How to Search a House. Part one

I have been asked to do a series of articles on how I go about searching a house for buried, lost or concealed valuables.

I will try to break it up into natural sections. Introduction, front yard, backyard, outbuildings, main floor, attic and basement.

I am going to write this with the premise that you have permission to hunt an old abandoned house and grounds and have the time to do a thorough job of it. Let’s say your buddy just bought a piece of land that has an old house on it. He is going to tear down the house in a week and build a new house on the property. You want to metal detect the grounds and search the house before they tear it down.

All searches are different. The age of the house, the size of the property, whether it was a farm or urban property. You should take into account the history of the area and the history of the owners of the property.

First off, RESEARCH!!  Even if you are just metal detecting someone’s front yard, asking a few questions can make a world of difference. How old is the property? How many people have lived there? What were the occupations of the people? Were there children? Has anything ever been lost? Are there any hazards you need to be aware of?

 If you are going to be searching the house or out buildings and think there might be a possibility of buried or concealed valuables then knowing a few more details of the people who have lived there would be helpful. What were the people like? What were their hobbies or interests? Were they generous? Were they misers? Were they suspicious? Were they involved in scandals? How did they spend their money? The more you know, the better!

 This type of research can be done in books, newspapers, historical society magazines, neighbors of the property in question. Local historians often have a lot of info on older properties around the area and can be gold mines of information. A lot of old newspapers are available on line now and can be accessed from home which is a great time saver. College and University libraries are great sources also. There are many books and articles available. Also there can be many student papers and thesis available that can shed light on goings on in the community.

In the last 10 years Satellite imagery has gotten cheaper and better quality. You can get high resolution images for free online and a lot of sites have images from multiple years so you can compare and see changes. These can be very helpful as you can see old foundations, trails and walkways and other things that might not be apparent from the ground.

 Another great tool is the “Sanborn fire insurance maps”. According to Wikipedia, “These maps were created to estimate urban fire insurance risks”. They made the maps from 1867 to 2007. These maps are great for seeing where old structures were and how things have changed. A new tool using the Sanborn maps has come out recently as some of the maps have been created as image overlays on google earth so you can lay the old maps on top of the satellite images and compare the two.

If you can find old photos of the property they can be extremely helpful. Maybe there was an old tree with a tire swing in the front yard that has since been taken out. Or an old chicken coop that has been moved. Maybe they have added on to the house at one time.

If you really want to get in depth there are genealogical websites that can have very interesting information on individuals and families.

Diaries and journals are excellent sources, if you can find them. Libraries, museums and historical societies often get old journals donated to them and they are great for finding details about people and places.

A little time spent on research before you even step on the property can really make the difference between a successful search and going home empty handed.

As you are doing your research keep a notebook to add new leads you come across. Write them down and come back to them later. Stay on one project at a time but make sure you write down any new leads or ideas with enough detail that you can come back to them later. There is nothing worse than a half remembered story and retracing your footsteps trying to find the lead.

Okay, so you have a property picked out and you have talked to the owners and they said you can go ahead and search the place. Sadly in today’s world that don’t mean much and a verbal agreement can get you in all kinds of trouble if one of the parties is the least bit unethical. With the way insurance companies and lawyers work these days you had better get WRITTEN PERMISION to be on the property for the purpose of searching and a written agreement for the distribution of anything found.

This written agreement can be as detailed or simple as you want as long as you have the basics covered. This will keep MOST people honest and upfront in their dealings. I have seen friendships torn apart because something was found and distribution was not decided upon upfront, one party thought they should get more than what had verbally been agreed to and things got ugly.

Do yourself a favor and get it in writing.

One more thing about permission. Get It!! Being on someone’s property without permission is not only bad for you but it makes it harder for others to hunt properties in the future as those kinds of stories get around and people talk.

Now you’ve got permission and have done your research. Let’s talk tools.

A good metal detector is a must. The Internet metal detecting groups routinely blow up over which detector is the best. Well let me set the record straight on this issue. The best metal detector is….The one you have and know how to use.

A lot depends on what you are going to do with it.

A good all-purpose machine is what you want for cache hunting because there are many different scenarios you can get into.

 One of the high end, fancy, top dollar machines won’t do you much good if you don’t know how to use it. I have seen people with the cheaper stripped down models out preform the big boys just because they were more familiar with their machines. The reverse of that is true also. Don’t get the cheapest machine out there, you will eventually become discouraged with your results and give up.

Get the most machine you can afford and learn to use it. Use it a lot, get to know all the beeps and tweets and whistles.

Headphones. I usually have several pair. I use a big padded pair for places where I want to hear every small chirp and beep. I do keep several other pair in my vehicle for different situations. I have a small light pair for hot days so I can trade off with my big pair. Also a lighter pair is good if you want to hear what’s going on around you a little more. I also have a pair of ear buds for use under a hat or in places where a big pair would get in the way. A note about ear buds. They are great if your machine has volume control but they can really blow your ears if you hit a big target so be careful with them.

Trowel and probe. This is mostly your own preference. I have a couple of different trowels and plug cutters that I use depending on place and soil conditions. A few words about shovels, even little fold up ones. Nothing will bring a homeowner or neighbor out of the house faster than seeing someone pulling out a shovel. I always have one in the car but I don’t get it out unless I need it and then I am very careful when using it. If you have a big hole, shovel and a metal detector out you can bet on having an audience and if there are kids in the neighborhood you can get quite a crowd.

