When the Walls Talk

My family recently began a basement renovation. Our bathroom there was seriously a closet. The sink was a very old and stained wall mounted fixture, much like one you can find in a public restroom. You could wash your hands in said sink while still seated on the toilet. The shower stall was made of some sort of metal (not kidding) that had been painted on the INSIDE. When we first moved in our home and began using the shower, the paint began to peel. The peeling paint revealed multiple layers of paint, and I'd like to understand WHY a person would be compelled to paint their shower. Especially with paint that is obviously not meant to be used inside a functioning shower. We promptly finished the shower in our upstairs bathroom (previously just a bathtub) and abandoned the monster in the basement.

In addition to the tiny/non-functional bathroom, our family room was quite cramped and there were some heating issues (read- "no heat in the basement") which lead us to hang blankets over doorways and using a space heater to try and keep warm during our time spent down there.

My father-in-law saw the issues we had in our basement. Sensing that it was time to make some changes for the better, he generously volunteered to do the renovation. He drew up some plans, which included moving some walls, enlarging the family room and bathroom (and in so doing, enlarging a bedroom), and fixing the heating issues.

The first step in doing such a project would be to gut the place. Take down the existing walls (which, by the way, contained ZERO insulation) and get rid of the fixtures that simply would not serve adequate for my family. Tear down found us some very interesting things. Want to know what? I know you do.

Within the walls and ceiling were several things that we couldn't quite figure out. The walls in our basement were certainly trying to tell us something. What exactly they'd like to say, however, I'm still not quite sure of.

We found a bottle of Brandy, a pair of antlers (six point deer, I believe), a speaker from the drive-in movie theater, a roasting skewer, and a "No Parking" sign. All inside the walls and ceiling! Why? My husband believes the speaker was hidden in the ceiling because a kid who lived here stole it and then couldn't display it proudly without getting in trouble. But the Brandy in the wall? How would you get back to it? It was sheet-rocked in! The "No Parking" sign is a real one (I can't find it to take a pic, though), but it has never been hung on a street post (no tool markings). There was also a coffee can (the picture of which I cannot find) that was retro-fitted to create part of a heating duct. No wonder we had heating problems. They were trying to make coffee with the heater!

So, I'm not sure what kind of story my house is trying to tell me. But it sure was interesting, nonetheless! If you have a story that could link up all the hidden junk we found, feel free to leave me a comment and share what you think.