Sterling Heights, Warren, Clinton Township, Chesterfield and Shelby Township. Working-family suburbs with a lot of postwar housing, and a lot of questions about basements, roofs and aging furnaces.
Illustration of a basement cutaway. Not a photo of a property we inspected.
Macomb County built out on its own track — Sterling Heights, Warren, and Clinton Township grew up alongside the auto plants their residents worked in, with a construction era that overlaps Oakland County's postwar boom but a character that's stayed distinctly its own. In 2023, Macomb issued over 1,200 new residential permits with 60% single-family, keeping pace with steady, working-family suburban growth rather than the higher-end lake-community development you'll see further west in Oakland.
That construction era means original mechanicals — furnaces, water heaters, electrical panels — reaching end of service life at a predictable, similar age across whole neighborhoods, and it means older sewer lateral materials in the county's more established communities that are worth scoping before they become the buyer's problem instead of the seller's. Chesterfield and Shelby Township's newer construction on the county's edges brings its own, different set of things worth checking — the kind that only show up a few years in.
Postwar bungalows, ranches and later subdivisions built for the auto plants. Finished basements, sump systems and original mechanicals are the main topics.
Sterling Heights publishes building permit and inspection information, including an Ask an Inspector program, which is useful when a seller has done a finished basement or addition.
City of Sterling Heights building department ↗A large township with a wide range of ages, from older homes near the river to newer subdivisions on the edges.
Newer construction near the county's northern and eastern edges. Issues here tend to show up a few years in: settling, drainage and builder-grade materials.
Water in the basement is the most common seller surprise. We check grading, gutters, foundation cracks, the sump and signs of past moisture.
Older neighborhoods have older sewer laterals. Scoping the line before closing moves the risk back to the seller's side of the table.
Entire neighborhoods were built in the same decade, so these items tend to age out together. We date each one.
Unpermitted work is common. We note what looks unpermitted and send you to the city to confirm.
Macomb County pricing starts at $350. The sewer camera comes with the full inspection, which is the line item most Macomb buyers ask about first. See pricing · See a sample report
Macomb County Health publishes pages on property transfers, wells and septic. Start there if the home is not on city water and sewer. These are outside links to official sites and may change.
Because that is where most of the expensive surprises are: moisture, foundation movement, old sewer lines and aging mechanicals. We photograph what we find and give a repair cost estimate.
Most homes here are on city water and sewer, but some are not. The county health department has a property transfer page for properties with their own well or septic. Links are above.
Yes, we inspect condos and townhomes as well as single-family homes.
Yes. See our commercial and multi-family inspection page for two-unit and larger buildings.
One inspection. One complete report. Every finding, every cost, every photo — organized so you can act on it before closing.
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