Things you find in old houses

[ktzmoh]

A while back MrsJ posted about discovering cool things about her older home.

Well.... we are having our ductwork replaced today (asbestos abatement in preparation for a new furnace) so my husband cleaned out a bunch of garbage that the people before us had just left in the main stack (it's open from the attic and I guess a bunch of stuff fell in there).

I was hoping for some gold bricks or maybe a stash of jewels - I'd settle for some super cool vintage fixtures that were previously discarded. Alas, all we found was some nasty ass old school pornography and a freaking paddle with the former owner's name and 'Sargent at arms' carved into it! So gross and so disturbing. I kind of want to put it all into a nice gift bag and return it to her!

[thewop]

Dec 16, 2013 15:00:31 GMT -5 ktzmoh said:

A while back MrsJ posted about discovering cool things about her older home.

Well.... we are having our ductwork replaced today (asbestos abatement in preparation for a new furnace) so my husband cleaned out a bunch of garbage that the people before us had just left in the main stack (it's open from the attic and I guess a bunch of stuff fell in there).

I was hoping for some gold bricks or maybe a stash of jewels - I'd settle for some super cool vintage fixtures that were previously discarded. Alas, all we found was some nasty ass old school pornography and a freaking paddle with the former owner's name and 'Sargent at arms' carved into it! So gross and so disturbing. I kind of want to put it all into a nice gift bag and return it to her!

I would die. 

[whitepicketfence]

That's priceless. OMG! Haha.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using proboards

[downtoearth]

My dad had an offer on a turn-of-the-century house on our block and during inspection he found $20k worth of vintage silver dollars in a bag in the attic - he took it home and estimated the worth from e-bay/calls to a local coin shop. He handed it directly over to the lawyer for the estate. Long story short, the lawyer for the estate that was selling the house declined his offer after my dad's inspection request and was super shady. When my dad e-mailed the estate/board that was selling the house and thanked them for considering his offer, he mentioned that surprise bag of silver dollars and they hadn't heard of them! Low and behold, the lawyer was fired, but my dad doesn't really know what happened to all those silver dollars for sure.

[emoflamingo]

All we've found in our houses was a picture of the former owners of house #1 that was.. a little scandalous. It was a pro photo so nothing pornographic, but it was still topless.

ETA: I forgot. We found two extra stainless steel sinks in the attic at the last house. I'm not sure what that was. I also found a mason jar full of an unidentifiable liquid so we weren't sure what to do with it.

[littlemisssunshine]

Oh my goodness! People own the weirdest things.

When we moved into our home we found about 2 pounds of weed in our attic. We had no idea what to do with it (besides the obvious, but we don't do drugs) so my husband got up in the middle of night on trash day and divided up the weed in 5 different neighbor's trash cans. I still can't believe that was his solution, but hey, at least it was out of our house!

[thewop]

Dec 16, 2013 15:57:26 GMT -5 littlemisssunshine said:

Oh my goodness! People own the weirdest things.

When we moved into our home we found about 2 pounds of weed in our attic. We had no idea what to do with it (besides the obvious, but we don't do drugs) so my husband got up in the middle of night on trash day and divided up the weed in 5 different neighbor's trash cans. I still can't believe that was his solution, but hey, at least it was out of our house!

This is fantastic. 

[mrs.jacinthe]

OMG! I don't think I'd know what to do if I found something lewd that clearly belonged to the former owner. LOLOLOL

[emoflamingo]

Dec 16, 2013 15:57:26 GMT -5 littlemisssunshine said:

Oh my goodness! People own the weirdest things.

When we moved into our home we found about 2 pounds of weed in our attic. We had no idea what to do with it (besides the obvious, but we don't do drugs) so my husband got up in the middle of night on trash day and divided up the weed in 5 different neighbor's trash cans. I still can't believe that was his solution, but hey, at least it was out of our house!

I had to stifle laughter because my boss can see me from where I sit. That. Is. Hilarious.

[lb2006]

we found peanut butter baking chips from 1981, does that count?

[BeagleMama]

I'd love to find something but nothing good yet...

[peachdragon]

We bought our house from a former Red Wings head coach. They left a team signed hockey stick in the garage. It was obviously just left there.

[TrickyBob]

Lurker here but we also found weed in our drop ceilings. Two big baggies full but so old that it turned to weed powder when touched. We tossed it in the burn barrel and burned it along with cardboard and trash.

[magdala]

When we were renovating the old house, we found two porcelain lamps in a crawl space. We had owned the house for six years by then. That space had not been touched for decades and that house had changed hands a bunch. The shades had disintegrated but the lamps were still in decent shape. NMS so we sold them for a nice price on Craig's list.

