weirdest thing you encountered in a place you bought

[user 26]

reading another thread reminded me of what we encountered when we added some bathrooms. after the plumbers marked the places in the floor for my son the carpenter to create access ... he started to drill through the floor when zzzt ... pop ... the lights went out in the second floor. electrician called. long story short, the last 'renovator' (un-permitted) ran extension cords from an attic outlet. down through the wall and across the floor. hid the access behind old barn board in the attic, then they put a floor over the old floor sandwiching the extension cords between them.
we had to rewire all over the place - $$$$$ we found other crazy things - but that was the most dangerous. except for the cardboard stapled in place over a hole in the attic floor.

unbelievable.

 

[Morticia]

Sheetrock covering holes in the floor.
Super glue to tack down the edges of the wallpaper.
A sapling that was used to feed the 'new-fangled' electrical wiring thru the ceiling.
I bet there's some stuff we haven't found or l'm so used to it I don't see it any longer.

 

[Lee2014]

My Grandpa did most of the remodeling here recently and he wasn't one to do short cuts. But there are "sealed off rooms" and flights of stairs that are behind walls. At one time you could go from room to room without going into the hallways. When Grandpa bought it he didn't want guests wandering around so he started closing them off. Since the house is over two hundred years old...anything is possible!

 

[Morticia]

My Grandpa did most of the remodeling here recently and he wasn't one to do short cuts. But there are "sealed off rooms" and flights of stairs that are behind walls. At one time you could go from room to room without going into the hallways. When Grandpa bought it he didn't want guests wandering around so he started closing them off. Since the house is over two hundred years old...anything is possible!.

That is so cool! When we bought our Vermont farmhouse the first thing my daughter did was start measuring the room dimensions looking for hidden rooms.

 

[Lee2014]

My Grandpa did most of the remodeling here recently and he wasn't one to do short cuts. But there are "sealed off rooms" and flights of stairs that are behind walls. At one time you could go from room to room without going into the hallways. When Grandpa bought it he didn't want guests wandering around so he started closing them off. Since the house is over two hundred years old...anything is possible!.

That is so cool! When we bought our Vermont farmhouse the first thing my daughter did was start measuring the room dimensions looking for hidden rooms.
.

That is so cool! When we bought our Vermont farmhouse the first thing my daughter did was start measuring the room dimensions looking for hidden rooms.

My mom found three more unaccountable spaces when she was measuring the house for the fire code people that we don't know about. I know things were buried when Grandpa died.

 

[gillumhouse]

We had fuse boxes on both floors - figured the one upstairs was for that floor.... When we bought the house we had the 1912 wiring up-graded from 60 amp to 200. (Shinnston got electricity in 1913.) When installing the new breaker box, the master electrician (thank goodness we had top-grade) discovered it went from the fuse box downstairs to the fuse box upstairs and back down. HUH??? There were a couple "new" circuits added to accommodate the "new" kitchen when the back porch became the kitchen in the early 50s.

 

[Camge]

Our house in Amagansett is 110 years old. We did the first remodel ever, found little of interest. However we were told that a past owner had hid his treasure in the house. We found a strange metal door hidden behind the old boiler. It was sealed with an antique lock. Everyone got excited we all gathered to wath the lock being removed....... And behind the door was a antique transformer. Oh well! The best thing we found was our pocket doors!

 

[sachi3679]

The mls listed 8 bedrooms. We found 8, thought that was it, but then when we got the appraisal, there were pictures of two other rooms we had not seen. Turned out the previous owner has blocked access to the rooms by building a small pantry off the kitchen and the two rooms were only accessible by an exterior door in the back of the house. (There are 7 entryways to the main house, so this really did get confusing)
Then there are the light switches that don't work, the lights with no switches, and 80 years of running cables, plumbing, and electric all over the place.

 

[2cat_lady]

The mls listed 8 bedrooms. We found 8, thought that was it, but then when we got the appraisal, there were pictures of two other rooms we had not seen. Turned out the previous owner has blocked access to the rooms by building a small pantry off the kitchen and the two rooms were only accessible by an exterior door in the back of the house. (There are 7 entryways to the main house, so this really did get confusing)
Then there are the light switches that don't work, the lights with no switches, and 80 years of running cables, plumbing, and electric all over the place..

When the electricians had to run wiring for pot lights, no lights in the upstairs hallway, found they had used the attic to store 'garbage'--printer that didn't work, broken artificial Christmas tree, mismatched lamps, etc. I guess the dump was too far away.

 

[Breakfast Diva]

About 6 months after we owned our place, a neighbor pulls in with a small trailer. Says he's here to pick up the propane gas tank (filled). Says the previous owner swapped him something for it. Uhhh, noooooo. It's not his to barter.
Then 3 years after, guests stayed in the separate cottage...they had been close to the old owners. Old owners came over to visit them, not coming over to say hello to us. About 3 days later, the old owner called wanting to know what was a good time to come over so he could pick up some things from the cottage. Knick knacks & books they saw in there when they were visiting.
NO!!!! GO AWAY!!!!

 

[Morticia]

About 6 months after we owned our place, a neighbor pulls in with a small trailer. Says he's here to pick up the propane gas tank (filled). Says the previous owner swapped him something for it. Uhhh, noooooo. It's not his to barter.
Then 3 years after, guests stayed in the separate cottage...they had been close to the old owners. Old owners came over to visit them, not coming over to say hello to us. About 3 days later, the old owner called wanting to know what was a good time to come over so he could pick up some things from the cottage. Knick knacks & books they saw in there when they were visiting.
NO!!!! GO AWAY!!!!.

