dysondestijl
Well-known member
Final
Seeing as this has been spoken of in the Junior forum... Abandoned houses!!
- Thread starter dysondestijl
- Start date
Help Support VacuumLand:
dysondestijl
Well-known member
Not like a house, but I've been in an abandoned wire-works factory and there is an office there that still has a filing cabinet that STILL has files in it!! Albeit most of the are strewn across the floor!!
ultimatevacman
Well-known member
Here's a link to a video of an old abandoned library and swimming baths near me.
Gus!
It's like that when Tom and I go through HOOVER. It's beautifully sad.
It's like that when Tom and I go through HOOVER. It's beautifully sad.
I am on the email list of an estate sale service -- they go to people's homes and, as a paid-for service, inventory and arrange every detail of a sale. I got an email from them last week saying that their next sale was going to be "very unusual."
It was going to be in an abandoned, rambling, turn-of-the-century three-story house in the (once upon a time luxurious) West Adams District that had stood vacant and abandoned for about a decade. The house had belonged to an eccentric old single man (hmmmmmmmmm) who had lived in alone in that big old place for many years. There was a fire on the third floor about 10 years ago that did major structural damage.
Not too long after the fire, the man died. The family members (from somewhere in the Midwest) who inherited it just let it stand there neglected until a few months ago. Some of them came out to see the house, including a sister of the old man who hadn't seen the house in more than 60 years. I can just imagine her heartsick shock when she laid eyes upon that time-weary, dilapidated old house that in its glory days was a beautiful and opulent home.
The family pretty much just walked away from the house, selling it lock stock and barrel to a real estate agent who then arranged the sale of the contents. One of the guys there told me that the house will most likely be demolished because it's structurally unsound and the next big earthquake will probably bring it down.
I saw on the inventory list in the email "ancient Electrolux vacuum" and" funky old metal canister vacuum." So of COURSE I went over there today.
My Lord.
Can you say "The Munsters House?" That's EXACTLY what this place looked like. I truly expected to see Lily and Herman at any moment. Words cannot describe it. I could kick myself for not bringing my camera with me. The sale resumes Thursday and I hope I can remember to go back over there to get some photos. Anyway... peeling, dusty, grimy, smoke-charred wall paper and that old oiled tile on many of the floors. Gaping holes in the walls, floors and ceilings. Mountains of stuff everywhere. The estate sales guy said the place was crammed with so much stuff that there was "only so much we could do with it."
I asked one of the estate crew if they had run into any ghosts there. He said no, but they did find a big old dead crow who had somehow impaled itself on a metal spike sticking out of the ground in the back yard and it was all rotting and decomposed. He said that very bizarre scene, set in that creepy old house, really gave them all the willies.
The "funky old metal" canister vacuum was an old Clarke commercial machine, fairly small and nondescript. All it had was the hose.
The Electrolux was a real prize -- a rotting, peeling, rusting vision of horror that they had pulled out of the basement. I saw a kooky old lady walking around and around and around it in circles, as if she was doing some kind of incantation over it. A man came over to her and she said to him in a stage whisper, "Ohhhh, isn't that a treasure! I've seen these on eBay for HUN-DREDS of DOLL-LARS!" I had to literally hold my hand over my mouth to keep from laughing out loud. I feigned a coughing fit and walked away.
I also saw a garish yellow and green plastic-body Lewyt floor polisher, and a Hoover 115. I was a tiny bit tempted by the 115 but it had no bag, the cord was deteriorated, and the red on-off switch was missing. It did have an agitator but the bottom of the machine was all full of cobwebs and cooties, so back it went.
I didn't stay there too long because the place smelled moldy and musty and I was concerned about breathing stuff in. They had said in the email that people should bring respiratory masks and I did, but that wouldn't keep mold spores from getting in my clothes and hair.
I'll tell you ... you sure do run into some real kooks at these estate sales. People who spend hours to meticulously pick through every single thing and then leave with nothing, or else something like a little 10¢ notebook. I saw many people digging through the piles of dirty, dusty old clothes. It made me get a little bit sick in my mouth.
It was going to be in an abandoned, rambling, turn-of-the-century three-story house in the (once upon a time luxurious) West Adams District that had stood vacant and abandoned for about a decade. The house had belonged to an eccentric old single man (hmmmmmmmmm) who had lived in alone in that big old place for many years. There was a fire on the third floor about 10 years ago that did major structural damage.
