Thanks to you all for your thoughtful replies....I do live in Simpsonville, South Carolina, up towards the mountains, just outside Greenville. The weather runs fairly hot in the Summer, humidity fluctuates. I don't have any photo's as the contractor closed up anything he might have opened to expose the condition.

We used AmeriSpec Home Inspection, Inc., which is how we got the American Home Shield warranty. In the Summary Report, this quote may help clarify our ability (or lack of same) to successfully collect on the warranty, "Observations relate only to the conditions apparent on the day of inspection. This is only a 'general inspection' (their quotes) and therefore is not technically exhaustive, and will not reveal all defects or conditions." I guess I should have been a lawyer! You gotta love gray areas!!

We knew from walking around the house before purchasing that the systems appeared to be original. That's specifically why we insisted on the home warranty. Unfortunately, we didn't ask when last the system had been cleaned - our mistake!!!!! It appeared to be working properly and did so for the first eight months we've been in the house.

I wanted to say thanks to all of you who responded. From what I've read here, there does appear to be differing standards, and points of view on the issue. I can relate....as my tax professor once said, "The answer to any yes or no question posed to the IRS is always "Quite clearly, it depends!"