Some folks find treasure when remodeling.....

[Paul F Franklin]

I found this:

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As tempted as I was to just leave the 40+ year old mess, I needed to access the space to install the new range hood vent, so I cleaned it all out....

[Lisa Starr]

Well, some folks just don't have any pride in their work. Be glad it was just junk and not something amiss structurally. When we opened up the walls in our son's home, there were no headers! Not even undersize ones....

[Brian Elfert]

I found hidden construction debris when I remodeled my house. My philosophy is to throw the stuff away instead of hide it again. I've gone so far as to vacuum sawdust out of wall cavities although my father thinks it is a waste of time.

The stairway down to the basement in my house has one stranger that was installed too low at the top. The gap was close to an inch on some of the treads. I had to do a lot of work to close up the gap. Someone created a closet under the stairs and the drywall attached to the stringers has a huge bow in it due to the low stringer.

[Rob Luter]

Years ago I was helping my parents with an old house they had purchased and were renovating. When they tore the back porch off in preparation for a small addition they discovered a huge pile of refuse. Most of it was cans and bottles over 100 years old. The space was bone dry so everything was well preserved. The can labels were gorgeous. There was a Listerine bottle from the first couple years it was made. We gave most of the items to the local historical museum.

[Frank Pratt]

It's an unfortunate generalization, but drywallers have about the worst reputation among all the building trades & it's clowns like that who are the reason why.

[Jim Becker]

I'm in process of replacing the bottom step on our stairway to the upper level of our home...it was a hazardous design with no railings. Of course, when I opened it up, it was filled with wood trash. And that wasn't from a builder, It was from the previous owner who did a "masterful" (NOT!!) job creating what was there. I'm never surprised at what gets found inside walls and closed off spaces in houses, whether from original construction or from subsequent renovations. Why take out the trash when it can stay hidden in place? Sheesh...

[Tom M King]

Something as simple as sheetrock dust left in electrical boxes seems like poor housekeeping, to me. A clean jobsite impresses even people who know nothing of what they're looking at anyway, short of a finished house.

[Roger Feeley]

About 20 years ago, we remodeled a bathroom. There was a 1’ space because of the 5’ tub and 6’ room. My wife put some pictures and stuff into some pipe along with a letter that she hoped would lead the finder to our daughter.

then, we put tile over a concrete patio. This time she put something in a ziploc bag under one of the tiles.

[Mike Henderson]

Something as simple as sheetrock dust left in electrical boxes seems like poor housekeeping, to me. A clean jobsite impresses even people who know nothing of what they're looking at anyway, short of a finished house.

Yeah, a successful contractor friend of mine says that the secret to his success is:

1. Show up when you say you will.

2. Do what you said you'd do.

3. Clean up when you're finished.

Mike

[Stephen Rosenthal]

Years ago I was helping my parents with an old house they had purchased and were renovating. When they tore the back porch off in preparation for a small addition they discovered a huge pile of refuse. Most of it was cans and bottles over 100 years old. The space was bone dry so everything was well preserved. The can labels were gorgeous. There was a Listerine bottle from the first couple years it was made. We gave most of the items to the local historical museum.

Nice gesture but you should have checked eBay before giving them away. There’s a huge collectibles market for stuff like that. Those things go for hundreds, if not thousands of dollars.

[Tom Stenzel]

When I was in high school a friend's family was having a new house built. His dad paid us to go there each evening on our bicycles and sweep out all the dust so all the interior wall cavities were spotless. He checked our work too!

As opposed to the house that I grew up in. There was all kinds of trash in the walls, boards with concrete on them, just junk. A guy that grew up in a nearby neighborhood had an unforgettable way of describing the house he had:

"The only tools the gang that built my house used was a hammer and a bottle. And they worked both pretty hard!".

-Tom

[Bill Dufour]

I have heard of razor blade disposal slots inside a medicine cabinet. Put the old blade in the slot and it falls down into the stud bay. Gradually filling up the bay all the way. I think our 1950 house had one.
Bill D

[Bruce Page]

I have heard of razor blade disposal slots inside a medicine cabinet. Put the old blade in the slot and it falls down into the stud bay. Gradually filling up the bay all the way. I think our 1950 house had one.
Bill D

The house I grew up in had a blade slot in the medicine cabinet. It was built in 1950.

[Kev Williams]

What's amazing is how many old log cabins have been found "inside" houses, taverns and such, here's one--
https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/hidden-log-cabin-discovered-in-flower-mound_dallas-fort-worth/2004807/

[George Yetka]

Seams like a good space for built in or storage. I had heard about everyones paper for the day get rolled up and tossed behind the walls for insulation in the 100 years ago. I kind of dont mind construction debris behind the wall. Assuming nothing that can break down or cause problems. Wood scraps/sheetrock etc behind the walls beats filling landfills.

