Michael's View

Monday Morning Motivator...

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 04:12:59 -0600

Monday Morning Motivator...

I believed and I still believe that every moment is there to be savored and to be improved upon and invested with humor and with beauty and solemnity. We don't ever get to skip a single part and sort of fast forward to the life still to come.

~ Garrison Keillor

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Don't Miss David Lipscomb Universities' 4th Annual Lighting of the Green...

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 06:10:13 -0600

Coming Tuesday, December 2, 2008...

Lipscomp University proudly presents it's 4th Annual...

Lighting of the Green...

Hosted by Amy Grant

Featuring:

The Fisk Jubilee Singers
Ruth McGinnis
American Idol fiinalsist - Phil Stacey
Trey Hensley
The Nashville Pipes and Drums
The Lipscomb choruses
and Santa and Mrs. Clause...

Festivites start at 5:30 and go on till 7:00 PM. Event will be held at the Allen Bell Tower on the DLU Campus.
Bring your lawn chairs, blankets, family and friends for this exciting event... In the event of inclement weather, the event will be held in the Allen Arena.

Downtown Franklin, TN - Pretty as a Picture...

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 09:40:19 -0600

The city of Franklin, TN was founded in 1799 and was named after Benjamin Franklin. Long the county seat of Williamson County TN, Franklin, TN is richly steeped in history and tradition. What I like about this town is that, today, it is a unique blend of the old and the new. The old downtown section, is much like it was at the turn of the century. One can walk down the sidewalks and browse in the stores along Main Street and feel like you have stepped back in time. I especially like this time of the year when the city gets all decked out for the Christmas Holiday Season. I got out early this morning as dawn was breaking and took some pix of the downtown section...

Hope that you enjoy...

Michael Thornton - Complete Home Inspections, Inc. Brentwood, TN

Sometimes It's the Little Things That Makes a Big Difference...

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 14:12:32 -0600

I find that while doing inspections of rehabbed units, it is often the little things that often get overlooked by the person doing the work and sometimes the home inspector. A client once told me a story about how there was an issue with a kitchen sink that could have been caught, had the inspector taken a few moments to fill the sink. This oversight cost the client several hundred dollars.

It has long been the practice of this company to take a few moments to fill the basins on the sink. Not only does this test for leaks, but it tests the condition of the baskets and raises any potential drainage issues.

One of the best ways I have found to test the functionality of sinks is to fill them with water, leave one side plugged, and let the water out of the other basin. If the plumbing is correct, the other side should drain quickly and properly - no gurgling or bubbling.

Because the right side bowl was draining slowly, a look under the sink revealed that the home owner or handyman forgot to install an air admittance valve. The purpose is to allow air into the drain system so that the water can properly evacuate the sink. This is a straight forward repair which should be easily corrected by a real plumber...

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Michael

Photo of the Day - Bubba's Dilemma...

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 03:47:36 -0600

Well, AS we all know, water flows downhill, or at least according to the laws of physics it should. However, there is but one prob... The ductwork lies between the kitchen sink and the main sewer line. No prob for OUR hero Bubba! Armed with nothing but a sawzall, two rolls of duct tape and a burning desire to succeed, (not to mention the problem solving skills of an Einstein); our fearless hero tackles what no mere mortal would even begin to conjure up in his wildest of dreams... Yeah Buddy!!!

Seein' is Believin'!!!

Mighty fancy tape job here!!!

As Ol' Bubba would say, "There is more than one way to skin a cat or work around ductwork..."

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Michael

Monday Morning Motivator...

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 08:32:40 -0600

Monday Morning Motivator

Good Morning Active|Rain...

What better way to kick start your week and get off on the right foot than with, a good cup of coffee, Active Rain, and something positive...

"When you're down, people can pull you up but you still have to stand on your own two feet."

~ Unknown~

This motivational moment has been brought to you as a courtesy of

Complete Home Inspections, Inc. | Brentwood, TN 37027

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Monday Morning Motivator is a product of Michael Thornton and Complete Home Inspections, Inc Brentwood, TN

Don't Let Your Participle Dangle...

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 06:08:36 -0600

Dangling participles are often funny. A good example of this is "Squished flat by Bubba's pick-up truck, Fluffy sniffed at what was left of the chicken finger." Well, lets hope that it was not Fluffy that was squished flat by Bubba's truck. Anyway, this is a good example of a dangling participle.

