Bodges, scrimping and Friday afternoon jobs

cwhaley

cwhaley

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In doing various (smalish) jobs on the house, I've discovered a few 'funnies' presumably from when the house was constructed 72 years ago.

- Partition wall between bathroom and bedroom built with bricks on their sides
- Concrete fence post used as lintel
- Metal advertising board (circa 1940s) used as a fire/heat shield

Not DIY disasters, but things that make you wish you were then when implemented.

What bodges or mysteries has anybody else unearthed while undertaking works on their homes?
 
My boss, when I was a radiographer, was asked to examine a dead body that had been found in a Victorian chimney breast which had been sealed up at the bottom. He was effectively mummified due to the dry situation and heat from adjacent chimneys.
It turns out he was a 'cat burglar' whose MO was to shin down chimneys in order to enter a room (in this case I think it was a bank) to gain access to what he was after.
He failed to do his homework, as he was unaware of the fireplace being bricked up and, due to his position (arms above his head), was completely unable to haul himself back up again.
 
JBR said:
My boss, when I was a radiographer, was asked to examine a dead body that had been found in a Victorian chimney breast which had been sealed up at the bottom. He was effectively mummified due to the dry situation and heat from adjacent chimneys.
It turns out he was a 'cat burglar' whose MO was to shin down chimneys in order to enter a room (in this case I think it was a bank) to gain access to what he was after.
He failed to do his homework, as he was unaware of the fireplace being bricked up and, due to his position (arms above his head), was completely unable to haul himself back up again.
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That one made me shudder, what an awful way to go. Also morbidly fascinating at the same time. Happened near me recently actually trying to break into a solicitors I think: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...imney-of-derby-solicitors-office-8932814.html
 
cwhaley said:
That one made me shudder, what an awful way to go. Also morbidly fascinating at the same time. Happened near me recently actually trying to break into a solicitors I think: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...imney-of-derby-solicitors-office-8932814.html
Click to expand...
Yes, that sounds a very similar occurrence to the one I was told about, but in my case it would have been between 1980 and 1986 when I heard of the event, and it could have happened several years beforehand. Incidentally, I think my boss would have been asked to do a number of X-rays of the body to exclude any damage that could have occurred if the 'burglar' had been attacked by someone and either murdered, or disposed of, by dropping him down the chimney.

I can only assume that these burglars must be very thin. Even an old Victorian chimney can't be that wide. How that fat guy, Santa, manages God only knows.
 
cwhaley said:
What bodges or mysteries has anybody else unearthed while undertaking works on their homes?
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Ours had an upstairs heath of reinforced 1920s concrete. The reinforcement turned out to be an old rim off a car wheel.
 
Shaver socket connected to the live and earth of an adjacent light switch. :confused:
DSC02668.jpg DSC02667.jpg
 
HerefordHywel said:
Shaver socket connected to the live and earth of an adjacent light switch. :confused:
View attachment 152326 View attachment 152327
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That's (potentially) shocking! Liking the twine effect on the copper wire. Reminds me of when I bought a record player off a man who owned a pub -- couldn't find a spare socket for it so he used match sticks and pushed the bare wire into a socket.
 
cwhaley said:
That one made me shudder, what an awful way to go. Also morbidly fascinating at the same time. Happened near me recently actually trying to break into a solicitors I think: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...imney-of-derby-solicitors-office-8932814.html
Click to expand...

In the late 90's, a burglar trying to break in to the Penny Flyer pub (now Ealing Park Taven) in South Ealing suffered a similar fate. He slipped whilst trying to climb down a very narrow light well and wasn't discovered for weeks.
 
Upstairs wall (the tall one in the stairwell) entirely made of an old shed.....stripped off the loose pb to reveal 2 T+G shed sides, loosely held in place by a couple of nails. They looked good enought to repurpose as well, a shed. Apparently the cottage had been a one storey hovel, and the previous farmer had decided to extend upwards. No wonder the doors never closed, the windows rattled and there was not a straight wall in the place. Customer asked me to leave them be, and pb over them again.
 
The arrow on the road doesn't seem to match the direction of the car either!
 
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