Not too long after the fire, the man died. The family members (from somewhere in the Midwest) who inherited it just let it stand there neglected until a few months ago. Some of them came out to see the house, including a sister of the old man who hadn't seen the house in more than 60 years. I can just imagine her heartsick shock when she laid eyes upon that time-weary, dilapidated old house that in its glory days was a beautiful and opulent home.
The family pretty much just walked away from the house, selling it lock stock and barrel to a real estate agent who then arranged the sale of the contents. One of the guys there told me that the house will most likely be demolished because it's structurally unsound and the next big earthquake will probably bring it down.
I saw on the inventory list in the email "ancient Electrolux vacuum" and" funky old metal canister vacuum." So of COURSE I went over there today.
My Lord.
Can you say "The Munsters House?" That's EXACTLY what this place looked like. I truly expected to see Lily and Herman at any moment. Words cannot describe it. I could kick myself for not bringing my camera with me. The sale resumes Thursday and I hope I can remember to go back over there to get some photos. Anyway... peeling, dusty, grimy, smoke-charred wall paper and that old oiled tile on many of the floors. Gaping holes in the walls, floors and ceilings. Mountains of stuff everywhere. The estate sales guy said the place was crammed with so much stuff that there was "only so much we could do with it."
I asked one of the estate crew if they had run into any ghosts there. He said no, but they did find a big old dead crow who had somehow impaled itself on a metal spike sticking out of the ground in the back yard and it was all rotting and decomposed. He said that very bizarre scene, set in that creepy old house, really gave them all the willies.
The "funky old metal" canister vacuum was an old Clarke commercial machine, fairly small and nondescript. All it had was the hose.
The Electrolux was a real prize -- a rotting, peeling, rusting vision of horror that they had pulled out of the basement. I saw a kooky old lady walking around and around and around it in circles, as if she was doing some kind of incantation over it. A man came over to her and she said to him in a stage whisper, "Ohhhh, isn't that a treasure! I've seen these on eBay for HUN-DREDS of DOLL-LARS!" I had to literally hold my hand over my mouth to keep from laughing out loud. I feigned a coughing fit and walked away.
I also saw a garish yellow and green plastic-body Lewyt floor polisher, and a Hoover 115. I was a tiny bit tempted by the 115 but it had no bag, the cord was deteriorated, and the red on-off switch was missing. It did have an agitator but the bottom of the machine was all full of cobwebs and cooties, so back it went.
I didn't stay there too long because the place smelled moldy and musty and I was concerned about breathing stuff in. They had said in the email that people should bring respiratory masks and I did, but that wouldn't keep mold spores from getting in my clothes and hair.
I'll tell you ... you sure do run into some real kooks at these estate sales. People who spend hours to meticulously pick through every single thing and then leave with nothing, or else something like a little 10¢ notebook. I saw many people digging through the piles of dirty, dusty old clothes. It made me get a little bit sick in my mouth.
Other bad things that happen to abandoned places--the COPPERJACKERS!!!!They tear up walls,ceilings,floors,whatever to salvage the copper cable and pipes to sell at the copper recycling places.So the place is left as a mess and unsafe to future possible users and urban explorers.Then for sure the place is condemned and the wrecking balls and bulldozers move in-and the building is gone forever.The video to the libary is sort of sad-looks like the place was stripped of most of what was valuable-then the vandals moved in-what is it about smashing glass that appeals to people-is it the sound and senstation?Noticed the windows as shown by the cameraman were smashed.Guess the place had some kind of metal roofing-this is another target for metal theives.So the building no longer has an intact roof and water damage sets in-you could see the floors badly wrecked from that.It almost looked like what was left of the buildng HVAC boiler was ripped apart by vandals or metal theives.And of course rain and snow,animals get in becuase of the smashed windows.The native critters can crawel in thru the holes in the roof as well.I am sure that abandoned hose that was empty for over 15 years in the area I am in has been visited and possibly lived in by possums,raccoons,squirrels,birds and insects.Then these do their share of damage.The place has several holes in its roof.
ultimatevacman
Well-known member
It no longer has a roof at all now! It's got a plastic layer and some wood where the roof used to be. I guess what was remaining of the roof was stolen.
super-sweeper
Well-known member
Guess what I did today?
I finally worked up the nerve to "Romp" trough an old abandoned house up the street from me, And let me tell you, It was interesting!