Nice they called. Maybe the guests were afraid you'd think they took them so they told the PO to call you instead of just walking off with the things. You know they talked about it. "Hey that's MY old (whatever)! I want that back!"
We were fortunate the conveyance list was well done. We knew what we had to replace right away. There are so many things I want to take with me that came with the house or that I've bought thru the years.
Depends on where we move and what kind of room we have.

 

[TheBeachHouse]

Mouse droppings under the sinks in the third floor guest rooms.
We have an area we call, "The Harry Potter Room." Under the main stairs is an area surrounded by three doors. One to the basement stairs, one to the back apartment and one to the main house.
The one to the main house is disguised on the main house side with paneling that matches the room. From the main house, it is a secret door.

 

[Silverspoon]

The mls listed 8 bedrooms. We found 8, thought that was it, but then when we got the appraisal, there were pictures of two other rooms we had not seen. Turned out the previous owner has blocked access to the rooms by building a small pantry off the kitchen and the two rooms were only accessible by an exterior door in the back of the house. (There are 7 entryways to the main house, so this really did get confusing)
Then there are the light switches that don't work, the lights with no switches, and 80 years of running cables, plumbing, and electric all over the place..

LOL this sounds like a recurring dream I have. In it we are living in a new place that we have made into an inn, when lo and behold, we discover new rooms that we never knew where there! Quite exciting, indeed!

 

[TheBeachHouse]

The mls listed 8 bedrooms. We found 8, thought that was it, but then when we got the appraisal, there were pictures of two other rooms we had not seen. Turned out the previous owner has blocked access to the rooms by building a small pantry off the kitchen and the two rooms were only accessible by an exterior door in the back of the house. (There are 7 entryways to the main house, so this really did get confusing)
Then there are the light switches that don't work, the lights with no switches, and 80 years of running cables, plumbing, and electric all over the place..

LOL this sounds like a recurring dream I have. In it we are living in a new place that we have made into an inn, when lo and behold, we discover new rooms that we never knew where there! Quite exciting, indeed!
.

I have had a similar dream of discovering unknown rooms. LOL

 

[Ice]

The mls listed 8 bedrooms. We found 8, thought that was it, but then when we got the appraisal, there were pictures of two other rooms we had not seen. Turned out the previous owner has blocked access to the rooms by building a small pantry off the kitchen and the two rooms were only accessible by an exterior door in the back of the house. (There are 7 entryways to the main house, so this really did get confusing)
Then there are the light switches that don't work, the lights with no switches, and 80 years of running cables, plumbing, and electric all over the place..

LOL this sounds like a recurring dream I have. In it we are living in a new place that we have made into an inn, when lo and behold, we discover new rooms that we never knew where there! Quite exciting, indeed!
.

I have had a similar dream of discovering unknown rooms. LOL
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I have had a similar dream of discovering unknown rooms. LOL

OMG so did I! But what is really scary, we built our B&B.

 

[JBloggs]

The innkeeper OCD in me cries out for sentence capitalization. I am sorry I had to type that, I literally could not stop my fingers from hitting those keys.

 

[undersea]

The Pakistani couple I bought my first place from. Right before closing, they asked if they could remove the chandelier and all the drapes.
I said "um, they we were included in the price and are in the contract!"
Apparently she was in tears and said "oh, you are so inflexible."
Um, so me having to spend an unexpected $2,000+ to replace everything is fair?

 

[Mary at Bridgewater Inn and Cottage]

My BnB is a 4 over 4 with a bump out along the back. Extended along the back with a sun room connecting to a 2 car garage. Odd thing here when I purchased in 1991 was..... metal blinds with heavy sheers & heavy lined drapes on all windows, blinds on all garage windows ,even small garage door windows, cistern with ladder down, light & battery pack there, list of odd rules in basement, locks ,locks everywhere . Trashed it all . 2002 became a BnB and try to make it light and fresh , no more dark glum look ever !

 

[Morticia]

The mls listed 8 bedrooms. We found 8, thought that was it, but then when we got the appraisal, there were pictures of two other rooms we had not seen. Turned out the previous owner has blocked access to the rooms by building a small pantry off the kitchen and the two rooms were only accessible by an exterior door in the back of the house. (There are 7 entryways to the main house, so this really did get confusing)
Then there are the light switches that don't work, the lights with no switches, and 80 years of running cables, plumbing, and electric all over the place..

LOL this sounds like a recurring dream I have. In it we are living in a new place that we have made into an inn, when lo and behold, we discover new rooms that we never knew where there! Quite exciting, indeed!
.

You should look up what finding new rooms in your house means in dreams.

 

[TheBeachHouse]

The mls listed 8 bedrooms. We found 8, thought that was it, but then when we got the appraisal, there were pictures of two other rooms we had not seen. Turned out the previous owner has blocked access to the rooms by building a small pantry off the kitchen and the two rooms were only accessible by an exterior door in the back of the house. (There are 7 entryways to the main house, so this really did get confusing)
Then there are the light switches that don't work, the lights with no switches, and 80 years of running cables, plumbing, and electric all over the place..

LOL this sounds like a recurring dream I have. In it we are living in a new place that we have made into an inn, when lo and behold, we discover new rooms that we never knew where there! Quite exciting, indeed!
.

You should look up what finding new rooms in your house means in dreams.
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You should look up what finding new rooms in your house means in dreams.

well, I found it but I can't cut and paste to this site. (frustrating)
anyway, finding a new room means finding new strength, skill or potential in yourself.