In the Nashville real estate market, there are several older properties that need to be inspected 
as part of the real estate transaction. As with older properties, there are common electrical issues that that need to be detected and revealed by a competent home inspector.
One of the things that a good home inspector will do is open the electrical panels and trace down the circuits. One of the things that your inspector should do is to trace back circuits that are spliced together (red wire nuts) back to the circuit interrupter in order to detect any wiring irregularities.
In the case with this panel, the splices traced back to 2 20 amp breakers that may be okay or this may be an indication that this is a 220 volt circuit that is missing handle ties on the breakers. A 
good home inspector has to make this determination As in the case of this circuit, it turned out to be a 220 volt circuit that was missing a handle tie on the breaker. The purpose of the handle tie is to disconnect both circuits in the event of an overload on one leg of the circuit. This is a minor repair that can be easily addressed by any licensed professional.
To read more about common problems found with older properties in the Nashville real estate market, click on this hyperlink which will take you to other posts about the Nashville real estate market.
© 2009 michael thornton | complete home inspections, inc. | brentwood, tn | 615.661.0297 | www.completehomeinspectionsonline.com
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Michael - I would feel better if handy andy would keep his untrained hands of the electrical circuits. It's ok to have flooring put down wrong, or a bad paint job, but electricilty kills.