Michael's View: March 2008

	I just love it when I see an experienced property where the unhandy home owner has decided to add circuits to run appliances or other power utilizing necessities. In this case, the homeowner needed to get power out to his barn. The closest box was the already overloaded compressor panel. So we just tap off the bottom . . .
	Add a few splices in the wiring that is not designed for exterior use . . .
	One loop around the knob on the cedar tree should do it . . .
	Make sure you catch the small twig to keep the wire from slipping once draped over the branch . . .
	And, into the barn we go. Kinda reminds me of the nursery rhyme - Over the meadow . . .

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This posting and the contents written here are the intellectual property of Michael Thornton of Complete Home Inspections, Inc. providing home inspections for Brentwood, Nashville, Davidson and Williamson Counties of Middle Tennessee. The views and opinions expressed are just that - views and opinions of Michael Thornton and those who comment.  This post is a contribution to the ActiveRain Real Estate Network.

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Home inspectors in the State of Tennessee do no have to be licensed for pest control like some other licensed states. However; when inspecting a property, I do keep an eye out for these little critters that can literally eat you out of house and home. While inspecting the crawl space in a property in the Spring Hill area of southern Williamson County, I came across several mud tubes indicating active WDO (Wood Destroying Organisms). There was plenty of construction debris left in the crawl space to act as a smorgasbord of bait for these hungry guys.

I am not a codes inspector, but home inspectors must know some of more important local building codes to be good at what they do. This being said, “Acceptable Building Practices” or International Residential Codes (IRC) requires builders to remove all wood and construction debris from the crawlspace to prevent this from happening, especially here in the southern states where subterranean termite activity is very high. As a courtesy to my customers, I note such activity in my reports even though the property must have a clear termite letter. I also recommend that all wood and foreign debris be removed to keep this unwanted visitors from coming back.

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Home inspectors have to know and look at more than the house they are evaluating. A classic example of this is happened yesterday while I was inspecting a property in Spring Hill, TN in southern Williamson County. Driving into the subdivision, I noticed that all the houses had new roofs except the “AS IS” property that “Really Was”. Surprisingly, this was something that neither the real estate agent nor the buyers noticed when they put a contract on the property.

Last year, houses in several subdivisions in the Spring Hill area were heavily damaged by hail, and many areas of the town were deemed a Federal disaster area. As we all know, insurance companies will not ding you for a claim if the area has been declared a Federal disaster. Looking at the original roof covering, I noticed that there were several hail damaged sections as well as damaged siding. I discussed this with the potential buyer and the agent and all we could figure, judging by the condition of the property, was that they must have taken the insurance money and ran. This came home to roost as the property is being sold for about $30,000 under market value.

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One of the services that I provide for my clients, are pre-drywall or framing inspections on new construction properties. While inspecting this new construction house on Nashville’s east side yesterday I came across this unusual foundation for the brick veneer siding. Apparently, when the block foundation stem wall was installed, the masons either encroach upon the brick shelf section or else the foundation was not wide enough to incorporate a brick shelf. In desperate need for foundation to support the load for the tons of bricks to be imposed on the foundation, these ingenious guys found an untreated 2x4 lying around the lot to use as the foundation or brick shelf. Egad! I really do not know what these highly skilled workmen were thinking but . . . Oh well, so much for today’s enchilada. A few wraps of duct tape around the old noggin, 2 aspirin and a visit with Uncle Jack will ease the pain.

This posting and the contents written here are the intellectual property of Michael Thornton of Complete Home Inspections, Inc. providing home inspections for Brentwood, Nashville, Davidson and Williamson Counties of Middle Tennessee. The views and opinions expressed are just that - views and opinions of Michael Thornton and those who comment.  This post is a contribution to the ActiveRain Real Estate Network.

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Now that spring is here in middle Tennessee, winter is not officially over until the fat lady sings or we go through our last four winters which ever comes first. Typically, the winters win out as it is still too cold for the fat lady to come up from Florida. These “winters” have been derived from local folk lore used as planting guides dating back to the agricultural days of our area.

These springtime "winters" or cold snaps correspond to the blooming or budding of vegetation common to our area. These start when the redbud trees are in bloom like they are now. The cool snap we are now experiencing is referred to as "redbud winter". Next week, when the dogwoods are in bloom, we will experience another cool snap ushering in "dogwood winter". The next two are locus and blackberry winters. After blackberry winter, it is safe to plant warm season vegetables like tomatoes, corn, okra, and beans.

Are there any other areas out there that have winters such as this? Please comment as I would really like to know.

