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Old outhouse question.

O

Oakman404

Active member
I own and live in an old farm house built 1918. Behind my house still stands the original outhouse. I have never explored it. I have opened the door and looked in it but nothing more than that. My question is; I understand these old outhouse sites are good for hunting treasure, what am I looking for and how do I search it? It is in our towns historical societies book of "County Outhouses". Do I just take the seat/bench off and start digging or is there a better method? It is a three seater.

Oakman
 
Remove the structure and take out the shovel.
Take layers out which should be like dry humus soil.
Use your detector and scan the humus layers.
There could be some interesting bottles in there so dig with care.
If it hasn't been used in decades it should be very dry.
I'd wear a hospital type mask to avoid breathing the dry dust.
Good luck and keep us posted on any finds.
Also detect the path to the outhouse.
 
n/t
 
Thanks. I think it will make a perfect spring project.

Oakman
 
First, is the hole filled? You can either dig or probe with a steel rod to see what's there. Course if there are any valuable bottles ( and there often is ) you can break them. When these holes started filling up with excrement people used them as dumps to dump everything. It was junk then but treasure now. You can find coins, old bottles, jewelry, old antique dishes, and a world of things in outhouse pits.

Bill
 
Thanks for the tips. I contacted a lady who grew up in our house and she says she knows for a fact that there were a lot of guns in there. She said that her dad would host poker games and his friends would come over and get drunk and fire off thier guns and one night they shot a hole in the roof. Her mom, being very mad about that, rounded up all of the guns from all the drunk guys and threw them into the outhouse! She say's they were never retrieved!

Oakman
 
n/t
 
A cousin of mine used to search them by running a rod into the ground. The rods had T-handles on the top of them. He did his searching in Oregon and was after bottles. I remember seeing many bottles at his place but I'm not into bottles and know nothing about them with the exception that they can have value and they cut me up as a kid barefoot in ponds to many times.
I just remember his collection of rods, piles of bottles and displays of his better finds. I recall him and a buddy talking once on a big find at an outhouse.
 
I plan to get digging! I am just waiting for better weather! Gives me something to look forward to. In the mean time I went tectin today, again in my back yard. My back yard is about 2 acres and it goes back to the original barn that is still standing! So it's gonna take me some time, the darn ground is still frozen so it takes me awhile to dig a target. It was 25F today and sunny with a strong breeze, but I really enjoyed myself, just getting to know my 1350 and trying to apply everything you all have taught me and what I have read. I am gonna try to get some pic's of my finds (so far) and of my outhouse posted tomorrow, if I can figure this picture thing out.

Happy Hunting!:detecting:
Oakman
 
A couple of things not yet mentioned from a guy who grew up using an outhouse. That is not the original spot for the outhouse. It may be very old and full of treasure but I will bet it it not the original or even the second location of the outhouse. After you are done digging up the current location search for the older locations with the t-handled rod described above. When you push the rod into an old location after a few inches of top soil you hit old "contents" and the rod will go through it easily. It will be obvious when you are on an old hole. You are in for an interesting time. You will learn about old bottles, coins, and buttons and hopefully old guns as well. This is exciting for you. Best to you, Mike.
 
Mike,
Holy cow! I never thought of that! I guess I will have to fabricate me a "T: rod and start exploring. Wow, that just opened my eyes to a whole lot of treasure hunting right here on my own property! I actually have a day planned tomorow to go tectin with my brother-in-law. We are going to Binghamton NY to hit a lot of tot lots. I will discuss with him and plan a joint effort on the "ol' outhouse project". Thanks so much for your input guys!:cheers:

Oakman
 
I LOVE the rods with T handles. My brother welded a brass pipe handle on an old radio antenna that was about 3' long. The handle acts like a "telephone". When you probe, the rod will transmit the vibrations to the handle and you can actually hear the scraping of glass as the tip (which he welded a "blob" or round bead on the end) rubs against it. This round bead not only helps you to penetrate the ground better (sometimes you have to bounce it up and down), but it also allows the tip to transmit the vibrations better. If after you have located the target, you let the rod drop loosely in your hand up and down several times, you can get a pretty good idea of what you have found. I wish some of these "pothole" diggers would use one on school and private grounds. Your tip will penetrate an aluminun can and will reach large metal objects at deeper depths and prevent a lot of holes on these special properties that are being closed to detectorists. And it's unlikely to damage a coin with the round bead.
 
I found this link in the Bottle Hunting forum.These guys dig up old out house's and have found alot of pretty cool stuff.
They have taken a lot of pictures of there Bottles and whatnots.It looks like a lot of hard work but the rewards are simply Incredible.http://www.flickr.com/photos/pitpirate/page1/
 
jasper12,
Wow, that was an awesome site! I just got home, I took the 1350 out on it's 1st park hunt. We did well. I will post pic's tomorrow. I was going to today and pic's of the outhouse but I got back to late. It's too dark outside to get good pic's of it tonight.

Oakman
 
I hope you can turn this outhouse dig into an opportunity to allow us to look over your shoulder. I'm no longer able do the treasure hunting due to health reasons and am hopeful to share the experience with you, best to you, Mike.
 
Yes! I will take plenty of photos before, during and after cleanup!

Oakman
 
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