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October 27, 2009
Creepy Crawls in the Walls
Anyone out there that has ever done a restoration/reno this is a questions for you! I noticed that on the This Old House Broolyn editions when they were taking down walls, picking up floor boards there were no sign of either rodents or insects. Was this stuff cleaned up before it went on camera? What's in the walls/floors of a 100-year-old house?
Comments
That's "Brooklyn edition" btw...
Posted by: Joe from Brooklyn at October 27, 2009 2:49 PM
All I've ever found was old newspapers in the walls used as filler. House dates from 1884.
Posted by: Arkady at October 27, 2009 2:59 PM
I found a piece of cracked pottery and a piece of homespun cloth in the attic rafters (under the floor) of my PA house.
Posted by: daveinbedstuy at October 27, 2009 3:03 PM
Horsehair
Posted by: SJ at October 27, 2009 3:06 PM
Mice, no. Ancient pussy? You betcha.
We found a pile of Tijuana Bibles and some even older (Edwardian?) porn pamphlets in a tobacco tin plastered into the ceiling of our cellar.
Posted by: Stonergut at October 27, 2009 3:09 PM
Actually when my parents bought their 1930's Tudor during the early 70's and were ripping out the original porcelain tub (big mistake!)they found a glass milk bottle w/ a 1930's Italian newspaper inside.
Posted by: Joe from Brooklyn at October 27, 2009 3:10 PM
Neat, Joe, a time capsule!
Posted by: Arkady at October 27, 2009 3:14 PM
Neat, Joe, a time capsule!Posted by: Arkady at October 27, 2009 3:14 PM
I remember my dad said that Mussolini was on the cover...
My parents still have the milk bottle on their nick-knack shelf.
Posted by: Joe from Brooklyn at October 27, 2009 3:21 PM
I found a dead bird underneath a bathtub that was removed.
Posted by: sebb at October 27, 2009 3:42 PM
When my family gut renovated our 1850s house, there were two weird things. First was critter related -- TONS AND TONS of walnuts, or the post-critter remains. Second was just fun -- in a spot where a bathroom used to be, the wall was FULL of used razor blades... from one of those razor slots that used to be part of vanities.
Our barn was full of really cool treasures too, but you didn't need to rip out walls to find them. The house was in the town village, so the barn was a blacksmith shop, a tinsmith, a plumber, and a few other things over the century and a half.
Posted by: tybur6 at October 27, 2009 3:47 PM
(and that's the post-critter remains of the walnuts, not animal carcasses!)
Posted by: tybur6 at October 27, 2009 3:53 PM
I found a jar of formaldehide with a human brain in it. The jar was marked "Hitler".
Posted by: eastriver at October 27, 2009 3:54 PM
Thanks everyone! So I guess if walls and moldings look to be in good shape, there's no need to re-do every wall.
Posted by: Joe from Brooklyn at October 27, 2009 3:57 PM
I found a jar of formaldehide with a human brain in it. The jar was marked "Hitler".
I knew it!
Posted by: Joe from Brooklyn at October 27, 2009 3:57 PM
Friend found heaps of mouse skeletons behind the cabinets in the kitchen. This was without removing the wall, just the cabinets.
Posted by: mopar at October 27, 2009 4:48 PM
I found a jar of formaldehide with a human brain in it. The jar was marked "Hitler".
That's so common Corcoran considers it an amenity.
Posted by: bkrules at October 27, 2009 5:01 PM
Friend found heaps of mouse skeletons behind the cabinets in the kitchen. This was without removing the wall, just the cabinets.
Aha! I kind of doubted that there was "0" chance of finding anything. Thanks for the report Mopar!
Posted by: Joe from Brooklyn at October 27, 2009 5:02 PM
Sorry. It's kind of late in game/day to bother commenting (no?)...
We found the old style beer cans like we used to have (pre-pulltab cans) but other than that, dust...LOTS and LOTS of dust (gritty, mortary dust...sooty...yucky). Dress accordingly and wear a good mask!
I was always hoping we'd find some lost gold coins or the like. Maybe the contractors' guys did over the years but never told us.
Posted by: BrooklynGreene at October 27, 2009 5:16 PM
The author of "All the Way Home" found a suitcase full of cash from 1929 hidden in a recess behind a tub.
Posted by: mopar at October 28, 2009 7:56 AM
I found phone bill and letters from 1912. I framed them and put on the wall in hallway.
Posted by: bobjohn at October 29, 2009 11:02 PM
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