This posting and the contents written here are the intellectual property of Michael Thornton of Complete Home Inspections, Inc. providing home inspections for Brentwood, Nashville, Davidson and Williamson Counties of Middle Tennessee. The views and opinions expressed are just that - views and opinions of Michael Thornton and those who comment.  This post is a contribution to the ActiveRain Real Estate Network.

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Every now and then I run across a home owner who likes to color coordinate their outlets to match the color of their walls. This is definitely not a good idea and especially when it comes to GFCI outlets. When these are painted over, the paint will often jam the mechanical test and reset buttons. If the buttons are jammed, the device may fail to trip resulting you going z-z-z-zt, which is not a good thing! I consider these a safety hazard and I recommend replacing the device.

This posting and the contents written here are the intellectual property of Michael Thornton of Complete Home Inspections, Inc. providing home inspections for Brentwood, Nashville, Davidson and Williamson Counties of Middle Tennessee. The views and opinions expressed are just that - views and opinions of Michael Thornton and those who comment.  This post is a contribution to the ActiveRain Real Estate Network.

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This seems to be my week for picking on plumbers. I don't know why, maybe it's just because I have seen too many things that have have done which does not make any sense. Yesterday, while inspecting a rehabbed property in a mature section of Nashville, TN, I came across this installation of a water faucet at the kitchen sink. The faucet has been installed backwards as evidenced by the valves opening away from you instead of towards you. I had to give this poor fellow a grade of "C" for consistency, as he did the same thing on the pedestal basin in the bath.

Have a great, happy and safe Easter Weekend y'all! 

Don't you folks who don't live in the south wish that you had a simple, concise and succinct word that is deemed proper verbiage in normal as well as formal conversation like y'all?

This posting and the contents written here are the intellectual property of Michael Thornton of Complete Home Inspections, Inc. providing home inspections for Brentwood, Nashville, Davidson and Williamson Counties of Middle Tennessee. The views and opinions expressed are just that - views and opinions of Michael Thornton and those who comment.  This post is a contribution to the ActiveRain Real Estate Network.

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This seems to be my week for inspecting new construction properties. Part of the inspection process is to do the “obligatory” crawl through the area where codes inspectors, most home owners and real estate agents fear to tread.

When houses are designed by the architect, care is taken so that all plumbing fixtures fall into the right place so that there should never be a reason for “sawzall modifications” to the supporting structures of the property. Nevertheless, while inspecting this new construction property in Nashville, TN yesterday and ran across this less than professional repair of a severed floor joists. For the repair of the severed joist, this contractor took a short cut and picked up some form boards lying around the jobsite and propped them up on a solid core block instead of taking the time to make proper repairs. I had to give him a grade of “I” for ingenuity.

The photo below is a good illustration how easy it is to make a 2x10 into a ¾ x10. Just give a plumbing contractor a sawzall! Maybe deep down inside they have aspirations of becoming a framing carpenter when they grow up.

I really hate to say it, but new construction properties are getting to be my worst nightmare. There were too many issues with this property from the roofing on down. The summary alone was over 10 pages of items that were either poorly done, or not done at all. Thankfully, the agent had talked the home owner into getting the property inspected. The parting comment by the buyer was, “Is this typical?” My answer, “For some builders, yes.”

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I was inspecting a new construction property in Nashville, TN yesterday and ran across this professional installation of an air handler and condensate pump. Professional contractors will install a bracket on the side of the air handler on which to mount the pump and an outlet for power. This contractor took a short cut and went down to Walgreen’s or where ever was convenient and purchased a $1.29 extension cord and left it like that. The mechanical codes official signed off on this installation, making me wonder if they had even been there at all or was this just another drive-by shooting.

This posting and the contents written here are the intellectual property of Michael Thornton of Complete Home Inspections, Inc. providing home inspections for Brentwood, Nashville, Davidson and Williamson Counties of Middle Tennessee. The views and opinions expressed are just that - views and opinions of Michael Thornton and those who comment.  This post is a contribution to the ActiveRain Real Estate Network.

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While inspecting a new construction property in Nashville, TN yesterday, I came across this “unusual” venting system for the gas water heater. The water heater was located in the mechanical room off the finished basement and all that separated this room from the finished basement area was a louvered door which violated codes as well. To keep the cleaning crew working in the basement from getting asphyxiated, I turned the gas off to the unit.

Now I know that the codes officials miss minor things from time to time, but this was so blatant that I believe that even Ray Charles could have seen this one. What is even scarier is that the CO was issued for this property the day before. What really amazes me is that the mechanical contractor, the building superintendent and the mechanical codes inspector all missed this item. Really gives one a lot of faith in our codes and building officials doesn’t it? I know that I'm preaching to the choir, but this is the main reason that I tell everybody that they need to get new properties inspected.

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