But how about dangling lights? Many unhandy homeowners are often looking for a quick fix to dark basements and attics never thinking of the potential electrical hazards that exist by leaving the light fixture in this condition. Now how long would it have taken the installer to make this right during the installation process? Another 2 minutes to bond the ground wire and install 2 screws? Makes ya wonder what they were thinking...

Don't make the mistake that many new home owners do. All houses, new or old, need a complete home inspection by licensed professionals. Trust the inspection of your most valuable asset to the best inspectors in the Brentwood, Franklin or Nashville, TN area, the home inspectors for Complete Home Inspections, Inc.

We are large enough to give excellent service...

Small enough to care.

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Michael

Being Consistent...

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 04:25:06 -0600

According to Merriam Webster's, Consistent is defined as follows:

2 a: marked by harmony, regularity, or steady continuity : free from variation or contradiction b: marked by agreement : compatible —usually used with with<statements not consistent with the truth>

Now, I am sure that the plumber who installed these water heaters wanted them to be in perfect harmony and free from variation or contradiction with each other. And, most he likely wanted them to be in agreement be totally compatible with each other, so if you are going to consistent, why not be consistently wrong?

For those of you who are not home inspectors, both water heaters are missing the TPR extensions that are required for all new water heater installations. And, just to be even more consistent, the codes official missed these in his final inspection.

All houses, new or old, need a complete home inspection by licensed professionals. Trust the inspection of your most valuable asset to the best inspectors in the Nashville, TN area, the home inspectors for Complete Home Inspections, Inc.

We are large enough to give excellent service...

Small enough to care.

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Michael

Possible Cracked Heat Exchanger - Flame Roll Out Video

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 13:02:43 -0600

Not too many real estate professionals get an opportunity to see some of the things that goes on in the home inspection world. I wanted to share an experience of what a home inspectors look for while testing a typical forced air furnace. As the video shows, flame is rolling out of one of the burner cavities which is an indication of a potential cracked heat exchanger.

Video Copyright - Michael Thornton, Complete Home Inspections, Inc, Brentwood, TN 37027

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Michael

Wordless Wednesday - It's Raining Leaves at Radnor Lake Wildlife Area...

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 04:05:37 -0600

Video Copyright - Michael Thornton, Complete Home Inspections, Inc, Brentwood, TN 37027

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Michael

One Year Old Today...

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 09:23:02 -0600

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Michael

Photo of the Day...

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 04:41:20 -0600

Taking a line from fellow Active Rainer, Charles Buell, in one of his more recent posts "Whats wrong with this picture?" type contests, I kinda had to wonder what my ol' buddy Bubba musta been thinking while doing one of his unfamous unhandyman 'fix-em-ups' on this property in a rather high end neighborhood here in the Nashville, TN area.

I know that it has been some time since I have picked on the bumbling bumpkin's wonderful wizardry with the roll of duct tape. But Dude... Is this any way to secure a hose bibb to the side of a house?

Gee! What is your take...

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Michael

Monday Morning Motivator...

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 04:59:50 -0600

Monday Morning Motivator

Good Morning Active|Rain...

What better way to kick-start and get your week off on the right foot than with, a good cup of coffee, Active Rain, and a good motivational quote...

"Disciplining yourself to do what you know is right and important, although difficult, is the high road to pride, self esteem, and personal satisfaction."

~ Brian Tracy ~

"Peace is not God's gift to His creatures. It is our gift to each other."

~ Elie Wiesel ~

This motivational moment has been brought to you as a courtesy of

Complete Home Inspections, Inc. | Brentwood, TN 37027

Join my birthday alarm. It is fast painless and the best part of all, you will be helping me out.

Join Blogs Happen...

Monday Morning Motivator is a product of Michael Thornton and Complete Home Inspections, Inc Brentwood, TN

Good Morning AR!!! - Coffee's On...

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 06:40:37 -0600

Good morning all you sleepy heads! Yes, I know it is Sunday morning and all you party animals are just rolling out of bed. Since I have been up since the wee hours of the morning, I thought that I'd be nice and put the coffee on for you...

What is better than a cup of jo and Active Rain on a Sunday morning...

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Michael

Some Houses Just Like to Vent...

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 05:43:55 -0600

I love to inspect the older more experienced houses in the east Nashville TN area. I really enjoy the architecture and the craftsmanship that I see in many of these older properties. Although they do have their issues, there was a lot of pride that went into the construction as this was to be someone's home and the builders reputation was often on the line. For the most part, these houses were built to last.