This brings up secrecy. Again I am coming from the idea that you have permission to search the property so the property owner knows you are there and basically what you are doing. I mean, keeping what you are doing from casual sight seers and nosy neighbors. When you see people on TV that go out and announce that they have found some cache of valuables on their own property, keep watching and see what happens next. Usually the “finder” will start having people pop up and make claims on the valuables. Then there is the IRS who will want their share and then the state will get involved. The list of people and entities coming around with their hands out can be overwhelming. You can quickly find yourself loosing anything you found plus owing more for legal costs. Also there is the very real possibility that others will come around looking to see if you missed something and can cause the property owner all kinds of grief.

 It is usually better to work quietly and as discreetly as possible. Sometimes it is not possible but I always like to get in and out with as little notice as I can. This not only applies to while you are “on site” but after as well. Don’t go around telling people what you found and where you found it. A little bragging or sharing of interesting items is okay but too much info can be a never-ending nightmare. This also applies to the state of things after you leave the property. Fill in your holes and not just fill them in, make it so you can’t tell a hole was ever dug. If you have to remove a board, put it back after you are done and try to use the same nails that came out. Clean up any messes you make. Even if the house and yard is going to be bulldozed the next day it is not a good idea to leave visible clues as to what you were doing and where you were doing it.

 Do yourself a favor and keep things quiet and discrete.

The rest of the tool list is mostly to go along with the previous statement. I keep a small set of tools in my truck to help with covering up the fact that I was there.

• Hammer

• Assortment of old nails

• Prybar

• Bucket

• Dry grout mix

• Small trowel

• Caulk

• Several screwdrivers

Have an assortment of tools so that you can put things back how you found them. A Flashlight, and dust mask finish off my list of things I regularly keep in my truck.

Okay we are ready to hit the property.

How to Search a House. Part two

All right. We are ready to get started on this property. Let’s set the stage a bit. Let’s say we are looking at an old two story house built in the mid 1800’s. It sits on an acre of land on the outskirts of a small town. The house has been sold to an acquaintance and you have gotten permission to search the property and house before the house is torn down to build a new one. The house has an unattached garage and one old shed barely standing in the back.

You pull up early in the morning and park at the curb in front of the house.

Let’s take a look around. Is there a fence around the yard? Trees? Flower beds? How about the strip in front of the sidewalk? Is there a bus stop? Take a little while and LOOK at things.

How does it compare to the research you have done? One thing to look for is if the house has too good of a lawn. I watched a guy pull up and metal detect my neighbor’s yard, not knowing that it had been resodded a year earlier. He gave up after about an hour of no beeps.

Let’s start at the curb.

 Are there any bus stops along the sidewalk? Any anomaly that might point to a bus stop in the past? People standing and waiting can drop a lot of coins.

Twice a year there was a parade in front of my mother-in-law’s house. Everyone would sit along the road to watch the parades, the kids would sit on the curb and the adults would sit in lawn chairs on the grass strip. This was a great place to find old coins.

These grass strips were a great place for kids to set up lemonade stands, car washes and other temporary money making (and losing) ventures.

How about fire hydrants or other things that kids might find to climb on?

Let’s move on the front lawn.

Are there bumps or dips in the front yard that might be evidence of an old tree that has been removed? Old trees are magnets for kids to play in, swing from tire swings, hang upside down and lose change out of pockets. In the shade of trees is also a place for kids to play and adults to gather.

How about flowerbeds? A lot of rings are lost while working in a garden or flowerbed. Rings can come off while pulling off gloves or washing up after working. Speaking of washing up, is there a faucet or water pump somewhere, this is another good place for lost rings.

How about reference points or landmarks in the yard. If there is a chance of a cache, making a note of features that stand out in the yard is helpful. Fence posts and corner posts are good places to put a little extra time in looking for a cache. Sometimes corner posts will have a decorative top on them that makes a good little hiding place for a small cache.

People for some reason will often hide things along the edge of things, fences, hedges, walkways, pay attention to edges while looking for caches. Are there things in the yard that a cache could be hidden under? Check rocks, planters, paving stones, light posts, flag poles etc.

Go up and stand in front of the front door and windows, see if anything is directly in the line of sight. People who hide things will often want to be able to “keep an eye” on the cache. Something that stands out or is visible from a door or window might warrant a second look.

What about drive ways and sidewalks. Be mindful of questionable signals along sidewalks and driveways, coins have a tendency to drop in the cracks and along the side and give “chirpy” signals while laying on edge.

Now what about that big patch of grass.

The grass area of a front lawn is where kids played football, played in the sprinklers, and generally had fun. Take your time and search these areas thoroughly. The grassy areas usually had more traffic and with frequent mowing of the lawn this can cause targets to be deeper than other areas.

Now that you have searched the front yard take a step back and make sure you have covered everything.

Take the time to “read” the yard, where would the kids play? Where would the adults hang out?

Are there “paths” worn into the lawn that might indicate heavily trafficked areas?

 NEXT UP GARAGE AND OUT BUILDINGS.