[Tom M King]

My best find was a little bottle, inside a 1798 stone foundation we had to take apart. I looked it up online, and it was for a pain medication. I guess they had bad backs back then too, handling hundred pound stones, and larger. Been so long ago, that I don't know where the picture is.

[Frank Pratt]

When I was a kid we moved into a house that had hundreds of empty Resdan bottles stashed in just about every closet & storage cabinet. More that anyone could possibly use in a lifetime. We wondered if it had alcohol in it back in the day.

[Bill Dufour]

They found another new room hidden in the Winchester house a few years ago. Just an organ and some chairs inside.
Bill D

https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2016/10/09/new-room-discovered-winchester-mystery-house/

[John K Jordan]

A friend of mine found cash in a paper bag hidden in a worthless old piano he was evaluating for a family. If I remember correctly it was $30,000. The family was happy.

JKJ

[George Yetka]

A friend of mine found cash in a paper bag hidden in a worthless old piano he was evaluating for a family. If I remember correctly it was $30,000. The family was happy.

JKJ

Were they looking for a high quote or a low one?:)

[John K Jordan]

Were they looking for a high quote or a low one?:)

This was a family living in poverty. They hoped to sell the piano to help with living expenses. The piano probably wasn't worth $100.
The husband/father had died several years earlier of black lung disease from working in the coal mines. He had evidently gotten the money due to his illness, hid it in the piano, and died before he told anyone.
I suspect they were stunned by the discovery!

JKJ

[Bill Dufour]

https://isarchitecture.com/seen-around-town-mid-century-blade-bank-slot/

[John K Jordan]

https://isarchitecture.com/seen-around-town-mid-century-blade-bank-slot/

I discovered a way to extend the life of my razor blades.

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[Jim Koepke]

I discovered a way to extend the life of my razor blades.

Back in the old days there were hand operated mechanical strops available to extend the life of the double edge blades.

jtk

[Bill Dufour]

There was a shelf sharpening razor called a Rolls razor. You took the blade out and put it in a holder then turned the crank to sharpen it on a stone. All inside a small case. Similar to a hand cranked tormek jig. My dad knew several who had them in Africa in WW2. I think they were British made?
Bill D.

http://www.tomonagura.com/the-rolls-razor/rolls-razor-restoration.html

[Jim Koepke]

Probably a lot of blood was spilt trying to extend a blade's life.

jtk

[Bill Dufour]

The old razors, before safety razors, were called cutthroat razors.
Bill D

[Dave Lehnert]

I have heard of razor blade disposal slots inside a medicine cabinet. Put the old blade in the slot and it falls down into the stud bay. Gradually filling up the bay all the way. I think our 1950 house had one.
Bill D


My 1950's house had one.

[Rich Engelhardt]

LOL!
My wife yells at me all the time when I stick debris inside areas that I close off.
I'll let her know she's in good company :D !

[Thomas McCurnin]

We found about a dozen original titles to cars behind a wall. All dated from the 1930s.

[Anuj Prateek]

We ran into a electrical gremlin on Friday during renovation work inside the house. Basically, one circuit lost power. We still don't know why it's not working. We discovered several hidden junction boxes, and too many electrical hackery to list. Electrician will come on Tuesday to figure it all out.

In meantime I removed a section of basement roof. In the mix of low voltage wires, hot/neutral singles are running as well.

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[Jim Becker]

Very scary, Anuj. Kinda the same feeling I had when I discovered the previous owner of our current home did wire nut splices inside walls and had outlet boxes just floating in holes in the wall. Those things were the first updates I had to do at this house a couple months ago.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Before buttoning up a wall, I once wrote in it, “Congratulations! You have found the secret message. The treasure is hidden in the…” …and then I just scribbled something totally illegible.

[Jim Koepke]

Before buttoning up a wall, I once wrote in it, “Congratulations! You have found the secret message. The treasure is hidden in the…” …and then I just scribbled something totally illegible.

That reminds me or a comedy bit on the Dick Van Dyke show years ago. The elevator stopped and they climbed out the top and saw something written on the wall of the shaft:

In nineteen hundred and thirty six
Thomas Handy laid these bricks (it was probably a different name)
I would like to wish you luck
because if you're reading this YOUR STUCK.

jtk

[Rob Luter]

Another common practice was to fill the porch areas with debris prior to pouring the top slabs. Here's a story on a guy that found his porch filled with Bowling Balls.

https://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/2021/07/michigan-man-surprised-to-unearth-brunswick-bowling-ball-graveyard-behind-home.html

[Roger Feeley]

We stay in close contact with my wife’s maid of honor. She has been clearing out her fathers house for a couple of years. The process started well before he died so he could help. There was was a set of shelves in the basement made from boards and those Hadith construction blocks. Her dad warned her to check the cavities in the blocks before selling the house because he though he had put some gold in there. It turned out that three of those cavities were filled with gold coins. She found a lot more gold and cash in little boxes and hiding spots all over the house. She told us that she was tempted to strip the place to the studs.

my wife and I have never been that lucky. Once, after moving into a house, the seller contacted us and wanted to come back and look for a gun in the attic.