I went in trough a window, since all but the locked front door had been boarded over. This place has sat vacant since the 1990s, I'm not sure why no-one ever did anything with it. I peeked in through the laundry room window, and it was a musty mess. There was an ANCIENT cast-iron furnace thing, along with a newer Kenmore washer. Then came the Kitchen. The roof had a hole punched in it where a tree landed, coating the retro stove in leafs. The floor was MESS. The entire house was piled likely 2-feet high in junk!
There where some neat paintings on the distant wall in one room, and the sitting room was a bunch of old boxes and who-knows-what. There was a nice old-looking Kenmore Kerosene heater, With the old rusting tank laying on it's side on the outside wall. One of the windows was busted out, a few boarded over. Some simply had the neat old-timey swinging screens nailed to the wall.
Here's some cool APPLIANCES I saw:
Old blue iron
Maybe Sunbeam chrome sqaure-ish mixer
Hamilton malt maker
Etc. I didn't get close to them, Due to all the junk! I did however find a Vacuum, A Jet-Vac shop-vac sitting in front of the Kenmore heater. The wheels had busted off due to plastic and wait or something. I didn't bring it home, as it didn't feel right to me at the time, Instead sitting it in-front of the laundry room window I entered trough. I placed it there because the house is marked for Demolition, which is sad considering it is not in that-bad of dis-repair. I'm thinking of going up there, removing the fallen, rotten tree, cutting the yard and making the exterior nice so the city will stop complaining over it. It was only marked about 1 month 2 days ago from today.
Guess what was in the front yard? A BOMB SHELTER. Unfortunately, I was not able to check the cool think out because it has been boarded over by screwed-on metal sheeting,
There's a de-tached garage, from which I can only see trough the window a B&D electric weed-eater and what appears to be a bucket of tragic-grade asphalt.
But you're not going to believe me on this part, THE ELECTRICITY WAS STILL ON! When I was exiting the kitchen, I saw one of those newer flat light switches that you push in instead of up. It was a night-time style with a glowing red light. I thought "No way, It must be glow-in-the-dark". I flipped that switch, and Oh Snap the Kitchen light went on!
I had enough of the messy old place. It used to be owned by a woman, who unfortunately passed years back. What I think happened was the Son then used the house for storage, Especially with the living room being overloaded with stuff like chandeliers.
-Alex.
I finally worked up the nerve to "Romp" trough an old abandoned house up the street from me, And let me tell you, It was interesting!
I went in trough a window, since all but the locked front door had been boarded over. This place has sat vacant since the 1990s, I'm not sure why no-one ever did anything with it. I peeked in through the laundry room window, and it was a musty mess. There was an ANCIENT cast-iron furnace thing, along with a newer Kenmore washer. Then came the Kitchen. The roof had a hole punched in it where a tree landed, coating the retro stove in leafs. The floor was MESS. The entire house was piled likely 2-feet high in junk!
There where some neat paintings on the distant wall in one room, and the sitting room was a bunch of old boxes and who-knows-what. There was a nice old-looking Kenmore Kerosene heater, With the old rusting tank laying on it's side on the outside wall. One of the windows was busted out, a few boarded over. Some simply had the neat old-timey swinging screens nailed to the wall.
Here's some cool APPLIANCES I saw:
Old blue iron
Maybe Sunbeam chrome sqaure-ish mixer
Hamilton malt maker
Etc. I didn't get close to them, Due to all the junk! I did however find a Vacuum, A Jet-Vac shop-vac sitting in front of the Kenmore heater. The wheels had busted off due to plastic and wait or something. I didn't bring it home, as it didn't feel right to me at the time, Instead sitting it in-front of the laundry room window I entered trough. I placed it there because the house is marked for Demolition, which is sad considering it is not in that-bad of dis-repair. I'm thinking of going up there, removing the fallen, rotten tree, cutting the yard and making the exterior nice so the city will stop complaining over it. It was only marked about 1 month 2 days ago from today.
Guess what was in the front yard? A BOMB SHELTER. Unfortunately, I was not able to check the cool think out because it has been boarded over by screwed-on metal sheeting,
There's a de-tached garage, from which I can only see trough the window a B&D electric weed-eater and what appears to be a bucket of tragic-grade asphalt.
But you're not going to believe me on this part, THE ELECTRICITY WAS STILL ON! When I was exiting the kitchen, I saw one of those newer flat light switches that you push in instead of up. It was a night-time style with a glowing red light. I thought "No way, It must be glow-in-the-dark". I flipped that switch, and Oh Snap the Kitchen light went on!