[TrickyBob]

Dec 16, 2013 18:30:58 GMT -5 nursecramer said:

TrickyBob do you live out in the middle of nowhere? I'd worry that the neighbors would smell it!

Kind of along the lines of Mrs.J, we found a laundry chute when we tore out ceiling in our basement. When we first moved in, I had lifted the lid (built into a weird shelf in the bathroom closet) and thought it was just access to the duct work. I am still so excited that we found it.

We also found a dead bird in the basement, and cat poop in the ceiling. FUN!

I live very far out there in the country. We have neighbors but they wouldn't care, especially if we explained. The neighbors also said the kids were heavily into it and that it didn't surprise them in the least. 

[mrs.jacinthe]

Dec 16, 2013 18:30:58 GMT -5 nursecramer said:

TrickyBob do you live out in the middle of nowhere? I'd worry that the neighbors would smell it!

Kind of along the lines of Mrs.J, we found a laundry chute when we tore out ceiling in our basement. When we first moved in, I had lifted the lid (built into a weird shelf in the bathroom closet) and thought it was just access to the duct work. I am still so excited that we found it.

We also found a dead bird in the basement, and cat poop in the ceiling. FUN!

How does this even HAPPEN, nursecramer??  

[mrs.jacinthe]

[mrs.jacinthe]

[lb2006]

well - weed & cat poop raining down definitely win!

[sailorgray]

I grew up in an old farmhouse that has a secret room rumored to be part f the Underground Railroad. My parents found newspapers from te early 1900's and clothing probably from the same time. They left it. Ill have to check it out when I go home next.

[msmerymac]

Oh man, we have found exactly nothing. The woman who owned our house was a spotless neat freak, so there was nothing out of place anywhere! We inherited an ugly dining set and ugly framed pictures and ugly valances, and that's all. Oh, I guess there's a paint can stuck above the wall in the basement, near the insulation, but we're having that replaced, so I guess the paint can is leaving. The attic access was about 8"x12" and painted over, so I imagine it had been many years since anyone was up there, and no one was ever able to store anything up there due to the size of the hatch. We have a new, standard-sized hatch now.

[demandypants]

Dec 16, 2013 18:30:58 GMT -5 nursecramer said:

TrickyBob do you live out in the middle of nowhere? I'd worry that the neighbors would smell it!

Kind of along the lines of Mrs.J, we found a laundry chute when we tore out ceiling in our basement. When we first moved in, I had lifted the lid (built into a weird shelf in the bathroom closet) and thought it was just access to the duct work. I am still so excited that we found it.

We also found a dead bird in the basement, and cat poop in the ceiling. FUN!

I found a laundry chute in our bathroom vanity... but if I put it back into use it would just fall into the drop ceiling of my daughters playroom. I have not yet given up hope of using it some day. I will just need a perfect solution for hiding the fallen laundry in the living space below. (playroom will someday be the second half of the ultimate gameroom setup)

all I have from the previous owners is a bunch of car fluids (oil, antifreeze, etc) a spoon that was left in a kitchen drawer, and some god awful tacky decor items. I often use the spoon. the rest, well what hasn't been disposed of should be.

[wawa]

Dec 17, 2013 8:15:10 GMT -5 demandypants said:

Dec 16, 2013 18:30:58 GMT -5 nursecramer said:

TrickyBob do you live out in the middle of nowhere? I'd worry that the neighbors would smell it!

Kind of along the lines of Mrs.J, we found a laundry chute when we tore out ceiling in our basement. When we first moved in, I had lifted the lid (built into a weird shelf in the bathroom closet) and thought it was just access to the duct work. I am still so excited that we found it.

We also found a dead bird in the basement, and cat poop in the ceiling. FUN!

I found a laundry chute in our bathroom vanity... but if I put it back into use it would just fall into the drop ceiling of my daughters playroom. I have not yet given up hope of using it some day. I will just need a perfect solution for hiding the fallen laundry in the living space below. (playroom will someday be the second half of the ultimate gameroom setup)

all I have from the previous owners is a bunch of car fluids (oil, antifreeze, etc) a spoon that was left in a kitchen drawer, and some god awful tacky decor items. I often use the spoon. the rest, well what hasn't been disposed of should be.

I don't know where it's located in your room, but MH is going to eventually build me a cabinet for our laundry to fall into.  Think like a pantry style full height thing.  The top half will open with a double door and just be a big pile of dirty clothes that fall from the top.  And I've asked if he can build in a pullout sorting/folding surface.  Under that will be two (three?  not sure on height) deep drawers for stuff like the iron and extra laundry soap and such.

Like thisish.  Except, you know, done. 

[peach]

When we moved a few years ago the new owner of our house contacted me and said she found some things of mine under the dryer. She brought them to me- the husband actually handed over the bag.

Inside was a cloth diaper and a bra.

I was really embarrassed.