We are in the excavating demolition business. We usually can find some pretty cool stuff in old building before we knock them down. Recently found a wrought iron wrecking bar, World War I helmet, and a couple of porcelain signs on a couple of projects. I am curious to any other demo contractor's finds. Thanks in advance.
I love stuff like that. Last summer i was on a backfill and the fill material was coming from an old horse farm and i found an old horse shoe so i took it to my dad who is a blacksmith/farrier and he threw it in the forge and got it cleaned up for me and i mounted it on the wall. he was telling me the that the shoe was hand made and the style in which it was shaped and made had him thinking the shoe would of been about 100 years old. not very interesting to a lot of ppl but horses run deep in my family so for me it was a good find. just make sure if you find a shoe and you want to mount it that you mount it the right way otherwise you will lose all of your luck lol
My best salvage was a 5 Star 6 burner gas range from a burn down. The kitchen was spared other than water damage. I haven't cleaned it up yet to see if I can get it to work. One time on an old house trailer demo that was packed with stuff, I found some old LP's the big ones. Mint condition, still had the inside slip covers. I saw them on the ground as I was running the loader, no telling what else was in there that got put in the can.:beatsme Not really demo but we re-developed an old CSX storage yard a few years ago. Found some neat old railroad crossing signs - the ones with the big red lights, old glass insulators for telegraph/power lines, buckets of new railroad spikes, some neat old industrial hanging lights, a prefab rail road crossing and a fair amount of old and new rail. The developer closed on the property and sent us in to start work. Their contract stated that CSX had to remove any items they wanted prior to closing, after closing the developer attained all salvage rights which were given to us. About two days into the clean-up a CSX boom truck shows up to pick up some stuff, needless to say after two supervisors on site and a call to the head real estate guy, they left empty handed.
i found sme hunting bows a big screen tv that we put out on the from lawn and spld for 50bucks. and some other stupid little stuff like.
i'm just waiting for to dig up a few coffee cans full of cash. that would sure be nice!! Has anyone ever experienced this or something similar?
Found a magazine titled "Facts about Cuba" from the early 20's in a ceiling in an old 2 flat in Chicago. Also a Triscuit reciepe book from about the same era that was half eaten by mice. Both publications had been there since day one probably, and looked to be in perfect condition like they were printed yesterday, aside from the 100 years of dust on them and the mouse damage to the Triscuit book. The advertisment on the Cuba book's back cover was for an Auburn automoblie. I gave it to the GC, like a moron.
About 15 years ago I had excavated a hole for something or other and at the end of the day I drove survey lathe's in the ground around the perimeter of the hole and barricaded it off with yellow caution tape....came in the next day to pick up where I had left off and pulled the lathes out of the ground...on the end of one lathe was a 14K gold mans wedding ring. I nailed it dead center ! I carried it around for a couple days showing it off....then I pulled it off and put it my finger ,it was a perfect fit and I still wear it to this day. Not a treasure or an antique...but still pretty cool.
Over the yrs I have found a ton of cool old stuff. I do demo and dig all over Nothern Ca from SanFransico to Reno and all over the gold country. Things I have found for example are bottles from the 1800s, ore cars, and narrow gage track, a brass cash register, 2 dozers, 1 holt and one cleattract, alot of native american relics, alot of hand split granite slabs and fence posts, wagon wheels and one of my favorites is howdy bear! My friend next to him is not a big guy only about 5ft 8, but it does show how big howdy is!
Got a lot of old bottles, some dating back to the Gold Rush, as well as a clay pipe that was used to smoke opium in Chinatown SF. Also, the coolest thing I saw was after demo, and during excavation for the new building, they dug up the remains of an old Gold Rush era schooner. it had burned partially and was buried in landfill. The historical society made a survey and covered it up again because they couldn't move it out. In digging the foundations and placing footings in the ground, they had to use a hammer on a 345 to punch holes in the ship hull. The GC ordered all of the pieces to be loaded out and to the dump, but for a ten spot the driver of the dump truck gave me some prime pieces of the ship that I have to this day. Cool stuff.
Pickers I forgot our favorite pick. We were working along a bridge and digging out some rock/muck along the shore. There was a piece of metal that looked unusual. The operator jumped out of the cab and dug it out. It was the barrel from a Thompson submachine gun in very good condition. We could not find the rest of the parts.
Before we got into the sawmill bussiness I was always tearing down old buildings for lumber,I have found a double barrel hammer shotgun a candle stick maker and a few button up shoes and old bottles.
After The hurricane some of our customers were tearing down houses with new flat screens, bbq pits, leather furniture, and everything else still in the house. Most of them took what they wanted and dumped the rest.
The TV Production Company that brought you American Pickers is searching for the talent to make a Canadian version. If you're a collector or dealer in fascinating Antiques and collectibles and great fun discovering the fascinating, quirky and just plain weird. get in touch with me. [email protected]
You need to contact the King of Obsolete!!
A buddy of mine was tearing down houses in Youngstown Ohio two winters ago (with my machine) and found just over $17,000. there was more in the bag but it got chopped up before he realized what it was. that sure would make for a good day!
we were pulling down some old flats(apartments) and all i found were used needles hundreds of them and some very naughty magazines
What did he do with the money?
haha you should at least of gotten a cut if he was using your machine
I pushed a little knoll out on a dozer and found a old silage pit full of rubber tires.:tong
The only things i have ever found were septic tanks and cisterns that were completely unknown to anyone till my arrival
When i worked around the Taft CA, area i was digging a pit for an oil washout near where a old oil drilling camp used to be. I found an old Union Pacific Railroad hospital division bottle.
YEAH i was hoping he would give me something but he didnt.the guys son is the one who was in the machine so he split it with his dad and went and bought a new dirtbike. I didnt get anything but the weekly rental on the machine and $750 for the smashed pannel haha.
Hi guys, Okay, I know I'm not the only producer to try posting here but this is for a new national TV series set right her in the good ol' US of A. I am a producer with a television production company developing a show for a major TV network. The planned series will follow a pair of individuals with a passion and a deep knowledge of two or more of these things - architecture, history, Americana, engineering, antiques – as they comb the country visiting and exploring abandoned buildings and structures. It's a chance to see places in this country that are disappearing and tell something about our nation's past - like the empty factories that once employed hundreds in a small town to the abandoned grand hotels that were Vegas before there was a Vegas. We are now in the process of casting who those presenters/hosts might be and we would like to consider someone in the construction / demo / heavy equipment field as hosts for this project. We are not interested in professorial types. We are looking for regular people with big personalities (think the guys from “American Pickers,” “Myth Busters,” “Billy the Exterminator”) who have a sense of humor, a spirit of adventure and aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty. If you are interested in learning more about the show and in being considered as a host, or you know someone who fits the bill, please send me back an e-mail at [email protected] . I look forward to hearing from you!
This almost sounds like we need to send YOU a check?
I'll gladly accept an e-mail with your interest as a one-time down payment. I'm admittedly under a bit of a deadline here, so if people want to know more now is the time. You can also check out the company website on pictureshackentertainment.com if you want to know more about the company, like the fact that it actually exists.
Job Opening My dad and uncle would be great at that job. They love "old stuff" and tearing things down. Unfortunately I can't afford to let them go. I wouldn't have a business without them.