I had enough of the messy old place. It used to be owned by a woman, who unfortunately passed years back. What I think happened was the Son then used the house for storage, Especially with the living room being overloaded with stuff like chandeliers.
-Alex.
Super Sweeper-Sounds like you had a good time "urban exploring"That place you went thru sounds sort of neat-too bad they want to tear it down.In some of these abandoned places the grass is so thick you need the Hardee Sideboy mower and a bush hog to level it.Was neat you saw some appliances and vacuums.If there is mold on the walls in the place-would be prudent to wear a respirator-the mold could be toxic.That is why I didn't try to enter the abandoned place that I described earlier.Toxic mold can lay you down! and you can't tell it from harmless stuff by looking.Needs like lab tests-So folks who deal with it or go into places where mold is wear the face masks.
super-sweeper
Well-known member
Thankfully,
I don't remember seeing any mold, The place was in remarkable condition besides a busted window, that small hole in the Kitchen roof, A rusted exterior exhaust pipe to the beutriful vintage Kenmore Kerosene heater, Rotting wood in the back of the laundry room, and a missing vent for the cast-iron heater.
I didn't DARE open that fridge, Though!
I did have a GREAT time, It's a very neat old house, I wonder why they left all the place coated in stuff?
I'll likely be down there Saturday doing what I can to mow the lawn and take care of an fallen tree or two...or three...
-Alex.
I don't remember seeing any mold, The place was in remarkable condition besides a busted window, that small hole in the Kitchen roof, A rusted exterior exhaust pipe to the beutriful vintage Kenmore Kerosene heater, Rotting wood in the back of the laundry room, and a missing vent for the cast-iron heater.
I didn't DARE open that fridge, Though!
I did have a GREAT time, It's a very neat old house, I wonder why they left all the place coated in stuff?
I'll likely be down there Saturday doing what I can to mow the lawn and take care of an fallen tree or two...or three...
-Alex.
fan-of-fans
Well-known member
There was an abandoned house next door to me. In the laundry shed out front was an old TV set, a toaster, and a beige GE round canister vac. The man that bought the house gave me the GE, it still ran but the sides were rusted through, and the hose and attachments were gone. I remember looking in the house and all that was in there was a wingback chair, an ottoman and an old white dining room set. There was a screen porch in back that had some old stools in it. There were two gas wall heaters that said "Saf-T-Heat" on them, an avocado Kenmore fridge, and an old electric Tappan apartment stove from the 1940s-50s. The roof used to leak and some of the ceiling tiles had fallen down. They put a new roof on it and rewired it, but another man bought it and built a new house.
The old house was really not in great shape and was actually two old cabins from the 1930s-40s that had been connected with a living room in the 1950s.
The old house was really not in great shape and was actually two old cabins from the 1930s-40s that had been connected with a living room in the 1950s.
Supersweeper-amazing the electricity still works in the place-in the urban explorer videos on YouTube-they often try the power and water.Adamthe woo does this.Glad there is no mold in the place-makes exploring easier and safer.Hope you do OK cleaning up the yard.Being a good neighbor!Sort of like one of the abandoned places here-the neighbors mow the houses front yard.The house in the other neighborhood-further away and abandoned longer-the yard just stays the way it is-someone mowed it at one time.That is the house with the bad roof and mold on the walls that I don't want to try to go in becuase of the mold.
I would have a ball
with that house. Just think of it!!!!!!!!!!!!!
with that house. Just think of it!!!!!!!!!!!!!
fan-of-fans
Well-known member
Another abandoned house
There was another more interesting abandoned house across from my grandparents. The man that grew up in it built a new house next door to it and pretty much abandoned the old one just as it was with everything inside. The shrubs and bushes had grown up around it to where you could barely see the house. Right before it was to be torn down we went inside. As soon as we opened the front door the musty smell almost knocked us down. We couldn't stay long as we probably would have gotten sick from it.
The house still had old furniture, unmade beds with sheets on them, old clothes, and the kitchen table still even had old dishes on it. No vacuums that I could see, but we only made it into the first two rooms before the musty smell got to us.
There was another more interesting abandoned house across from my grandparents. The man that grew up in it built a new house next door to it and pretty much abandoned the old one just as it was with everything inside. The shrubs and bushes had grown up around it to where you could barely see the house. Right before it was to be torn down we went inside. As soon as we opened the front door the musty smell almost knocked us down. We couldn't stay long as we probably would have gotten sick from it.
