Mold Inspection in Old Hickory, TN

Local conditions on Hadley Bend

Old Hickory began as a DuPont company town, and its historic district still holds rows of worker bungalows and larger management houses, many on the National Register of Historic Places. About half of homes in the Old Hickory (North Hermitage) area were built before 1980, and most are detached houses. Water surrounds the place: the Cumberland River on the north and west, Old Hickory Lake on the east, and the lock and dam just to the north. During the May 2010 flood, the National Weather Service documented high water at Old Hickory Dam, the lake and a bridge over Langford Cove. Metro Water Services shows FEMA flood zones through its Parcel Viewer.

Historic bungalow vs newer house

Signs to watch

• A musty odor in closets on exterior walls.
• Cracking or bubbling plaster near windows.
• Soft spots in floors over the crawl space.
• Mildew on stored items in a lower room or shed.
• Stains under bathroom fixtures on the floor below.
• Rusty or sweating ductwork visible through floor registers.

In a house that has been through decades of updates, the trouble spot is often where old and new meet: an added bathroom over original framing, a closed-in porch, or ductwork squeezed into a crawl space that was never meant to hold it.

Timing and seasonal notes

Summer humidity off the lake and river is when crawl spaces and ducts sweat the most, so a midsummer inspection gives a realistic picture of a house's worst conditions. After a leak, get things dried within EPA's 24 to 48 hour window and stop the source before the visit. If repairs reach load-bearing framing or replaced supporting walls, Metro Codes handles the building permit. For a house in the historic district, ask whether stained plaster or original trim can be cleaned and dried instead of replaced.