Fast forward to today. No comparison. Often rehabbers purchase an older property, make some "improvements", put in a lot of eye candy like granite counter tops and new bathroom fixtures to make the property look aesthetically pleasing. However; far too often, simple, common sense items like proper bathroom venting gets overlooked.

Here the workman took a Sawzall to cut an opening in the attic flooring to accommodate the fan. I especially love how they even notched out for the wiring connections. Be it far for me to be picky, but this may work until the new home owner decided to take an errant step through the fan or put a box over it.

I guess that we'll have to chalk this one up to brains being left in the back of the pick-em-up twuck along with the 6 pack...

Trust the inspection of your most valuable asset to the best inspectors in the Nashville, TN area, the home inspectors for Complete Home Inspections, Inc.

We are large enough to give excellent service...

Small enough to care.

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Michael

iMovie - One of the Best Video Editors...

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 19:47:54 -0600

For the past few days, I have been working on a video project to load into my splash page for my web site. Although shooting the video posed some challenges, finding a video editor that would do a good job of creating the video was even more challenging. I had poor results working with several of the video editors like Microsoft Movie Maker, Quick Time, MuVee and others under the Windows OS platform. Even Quick Time under the Mac platform was poor.

My first attempt at iMovie but was not very successful. But after talking with the people at the local Apple, store, they showed me the error of my ways and made some corrections on how I imported the clips. After playing around with it for a few minutes, editing a movie was easier than falling off a log. To make a short story long, iMovie turned out to be a movie editor that was extremely user friendly. After copying multiple clips, the editor has a down and dirty movie title and credits screen built in. Compiling the production was a breeze and there is even a utility to upload your production to You Tube! Now how cool is that?

So if you are working on a low budget like I am and are looking a very user friendly program to do your film editing iMovie is as easy as they come. I will be trying some other PC based programs and give a report some time in the future. If you have had success with PC based video editors let me know so I can evaluate them for a technology class that Larry Brewer of Keller Williams in Franklin, TN is putting on.

Below is the finished video...Kinda low budget but for my first attempt at this type of project, cut me a little slack! The next one will knock your socks off...

So what do you think...

Large enough to give excellent service...

Yet small enough to care.

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Cosmetic Damage or Item of Function?

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 06:11:56 -0600

While inspecting a condo in the Vanderbilt area of Nashville, TN yesterday, I wrote up in the report for the current owner to secure the loose paper holders in the bathrooms. The listing agent called me later to complain that I was being too picky and the damage to the paper holder was cosmetic!

Picky?? Hold the phone! Now there are items of functionality and cosmetic, normal wear and tear on any existing property and the inspectors that work for this company strive to discern the difference. "Normal" cracks, peeling wall paper and dirty carpets are considered "cosmetic" and normal wear and tear.

Damaged towel racks and paper holders although normal wear and tear are also items of function and should be repaired if not in functional condition. And, we all know that the job is not done until the paper work is finished. Do you want to be chasing your paperwork across the floor with your pants down? I don't...

After my explanation, the agent reluctantly saw my point and will have the holders repaired.

Large enough to give excellent service...

Yet small enough to care.

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Last Hurrahs of Autumn...

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 06:41:14 -0600

As the last warm days of Indian Summer wane, so do the flowers and abundant butterflies that frequent the blossoms in my garden. Because we have been enjoying warmer than normal temperatures in the Middle Tennessee area, there are still photo opportunities to enjoy as the last hurrahs of autumn flutter away...

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Michael

Monday Morning Motivator...

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 05:27:48 -0600

Monday Morning Motivator

Good Morning Active|Rain...

"Life moves on, whether we act as cowards or heroes. Life has no other discipline to impose, if we would but realize it, than to accept life unquestioningly. Everything we shut our eyes to, everything we run away from, everything we deny, denigrate or despise, serves to defeat us in the end. What seems nasty, painful, evil, can become a source of beauty, joy, and strength, if faced with an open mind. Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognize it as such."

~ Henry Miller ~

This motivational moment has been brought to you as a courtesy of

Complete Home Inspections, Inc. | Brentwood, TN 37027

Join my birthday alarm. It is fast painless and the best part of all, you will be helping me out.

Join Blogs Happen...

Monday Morning Motivator is a product of Michael Thornton and Complete Home Inspections, Inc Brentwood, TN

Attic Ladder Safety Tips...

