
As for the line itself: we will not name a material from a build year, because there is no authoritative source establishing what Westland laterals are generally made of. What we can do is look. A sewer camera inspection records what is actually inside the private sanitary lead — roots, cracks, displaced joints, bellies or blockages where they exist, and a clear run where they do not. Worth noting that the City specifically flags so-called flushable wipes as getting stuck in private sanitary leads as well as the public system. The scope goes on the same visit.
Water
The City’s approach to service line materials is unusually hands-on, and worth using.
Under the 2018 amendment to the Michigan Safe Drinking Water Act, water systems had to maintain an inventory of service line materials by January 2025, and the City says it had already built one well before the deadline. Its self-reporting program then asks residents to help: collect a magnet from City Hall, find the water meter in the basement, crawlspace or garage, and scratch the pipe between where it enters the building and the meter. Orange underneath means copper. A shiny silver scratch means it could be lead or steel, and the magnet tells those apart.
On what is actually out there, the City is careful and so are we. In its words, most water service lines found in Westland will be copper or plastic pipe, but some homes may be galvanized steel “or even, in some highly unlikely situations, lead”. That hedge is the City’s, and it is the right one: the answer is property-specific. A home inspection does not determine service line material and we will not imply otherwise — the City’s program is the route to that answer.
Westland also takes part in the Alliance of Rouge Communities stormwater work, which is a reminder that this is Rouge River watershed territory and how a property manages water off its roof and away from its foundation matters. That part we do assess: accessible grading, gutters and downspouts, foundation conditions, the basement or crawlspace and sump equipment where present.
The rest fits the same appointment — commercial building inspections to the CCPIA standard for offices, retail, multifamily and warehouse property, and radon testing or mold inspection and testing added to a residential or commercial visit.
Local information from City of Westland — Buying or Selling a Home · City of Westland — Residential Rental Program · City of Westland — Sewage Disposal & Storm Water · City of Westland — Water Service Line Self Reporting Program. Municipal requirements change — verify current details with the municipality.
Radon in Wayne 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 Westland at the calmer end of Michigan’s radon picture, which is worth saying out loud rather than glossing over. What a zone cannot tell you is anything about one house: 17% of tests actually run in Wayne County still came back at or above the EPA’s 4 pCi/L action level, which is about one in six. The zone describes a county. The only result that describes your basement is the one measured in it.
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 · Wayne County radon and inspection coverage
Zone from the EPA Map of Radon Zones. Elevated-result share from the Michigan Indoor Radon Program.
Why choose us
Five reasons people here pick us as their Westland 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
Ora from Trademark did an incredible job with the inspection and sewer scope of the home I am in the process of buying. He was very thorough, explained everything to me from the start, and made it all super easy to understand which definitely helped to put me at ease a bit more. Highly recommend this company!
Mariah HartmanWestland, MIJim 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, 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, MIWhat happens
Questions
Yes, and it is one of the stricter processes in the region. The City requires a Certificate of Approval on all houses being sold or transferred to another party before the residential sale closes. The seller submits a Home Sale or Transfer Application with a fee, a housing inspector carries out a code inspection, and the City publishes a pre-inspection checklist. If the seller completes it, the certificate is issued and is good for six months — shorter than the twelve months some neighboring cities allow, so timing matters.
Because the City treats heating safety as part of habitability, at sale and in rentals alike. For a sale, the dwelling’s heating system must be tested and certified by a licensed contractor to be safe for use, on a Furnace/Boiler Certification form completed by the mechanical contractor and submitted before final approval allowing occupancy. For registered rentals, the process includes a furnace safety and carbon monoxide test. It is a safety sign-off rather than a condition report — a certified furnace can still be near the end of its service life, which is a separate question and one an inspection answers.
There is a documented route, and it shifts work onto the buyer. If the seller does not complete the inspection process, the buyer purchases an Approval Letter To Close, which allows the closing to go ahead. A Remaining Violations Disclosure Form must be returned to the Building Division along with the signed purchase agreement, and the buyer then has ninety days to carry out the repairs and schedule a final inspection to obtain the Certificate of Approval. If your purchase is heading down that route, find out exactly what remains outstanding before you commit to it.
Yes, because they are answering different questions. The City’s inspection establishes compliance with its codes so the property is safe and healthy for habitation and the sale can close. A buyer’s inspection is commissioned by you and reports the condition of the roof, structure, foundation, drainage, electrical, heating and cooling, plumbing and accessible interior — what is failing, what is near the end of its service life and what you should be planning for. On a house with a median build year around 1968, that second question is the one that shapes what you do after you move in.
Contact the City straight away, and be aware there is a deadline. The City directs anyone experiencing an overflow or backup of a sewage disposal or storm water system under its jurisdiction to call the Department of Public Service immediately. It also publishes that under Public Act 222 of 2001, amending Michigan’s governmental immunity statute, a resident seeking compensation for injury or property damage from a sewage disposal system event must notify the City in writing within 45 days of discovering the damage, with specific details in the notice — and that failing to comply may bar the claim. We are relaying the City’s published requirement, not giving legal advice; the City and your own advisers are the people to speak to.
The City’s own answer is a careful one: most water service lines found in Westland will be copper or plastic pipe, but some homes may be galvanized steel or even, in highly unlikely situations, lead. Westland built a service line materials inventory ahead of the January 2025 state deadline and runs a self-reporting program where residents can collect a magnet from City Hall and scratch-test the pipe between the wall and the water meter to identify the material. The age of a house does not answer the question, and a home inspection does not determine service line material — the City’s program does.
Yes. You can book a Westland home inspector with us seven days a week, and we cover the rest of Wayne County too.
A home inspection report reaches you within 24 hours. Commercial buildings are 24 to 72 hours depending on size, a radon result comes at the end of the 48-hour test, and mold samples come back from the lab in one to three business days.
More on cost, timing and what is included on the FAQ page.
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