Michael Thornton - Nashville, TN area Home Inspector

Located on the Southeast side of 5 points in historical downtown Franklin, TN and about 100 yards north of Franklin’s first subdivision Hincheyville, is the Williamson County Archives and Museum. It is on this site on 20 August, 1830 when Andrew Jackson met with the chiefs of the Chickasaw Nation to sign the Chickasaw Treaty. In the spring of that year, Congress had passed the Indian Removal Act providing the President with the means to exchange the lands of the five civilized Indian Nations of the Southeast for lands west of the Mississippi River. The Chickasaw Treaty signed in Franklin, TN began a series of treaties which relocated the tribes to Oklahoma. Andrew Jackson, called “Sharp Knife” by the Chiefs, was the only President to attend an Indian removal Council.

The small park which is corned by West Main Street and Columbia Avenue is dedicated to all those who have fought for the freedom of this country. In the center of the park is a granite star commemorating all the branches of the Service with the quote, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends”. Around the star are bricks remembering the residents of Williamson County who have so risen to the occasion and gallantly fought to protect their loved ones and their beliefs. Those remembered have fought from the Revolutionary War to the present day Conflict in Iraq. With so many remembered from this area alone, is there any doubt why Tennessee is called the Volunteer State?

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.

Just south of 5 points in historic downtown Franklin, TN sets Franklin’s first subdivision Hincheyville. The subdivision was developed in early 1819 by Felix Grundy, James Irwin, and James Trimble. The ninety acres, extending from Fair Street to Eleventh Avenue had 26 lots on Fair Street, 25 lots on Main Street and 8 lots on Bridge Street. The subdivision was named for Hinchea Petway who was a wealthy merchant who owned the land. His house, which had to be razed to build the subdivision, was located approximately in the middle of 8th Ave between Fair Street and West Main. The Hincheyville subdivision was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

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.

The Williamson County courthouse is located on the south east side of the square in historic downtown Franklin, TN. This is the third iteration of the Williamson County Courthouse which was completed in 1858 under the supervision of John W. Miller. The first two one log and one brick were originally located in the center of the Square where the statue and park now set. It is only one of seven antebellum courthouses left in the state of Tennessee. The four iron columns that adorn the front of the courthouse were smeltered at in the small community of Fernvale which is located in western Williamson county between Fairview and the old Southall community just south of town

out Carters Creek Pike. The columns were cast at an unknown foundry located Franklin. The courthouse was used as Federal headquarters during the Civil War and served as a hospital after the Second Battle of Franklin 30 November, 1864. The interior has gone through several facelifts having been remodeled in 1937, 1964, and the last being in 1976 when annex was added.

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.

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.

Below are links to other sites or articles that I have written:

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Photo of the Day

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