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Photo of the Day

Have you ever walked into a room and almost immediately felt that something was wrong? I came across that the other day while inspecting an older property in another county. Normally, the average person can detect a slope in the floor as little as an inch in 20 feet. A good property inspector must be able to sense this type of slope in a floor.

Since I did not have a golf ball, I found an old fluorescent tube to place on the floor. The slide show below shows the movement. The tube stared on its own, I did not have to push it.

When I entered the crawlspace, the reason for the sloping floors was fully revealed. In some counties that surround Nashville metro, the building code is - Well to put it in "Good 'ol boy vernacular, "There ain't one". So, out in the boonies is not uncommon to see high quality 6 pack construction such as this.

This posting and the contents written here are the intellectual property of Michael Thornton an ASHI Certified inspector with Complete Home Inspections, Inc. providing home inspections for Nashville and Davidson county. We also provide home inspections for Brentwood and Williamson County. The views and opinions expressed are just that - views and opinions of Michael Thornton and those who comment. This post is part of the ActiveRain Real Estate Network, which is a social network highlighting the best of Web 2.0. Information and is provided with the intent of educating and assisting home owners, home sellers, home buyers and real estate investors with information they can use to make better real estate decisions.

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Photo of the Day

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Posted by Michael Thornton - Nashville, TN area Home Inspector on 03/06/2008 05:22 AM

Comments (16)

photo of the day

16 Comments on Photo of the Day

Very nice - That is the type of house I want to buy. I would say "Good catch" but this one looked pretty obvious. Thanks for the photos

03/06/2008 05:32 AM

by Vincent McKamy Realtor Fredericksburg Virginia (Coldwell Banker Elite)

Good 'ol boy vernacular, "There ain't one"...love your definition of code.

Thanks for the light bulb tip.

Look forward to more of your observations. I go on all my home inspections and always learn something!!

03/06/2008 05:32 AM

by Margaret Rome- Baltimore, Md.-HomeRome.com (TREC-Sell Your Home With Margaret Rome)

We used to talk about dropping a marble and chasing it to the wall and in some homes the marble won. Thanks for the post.

03/06/2008 05:37 AM

by Terry Westbrook ~ Realtor(R) Grand Rapids Mi Ada/Cascade Real Estate (Five Star Real Estate, LLC Grand Rapids , MI)

Those are great. I like the golf ball trick. I learned that from one of our inspectors here. I keep a rubber super ball in my car at all times now.

03/06/2008 05:39 AM

by Gary McAdams (GMAC Schwartz Property Sales)

That's what I'd call "illuminating" the problem - actually anything that will roll can be used such as a smooth pebble, ball, penny on end.

03/06/2008 05:52 AM

That's what I'd call "illuminating" the problem - actually anything that will roll can be used such as a smooth pebble, ball, penny on end. (Posted this before but apparently got logged out, sorry.)

03/06/2008 05:59 AM

by Steve Hoffacker - Real Estate Sales & Marketing Consulting and Strategies (Hoffacker Associates)

If I didn't know better based on some of these pictures I would swear this is a listing I just withdrew from. However a couple of pictures gave it away, mine was much worse. Thanks for sharing !

03/06/2008 06:01 AM

by Crossville TN Real Estate, Melissa Grant Cumberland County TN Homes For Sale (Choice Real Estate)

Wehn we bought our mountain home my wife would always do this with a tube of chapstick. We walked out of many

03/06/2008 06:32 AM

by Charlie Ragonesi Big Canoe homes, Jasper ,Ball Ground,Benttree,Dahlonega (All Mountain Realty)

Great post, I use the golf ball method. some buyers won't buy a home with sloped floors, but further investigation (such as you show) may allow for a proper repair to remedy the issue.

03/06/2008 06:34 AM

by Jeff Lund-Income Property Specialist-Five Star Real Estate

That light bulb idea is a pretty neat thing. In my "neck of the woods" the word "ain't is still a word--lol

03/06/2008 06:37 AM

by Debra Gambill Realtor, N.C. / S.C (Weichert Realtor's Southern Coast)

I usually keep a golf ball in my car just for that purpose. It really gives the buyers something to talk about without crawling under the house.

03/06/2008 07:14 AM

by Nashville real estate - Larry Brewer (Keller Williams - Franklin tn)

hhhhmmm, Don't look toooo bad to me. They just need to ad a few more pieces of wood and the floor will be closer to level.

Sean Allen

03/06/2008 11:07 AM

by International Financing Solutions

I have a client who is leagally blind and we walking into a room and he could tell the floor sloped... I could not. very interesting...

Your Friend in Charlottesville Virginia!

03/06/2008 01:21 PM

by Charles McDonald / Your Trusted Broker for Charlottesville Real Estate (RE/MAX Assured Properties)

Michael, I keep a golf ball in the glove compartment - they are accustomed to rollin on their own, Karen

03/06/2008 01:28 PM

by Karen Kruschka - Fairfax Prince William Stafford County VA Real Estate Service (RE/MAX Allegiance)

Great post Michael----that would be "Boonie Code"----as in out in the boonies:)

03/06/2008 01:56 PM

by Charles Buell, Seattle, WA, Home Inspector (Charles Buell Inspections.com)

Michael - Another interesting post - thanks for sharing this with us on AR!

03/07/2008 04:30 AM

by Joseph Ellman (Realty Executives- Williams-Sykes Realty)

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