[Paul F Franklin]

A lot of fun stories here! I once removed a cold air return grate and got excited to see what looked like a small container in the duct, just out of reach. I had to leave for work before I could find something to reach in and grab it, so all day at work I had fun imagining it contained jewelry or cash.

Of course it turned out to be the core from a used up roll of duct tape with just enough tape on it to make it look like a metal container.

[John K Jordan]

A lot of fun stories here! I once removed a cold air return grate and got excited to see what looked like a small container in the duct, just out of reach. I had to leave for work before I could find something to reach in and grab it, so all day at work I had fun imagining it contained jewelry or cash.

Of course it turned out to be the core from a used up roll of duct tape with just enough tape on it to make it look like a metal container.

When I was a little kid in PA my dad decided to tear down the plaster from a section of wall between the kitchen and family room, what might be the dining room in some families. The space the rooms was maybe 18" deep and he wanted to build in some bookshelves.

He uncovered another wall with a small rectangular wooden door. Hidden treasure? It turned out it had been a pass-through for food from the kitchen. The only treasure we found inside was a mouse skeleton. For several years afterwards I had a recurring dream where opening another small sliding door in the same room revealed a compartment with some toy, can't even remember what, that I had wanted for years but was too expensive!

Every time I build something I put my name and date inside the wall. I like Malcom's idea of the buried treasure note! I might use that, adding a nonsense map with X's for You are Here and Treasure. Our farm was part of a much larger property owned by a rich stone mason who died about 60 years ago (I use the barn and several buildings he built, probably 100 years old now) so who knows, there may very well be treasure buried but my metal detecting only found rusty tools and bolts. Then someone found a silver coin in their yard a short distance down the road and after lots of metal-detecting and digging uncovered a bunch of valuable old coins, mostly in the woods. Was there more treasure around?? Years later I heard the coins were likely from a stash stolen from an area coin collector, perhaps discarded in haste!

JKJ

[Brian Elfert]

Another common practice was to fill the porch areas with debris prior to pouring the top slabs. Here's a story on a guy that found his porch filled with Bowling Balls.

When my parent's house was built the builder just buried a lot of trash in the yard including partial sheets of plywood and the like. My parents bought the house from the first owner when the house was two or three years old. My parents had a sprinkler system installed and the sprinkler company had a bunch of issues burying the pipe because they kept hitting buried debris. They dug up a number of spots and that is when they found the partial sheets of building material.

[Jack Frederick]

Well, in my case this is all we found during the re-model. It is a 1948 issue. All i can say is that if you look at this, you can see why Hugh Hefner was such a success. With it there was also a single serving Trojan container. It is metal.

[Alex Zeller]

Reminds me about something from way back when. I was working for a glass company and we had a job putting in a glass wall at a company that built semi-conductor equipment. They were building a class 1000 clean room and wanted to be able for tours to see into the clean room without actually going through the process of being able to enter it. The contractor waited until the very last couple of days for us to do our work so the construction workers could assess the worksite with tools and stuff through the large opening. On our last day they fired up the air handler and immediately filled it full of trash.

Turns out the building was only tall enough for a 6" high raised floor. So the engineers designed the void in the walls to be a part of the air system. All of the contractors working there had been throwing trash into the walls and how it was getting sucked out. Things like normal trash plus stuff like food wrappers. Turns out the main contractor didn't tell anyone and assumed that people wouldn't be lazy and use a trash can. That contractor had to pay to have sections of the walls to be removed so they could be cleaned. The walls were made with a honeycomb aluminum panel that had been glued/ sealed in place to prevent air leaks.

[Jack Frederick]

Well, in my case this is all we found during the re-model. It is a 1948 issue. All i can say is that if you look at this, you can see why Hugh Hefner was such a success. With it there was also a single serving Trojan container. It is metal.

[Paul F Franklin]

When my parent's house was built the builder just buried a lot of trash in the yard including partial sheets of plywood and the like. My parents bought the house from the first owner when the house was two or three years old. My parents had a sprinkler system installed and the sprinkler company had a bunch of issues burying the pipe because they kept hitting buried debris. They dug up a number of spots and that is when they found the partial sheets of building material.

