Home inspections in Burton, from Lapeer Heights to Kelly Lake
We cover Burton from our Grand Blanc office. Burton is one city in ZIP codes 48509, 48519 and 48529 (the post office still accepts Flint on the envelope), from Belsay and Lapeer Heights on the east side to the Kearsley area on the north, the Bristol Road and Atherton Road corridors and Kelly Lake Park. The stock is mostly 1950s to 1970s ranches, on quarter-acre lots nearest Flint and larger lots to the southeast, with six manufactured-home communities along Fenton Road and at Creek Wood and the first big subdivisions in nearly a decade going in off Atherton and Vassar roads. The add-ons that matter most here are a sewer scope and a lead test on the ranches, a radon test, and a well and septic inspection on the east-side parcels the city mains never reached.
Every inspection is done by a certified inspector and the digital report is in your inbox the same day. Thermal imaging of the heating, cooling, plumbing and electrical systems and of any area showing signs of water intrusion is included in every home inspection, along with a drone view of the roof when the weather allows and a sump pump test. We test; we never repair or remediate, so nothing in the report is a sales pitch. A home inspection starts at $425; the final price depends on the size and age of the home, which is why the instant quote asks for the address.
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of Burton's homes were built before 1980, and the median house dates from 1964 (Census ACS 2020 to 2024). Lead paint and asbestos flooring, siding and insulation were still in use. We test for both.
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of Burton's homes are manufactured homes, most of them in the communities along Fenton Road and at Creek Wood (Census ACS 2020 to 2024). Piers, tie-downs and the underbelly get checked, with the crawlspace robot where an inspector cannot fit.
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of Burton's homes were built in 2000 or later, and The Meadows off Atherton Road and The Fields off Vassar Road are the first big subdivisions in nearly a decade (Census ACS 2020 to 2024). New does not mean defect-free; blue tape and 11th month inspections catch what the builder missed.
What buyers run into in Burton
Ranches from the 1950s to the 1970s, and a 1964 median
The median home in Burton was built in 1964; 70% of the city's homes went up before 1980 and 17% before 1950 (Census ACS 2020 to 2024). Burton was a township until residents voted to make it a city in May 1972, and the ranches that filled it in between are still the predominant house here. The 1965 to 1973 ones can carry solid aluminum branch wiring, 1970s panels get checked for the brands that fail, and the original galvanized supply pipe and sewer lateral get the hardest look. Lead paint was legal until 1978 and asbestos was still common in flooring, siding, insulation and ceiling texture into the 1980s, so anything of that age gets a lead test (from $100) and, if you plan to pull up floors or siding, asbestos sampling (from $300, with or without a home inspection): flooring installers, including Home Depot's, will not pull up pre-1980 vinyl or linoleum without an asbestos test (Home Depot's own installation guidance says so), so we sample flooring, siding and insulation and send it to an accredited lab. We recommend a sewer scope (from $150) on any home built before 1980, any home that has been a rental, and any lot with mature trees near the sewer line, because roots are what break clay and cast iron pipe.
Lake Huron water since 2017, no lead lines, and wells past Belsay Road
Burton has taken Lake Huron water treated by the Genesee County Drain Commissioner through the Karegnondi pipeline since December 15, 2017, and runs its own distribution and billing. The city's 2025 water quality report counts 6,800 service lines, none of them lead, with lead not detected at the 90th percentile and none of 14 sample sites over Michigan's 12 parts per billion action level. That covers the pipe to the street, not the solder and brass inside a 1960s house, so a lead water test (from $100) is still worth it in any pre-1988 house. A precautionary boil-water advisory covered southern Burton for two days in August 2026 after an equipment failure. On Atherton Road the city main stops at Belsay Road, and parcels beyond the mains on the east and southeast edges are on private wells: The Genesee County Health Department says naturally occurring arsenic runs through the county's groundwater, so a private well here gets our water test (from $175), which covers arsenic along with coliform bacteria, nitrates, nitrites and lead.
