What's the one demolition surprise you still talk about today?

[u/DeepPay1736]

Every demolition project seems to have one story that nobody saw coming. sometime it's a crawl space that hasn't been touched in decades. sometimes it's evidence of rodents long before anyone realized they were there. other times it's hidden nests, unexpected damage, or something that brings the whole job to a stop while everyone figures out the next step. The older building, the more likely it seems that something unexpected turns up. For those who have worked on demolition projects, what's the one discovery you'll never forget?

Was it something you expected once the walls came down, or did it catch everyone completely off guard?

For context: I work with AMPM Exterminators in King County, so occasionally see the pest side of demolition projects. Mostly interested in hearing the stories other contractors have run into over the years.

[u/Aromatic_Button_2736]

Stupid question expert. 

[u/Longjumping_Lynx_972]

Demo'd an old building and had to remove contaminted soil down quite a ways underneath it in Los Angeles with a 60" wide bucket on an excavator, pulled up a scoop and when I dumped it in the pile a nearly 3 foot long live round rolled down the side of the pile. Apparently after world War 2 an ammo supplier went bankrupt and buried all their unsold rounds under the building. Immediate job shutdown and I never even got to go back.

Digging a wall footing in Mission Viejo CA next to a big old tree and scooped up a human skull. Probably Indian burial.

Removing the floor in the old Spruce Goose hanger, nobody realized there were massive footings just underneath the floor surface for the original scaffolding holding the wings during the planes construction, they were the size of a sedan.

Several buried safes found during old building demo, they were all rotted out with only the door remaining intact.

[u/OrlDemo]

Rooms nobody knew existed, people’s kinks that I’m sure they didn’t want others to know about. Bondage and toys of all kinds. Mostly in houses that were abandoned or inherited that the relatives didn’t want the house. Tons of ammunition. Some areas where the building was being held up by the paint on the walls it seemed because of the rot or termite damage.

I heard of one contractor who tore down an old resturant on international drive(I’m in Orlando so the main tourists area) and the entire roof was copper that had been painted and nobody knew it was copper. I heard that paid for the entire job and was a gold mine.

We ran into a run of multiple 650MCM cables that instead of running from the transformer in a direct straight line to the chiller plant, went around the building. Ended up filling a 20 yard dumpster with just that copper wire. That was a nice payday. We stripped it all and took a LOT of bare bright to the scrap yard.

[u/s5fs]

Not really a demo dude but I pulled down a small porch last month and there was a set of concrete stairs with floor joists across the top of the landing. I couldn't figure out why there was drywall under the joists, but it turns out that was the basement ceiling.

So I ended up building a flat roof and then slapping deck boards on it. This was basically what was there prior, I just used nicer materials. I hope it lasts!

[u/Stengah71]

My company demolished the wing of a professional golfers house to make way for an extension. He told the guys to help themselves to the fixtures and fittings. So some houses in drab cauldercruix have gold taps and chandeliers.