The house still had old furniture, unmade beds with sheets on them, old clothes, and the kitchen table still even had old dishes on it. No vacuums that I could see, but we only made it into the first two rooms before the musty smell got to us.
The strong musty smell probably means there is mold in the place-Wise that you got out.
During last sunday again visited the abandoned house at Maple Ridge-this is the one that was abandoned long ago-walked around the back--has a HUGE yard-overgrown-looked like a neighbor did mow it.Lots of kiddie play equipment-swingset with broken plastic swings-A sandbox/wading pool full of murky water-bet its a frog pond now.Overgrown rear porch-back sliding glass doors pried off their tracks and leaning on the wall.A broken gold colored lamp fixture lying on the porch.A broken down plastic playhouse-faded and all apart.Again didn't go in-Fearful of the mold and whatever else is living inside.Guess the broken in sliding doors is where the kids broke in described by a neighbor.The former resident sure had kids-all of that play equipment.Hasn't been used in many,many years.The swings definetly unsafe to use.Maybe someday if I can get a mask-just might venture inside.Have to go carefully-there are homes that are lived in all around the empty one.And on one of the side outside walls-the siding has fallen off leaving a huge hole in the wall under the roof.Another place for "new wild squatters" to get in.The siding peices were laying on the rear porch along with the doors and other stuff.Even an old "BBQ" grill.
Eerie images in abandoned farm houses
.
.
.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ijens-eerie-images-abandoned-farm-houses.html
.
.
.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ijens-eerie-images-abandoned-farm-houses.html
The pictures of the abandoned farmhouses reminds me of the houses I saw while hunting in S.Dak-on the abandoned farms.You would see the same sort of things while looking in the windows.
super-sweeper
Well-known member
Well, the house looks SO much better...
I'm sure the neighbors are happy with it, My little Murray push-mower had a time dealing with 1-foot grass and wild flower-prickly things.You should've seen me on the walk home, I was COATED in those darn black sticky spurs from all those flowers!
I did what I could with that fallen tree, mainly splitting huge limbs in two and carting them to the road. My little trusty Craftsman saw couldn't handle the big-boy stuff!
I'm sure the neighbors are happy with it, My little Murray push-mower had a time dealing with 1-foot grass and wild flower-prickly things.You should've seen me on the walk home, I was COATED in those darn black sticky spurs from all those flowers!
I did what I could with that fallen tree, mainly splitting huge limbs in two and carting them to the road. My little trusty Craftsman saw couldn't handle the big-boy stuff!
beekeyknee
Well-known member
YBS Headquarters
Chris (Turbo500),
That's a lovely building you have there. We have our share too, no doubt. I think what keeps these monstrosities up is multifacited. The cost of tearing them down in a crowded urban setting is high. There is probably hazordous materials inside which would or should be contained. Someone would have to buy, raze and redevelope the property. Plus the cost of permits, inspections, disruptions of infrastructure and the underground car park along with other hidden costs could be expensive to deal with.
One thing that struck me as I viewed the photo of this building; see what's on top? An indeterminate number of mobile phone antennae. I'm sure this helps defer the cost of keeping an old unattractive building around, especially if the building is tall, the tax base is low and the lease space for the antennae is high. I wouldn't be surprised if this is becoming a problem in many urban areas. The opposite is true in the countryside - ugly towers dotting the landscape. As long as there are people and governments making poor decisions for profit or poor planning for the future these monstrosities will be with us. In other words, most likely forever.
Brian
Chris (Turbo500),
That's a lovely building you have there. We have our share too, no doubt. I think what keeps these monstrosities up is multifacited. The cost of tearing them down in a crowded urban setting is high. There is probably hazordous materials inside which would or should be contained. Someone would have to buy, raze and redevelope the property. Plus the cost of permits, inspections, disruptions of infrastructure and the underground car park along with other hidden costs could be expensive to deal with.
One thing that struck me as I viewed the photo of this building; see what's on top? An indeterminate number of mobile phone antennae. I'm sure this helps defer the cost of keeping an old unattractive building around, especially if the building is tall, the tax base is low and the lease space for the antennae is high. I wouldn't be surprised if this is becoming a problem in many urban areas. The opposite is true in the countryside - ugly towers dotting the landscape. As long as there are people and governments making poor decisions for profit or poor planning for the future these monstrosities will be with us. In other words, most likely forever.
Brian