Radon
Michigan EGLE (the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy) says about 1 in 4 homes in Michigan tests above the EPA action level of 4 pCi/L. Burton is the blank spot on that map: only 27 tests across its three ZIP codes (18 in 48509, 5 in 48519 and 4 in 48529), none reported above 4 pCi/L, which is too few to read much into when Genesee County as a whole runs 9% and Davison, next door, runs 13%. A 48-hour radon test starts at $200 when added to a home inspection and runs during the inspection.
Septic past the mains, sump pumps, two creeks and the manufactured-home communities
East of the mains a Burton house is most likely on a well and a septic field; give us the address and we will tell you what applies. Genesee County has no county-wide time-of-sale rule for wells and septic systems and Burton has no point-of-sale inspection that we know of, so the buyer's inspection is the only look the house gets before closing. The well and septic package starts at $500 when added to a home inspection, or the well alone from $275 and the septic alone from $300. The city's sewer ordinance bars storm water, roof drains and footing drains from the sanitary sewer, so we check where the sump pump and the downspouts actually go. Thread Creek runs through Settlement Park and Kearsley Creek through For-Mar, and Kearsley Creek carried a flood warning in April 2026, so a creek-side lot gets a hard look at grading and basement walls. Manufactured homes are 7.3% of the city's housing (Census ACS 2020 to 2024). Where a crawlspace or the underbelly of a manufactured home is too tight or too wet to enter we send in our crawlspace robot (an Uplink Robotics inspection crawler; the maker says only 22 have been sold in Michigan, and three of them are ours) so it gets photographed instead of skipped. Our mold inspection (from $275) is done by an IAC2-certified inspector: thermal imaging and moisture meters to find the source, spore-trap air samples and surface samples, and accredited lab results that name the species. The EPA's rule of thumb is that anything that stays wet longer than 24 to 48 hours will usually grow mold, and a finished basement hides exactly that.
Services and starting prices in Burton
Prices are starting points. Add-on services (radon, well and septic, water, mold, sewer scope, termite, lead, pool and spa) are priced as shown when added to a home inspection; booked on their own they are quoted separately. Asbestos sampling starts at $300 with or without a home inspection. Thermal imaging of the heating, cooling, plumbing, electrical and water-intrusion areas is part of every home inspection; the energy-efficiency scan of windows, doors and insulation is the add-on. The final price depends on the size and age of the home, and the instant quote gives you a firm number before you book. Commercial building inspections are quoted by the building.
- Home inspection, starting at $425
- Radon testing, starting at $200 when added to a home inspection
- Well and septic inspection package, starting at $500 (well alone from $275, septic alone from $300) when added to a home inspection
- Water testing, starting at $175 when added to a home inspection
- Sewer scope, starting at $150 when added to a home inspection
- Mold testing, starting at $275 when added to a home inspection
- Termite (WDI) inspection, starting at $200 when added to a home inspection
- Energy‒efficiency thermal scan, starting at $125
- Lead testing, starting at $100 when added to a home inspection
- Pool and spa inspection, starting at $125 when added to a home inspection
- Pre‒listing inspection, starting at $425
- New build blue tape inspection, starting at $525
- Investor property verification, starting at $250
- Soil testing, starting at $250
- Asbestos testing, starting at $300
Areas we cover around Burton
The City of Burton in ZIP codes 48509, 48519 and 48529, including Belsay, Lapeer Heights, the Kearsley area, the Bristol Road and Atherton Road corridors, Courtland Center, Kelly Lake Park, For-Mar, The Meadows, The Fields, and the Creek Wood, Maple Grove, Greenbriar, Greenbriar Estates, Delta and Twin Meadows manufactured-home communities. Next door: Flint, Grand Blanc Township, Davison and Davison Township, Genesee Township, Atlas Township, Flint Township and Mundy Township.
This page is part of our Genesee County coverage; the county page has the county-wide radon numbers, the township well and septic rules and every town we work in. All 18 counties are on the Areas We Serve page.
Questions from Burton buyers
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Is this Burton house on a well or septic?
Can I be there for the inspection?
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