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 08:29:40 -0600

While inspecting a property in Brentwood, TN earlier this week, the homeowner was nice enough to leave the attic ladder down for me to use so I could get into the attic so it can be inspected. I could not resist the temptation to capture this and create my first online video...

What do you think?

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Michael

Attic Ladder Safety Tips...

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 08:29:39 -0600

What do you think?

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Michael

Peak Fall Colors At Radnor Lake...

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 05:05:23 -0600

The walking paths at Radnor Lake State Park and Naturalist Area should be teeming with visitors this weekend as sunny skies and mild temperatures should provide ideal weather conditions to get out and enjoy the peak fall colors at the park. Yesterday's early morning rain provided an excellent opportunity to get out and enjoy the park as the parking lots and walking paths were void of visitors. Here are a few photos that I wanted to share...

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Michael

Otters in Radnor Lake...

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 06:02:41 -0600

One of this areas well kept secrets is Radnor Lake wild life refuge, the States first "natural area" located in the southern end of Davidson county off Otter Creek Road. With its 1200+ acres and miles of walking trails with various ranges of difficulty, it is great spot to walk and take in nature. There are parking lots located off the entrance on Granny White Pike and another off Franklin Road. Due to heavy pedestrian traffic and the poor condition of the road, no car traffic is allowed between the parking lots except for the park rangers.

For years, I have been walking the trails at Radnor Lake, taking in the wild life, but this is the first time that I have seen the otters. I took several shots, here a a few that I thought I'd share with you...

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Michael

Common Construction Defects...

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 04:53:38 -0600

While one of the inspectors for Complete Home Inspections, Inc was doing an 11 month Builders Warranty inspection for a client in Brentwood, TN, he noticed that the front steps were beginning to settle and cause cracks to form in the brick veneer surface. It is not unusual to see minor cracks to develop in brick surfaces, however; the cracks had been repaired one and have started opening up again. This is an indication of a reoccurring problem which needs to be addressed.

Another issue is that the brick that secures the handrail is damaged and will need to be repaired. the other issue with these steps is the large gap under the handrail.

Don't make the mistake that many new home owners do. If you do not get an inspection at the time you buy a new construction property, do an 11 month builder's warranty inspection. Have an independent set of eyes verify that all the construction issues have been properly addressed prior to the expiration of the builders warrant period. Had these owners not done so, they would have had to bear the financial burden of this repair. Trust the inspection of your most valuable asset to the best inspectors in the Middle Tennessee area - the home inspectors for Complete Home Inspections, Inc.

Large enough to give excellent service...

Yet small enough to care.

Join my birthday alarm. It is fast painless and the best part of all, you will be helping me out.

Finding Solstice...

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 13:30:59 -0600

A nice quite park with an inviting park bench by a cool pond on a beautiful autumn day is the perfect spot to contemplate as we move forward on our new journey...

Join my birthday alarm. It is fast painless and the best part of all, you will be helping me out.

Photograph taken in Deerwood Arboretum, Brentwood, TN

Michael's View

Monday Morning Motivator...

Don't Miss David Lipscomb Universities' 4th Annual Lighting of the Green...

Coming Tuesday, December 2, 2008...

Lipscomp University proudly presents it's 4th Annual...

Hosted by Amy Grant

Featuring:

The Fisk Jubilee Singers

Ruth McGinnis

American Idol fiinalsist - Phil Stacey

Trey Hensley

The Nashville Pipes and Drums

The Lipscomb choruses

and Santa and Mrs. Clause...

Downtown Franklin, TN - Pretty as a Picture...

Sometimes It's the Little Things That Makes a Big Difference...

Photo of the Day - Bubba's Dilemma...

Monday Morning Motivator...

Don't Let Your Participle Dangle...

Being Consistent...

Possible Cracked Heat Exchanger - Flame Roll Out Video

Wordless Wednesday - It's Raining Leaves at Radnor Lake Wildlife Area...

One Year Old Today...

Photo of the Day...

Monday Morning Motivator...

Good Morning AR!!! - Coffee's On...

Some Houses Just Like to Vent...

iMovie - One of the Best Video Editors...

Cosmetic Damage or Item of Function?

Last Hurrahs of Autumn...

Monday Morning Motivator...

Attic Ladder Safety Tips...

Attic Ladder Safety Tips...

Peak Fall Colors At Radnor Lake...

Otters in Radnor Lake...

Common Construction Defects...

Finding Solstice...