The Dumb Things DIYers Do...

[Qapla]

About 45 years ago, while digging post holes (by hand post-hole-digger - not auger) we hit something. Had to dig it up with shovels. By the time we got done, we had dug up a set of masonry steps about 6' long that were buried about 2'-3' feet down.

We found out that there was a "hotel" in that location around the civil war era.

In more recent times, while digging with the BH, I have dug up several unidentifiable metal objects - some as deep as 6'-8' down.

 

[keegs]

I was about five when I tried to fix a light bulb. Knocked me clear off the chair I was standing on. :laughing:

 

[jimmyj]

When we moved in the fella had done a lot of DIY (Dumb It Yourself) work.

Short list:

-moved a small second house on the lot to a new location by jacking it up and rolling it along on round poles, with a full waterbed in the bedroom
-home made wiring with a million things on one cirucuit and almost nothing on another
-hammered in wiring staples so hard they cut through wiring insulation and shorted
-removed jack posts under the main beam of the house for a 30 foot span
-bizarre plumbing including so many 45 degree turns it looked like a sculpture and effectively killed water pressure. Replaced with a straight run.
-built frame walls all through the lower level of the house OVER wall to wall carpet
-installed a brick facia wall behind the woodstove with glue on "z bricks" and they were so crooked it looked like a simulation of waves in the wate
-cut a hole in the wall between the framing and stuck a window air conditioner in it, siliconed around the edges

I could go on. Suffice to say since we bought the place almost nothing is original.

 

[chopped]

Sounds like he might have been a bit of a drinker (heavy)

 

[jimmyj]

Hey Chopped, I didn't say that but EXACTLY! That was a very big part of the problem.

 

[jinman]

Pull. . .

Chimney cap. . .

 

[frogfish]

I was digging post holes for a wood deck when I ran into a 55 gal drum, a couple of post later another 55 gal drum. I ended up unearthing 5 - 55 gal drums. My neighbor said the previous owner was going to raise catfish and at one point had the entire backyard filled with 55 gal drums.

 

[EddieWalker]

Jim,

I like the plastic crate on top of the chimney. I wonder what their reasoning was? Spark arrestor? Keep the leaves out? Rain cap? Or just to look like the others that they saw on on other houses without a clue what they are for?

Eddie

 

[Travelover]

Jim,

I like the plastic crate on top of the chimney. I wonder what their reasoning was? Spark arrestor? Keep the leaves out? Rain cap? Or just to look like the others that they saw on on other houses without a clue what they are for?

Eddie

Keeps out raccoons - until they chew the plastic. :laughing:

 

[jonyyuma]

Maybe a Bird guard, and yes a raccoon will eat plastic if they smell food. JY.