In a previous house, we had a lamppost (electric) at the end of the long driveway. It quit one day, and testing revealed there was an open somewhere between the house and the post. I decided it would be best to rent a ditchwitch and run a new line. Imagine my surprise when the big trencher started pulling out huge chunks of concrete and hurling them aside, bucking and rearing with every chunk. Evidently that whole section of yard was backfilled with the cheapest fill available: busted up concrete with about 2 inches of soil on top. No wonder the old UF feeder eventually failed since it ran through that minefield.

[Tim Elett]

I rented a house in Michigan and discovered the outer walls had been stuffed with newspaper for insulation then plastered over .

[Bruce Page]

I rented a house in Michigan and discovered the outer walls had been stuffed with newspaper for insulation then plastered over .

That sounds like the government built "Quad" I rented in Los Alamos, NM.

[Bill Dufour]

I heard that people would get washed up seaweed at the beach and dry it then use it for wall insulation.
Bill D

[Steve Rozmiarek]

We have an old army base nearby, it's been taken over by the state game and parks and turned into a tourist location. The old quartermasters building is now a theatre, they put on shows all summer and have good funding. Some years ago, they changed the stage around, and the contractors doing it found a couple crates of new US Cavalry trapdoor Springfields under the floor. Speculation is that some old quartermaster was hoarding them for resale.

We were pretty excited to do some work on the stage a several years later, but they apparently found all the rifles.

I like to joke around with the customers about finding gold bars in the walls. In this area it is a real possibility.

[Bill Dufour]

The Army base in Monterey California is being turned over to civilian use. They had a large hill that they fired artillery into. It is maybe one mile across. They found several different cases of unfired ammunition hidden in the bushes. Story is a unit would be issued ammunition and told to go fire it all off and then their day was over.
They have also found buried stuff like grenades, rockets, mines etc.
Metal detecting is outlawed on the property.
Bill D

https://www.montereycountyweekly.com/news/cover/fourteen-years-and-100-million-later-fort-ord-is-riddled-with-dangerous-munitions/article_b8be263b-cf54-5ff2-9249-ff9655ef662d.html

[Steve Rozmiarek]

The Army base in Monterey California is being turned over to civilian use. They had a large hill that they fired artillery into. It is maybe one mile across. They found several different cases of unfired ammunition hidden in the bushes. Story is a unit would be issued ammunition and told to go fire it all off and then their day was over.
They have also found buried stuff like grenades, rockets, mines etc.
Metal detecting is outlawed on the property.
Bill D

https://www.montereycountyweekly.com/news/cover/fourteen-years-and-100-million-later-fort-ord-is-riddled-with-dangerous-munitions/article_b8be263b-cf54-5ff2-9249-ff9655ef662d.html

Finding old stuff is fun usually, not in that case!!

[Perry Hilbert Jr]

My sister and husband rented a house in northern PA that had knee walls in the attic and a semi finished room. Behind the knee walls were 15 years worth of old magazines and catalogs from the 1905 to 1920 era. I found those to be quite interesting and a neat window into life back then. When we bought an 1860's farmhouse. I pulled up the attic floor to install insulation. lots of very very large ladies bloomers' and underpants stuffed in there along with some kids school stuff and a report card from about 1935.

[Bill Dufour]

In San Francisco they turned Hunters Point Navy shipyard into housing and a ballpark. They supposedly cleaned up 150 years worth of bad stuff. They found radioactive deck markers in newly built basements.
Bill D

[Clint Baxter]

What’s funny is that I’ve never found this on any of the many remodeling and demolition jobs I’ve done over the years. Having said that, I just tore out an unwanted wall this week that had the spaces between the wall studs packed full of scrap drywall. They even threw in the cutouts removed from the electrical boxes. Less than happy that I got to haul out and dispose of their drywall refuse along with my project’s debris. (Seeing as I didn’t have a convenient new wall to store it all in. Lol)

Clint

[Bill Dufour]

Clint that was not debris it was a feature. It is mass loading the wall to reduce noise transmission and increase thermal storage/lag.
Bill D.:D

[Jim Mackell]

The Army base in Monterey California is being turned over to civilian use. They had a large hill that they fired artillery into. It is maybe one mile across. They found several different cases of unfired ammunition hidden in the bushes. Story is a unit would be issued ammunition and told to go fire it all off and then their day was over.
They have also found buried stuff like grenades, rockets, mines etc.
Metal detecting is outlawed on the property.
Bill D

https://www.montereycountyweekly.com/news/cover/fourteen-years-and-100-million-later-fort-ord-is-riddled-with-dangerous-munitions/article_b8be263b-cf54-5ff2-9249-ff9655ef662d.html

My son went to the language school there in the late 90's. When we visited him we took a drive around the base. The enormous tank sheds, the hundreds of barracks buildings, the deserted onbase housing - it was like the aliens had come to town and removed all of the humans. Nice to hear the property is finally being reused.