http://blogs.chiblogs.com Inspection Blogs by Michael Thornton Tue, 07 Oct 2008 11:49:14 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Older houses pose a challenge when it comes to heating and cooling systems. Today's methodologies which incorporate zoned systems or separate heating and cooling systems to climatize each level of the property are common place. Older properties follow the guidelines of "accepted" trade practices at the the time the property ... http://blogs.chiblogs.com/?p=82 Not being known as being a power-house team and after being the proverbial door mats for eons, Vanderbilt is now at the top of one of the toughest college football conferences the SEC at 5 - 0. Yes, lowly Vanderbilt sits on top of the SEC east and is ahead ... http://blogs.chiblogs.com/?p=81 Last week, a friend of mine, Larry Brewer wrote a post in  the Active Rain real estate community on Brentwood Deer. Well this morning while I was in the kitchen getting a cup of coffee to get these old bones moving, I glanced out the kitchen window and saw 2 ... http://blogs.chiblogs.com/?p=80 For those of you who don't know what meme's are, it is an Active Rain thing. Every now and then, there is that time again when the meme's fly around thicker in this community than a swarm of blood thirsty mosquitoes. After receiving my third invitation and a visit from ... http://blogs.chiblogs.com/?p=79 Home inspectors don't have all the answers to all of the challenges encountered during the inspection process. Sometimes we have to rely on 'subtitle' clues, and take the SWAG (Scientific Wild A$$ Guess) approach to reach a conclusion as to what the problem could be. While inspecting a 'challenging' property ... http://blogs.chiblogs.com/?p=78 Hurricane Fay brought some 2" of much needed rain to the middle Tennessee area the other day, helping relieve some of the drought conditions here. As I was getting ready to do my evening walk, I was able to capture a few frames of the last of Fay as she ... http://blogs.chiblogs.com/?p=77 After moving the grandfather clock from the Den to the foyer, 'ol Pop quit working. Well, being a typical male, this should be an easy fix I thought, so I fiddled with this, and that, and could not see why the clock would not run. Getting frustrated I thought that ... http://blogs.chiblogs.com/?p=76 As I listen to the badly needed rain pitter-patter on the skylight in my study, my thoughts turn from “Thank You God” for the relief in this drought to grim ones reflecting back on a conversation that a friend of mine and I had at lunch last week. Now that ... http://blogs.chiblogs.com/?p=75 Home inspectors do not have the equipment to inspect the throat and flue of most chimneys. However, thanks to pocket digital cameras, a missing damper and smoke shelf, this badly damaged fireplace lent itself to get a good logs-eye view of what the inside of a chimney really looks like. ... http://blogs.chiblogs.com/?p=74 Invariably, while inspecting older challenging properties, real estate agents will catch me somewhere when the client is not around and want to get a ‘sneak peek’ of how the inspection is going. Not wanting to jump the gun and tell the boys to get the D8 off the trailer prematurely, ... http://blogs.chiblogs.com/?p=73