12 of the craziest things found during a home renovation

If you’re planning a home renovation, get ready for the unexpected. There’s a good chance you’ll not only have some construction challenges, but you may find some unexpected things you didn’t know were hiding in your home. Here are some of the craziest things found during a renovation, courtesy of reddit users.

“I was helping a friend renovate her new house and discovered a human foot under the floorboards,” one user said. “The foot was all wired together so that the bones didn’t separate when it was moved. We called the cops and they traced the foot back to a local university.” They think the foot was used as a teaching tool for students, but said it certainly gave them a scare!

Here are 20 tips for planning a successful house renovation.

During a renovation, one reddit user found an old army footlocker which contained a machete from the Philippines, detailed war documents signed by General Patton, and dozens of military insignia. “The father of the guy who owned the locker was a dual citizen during World War I and served an auxiliary role in World War II as an engineer.”

Here are the DIY demolition tips you need to know.

“My dad found a bunch of green army men tied up hanging in his wall,” one reddit user recalled. “They were doing renovations and decided to knock down a wall. Underneath the plaster, in the space between the two plaster pieces, there were dozens and dozens of green army men, with string tied around their necks hanging down.” Bonus: In the backyard, they also found several buried doll heads.

Learn the 14 little mistakes that make your yard look messy.

One DIYer found a cookie tin full of old shotgun shells in the attic insulation. “When I found the tin I rattled it hard before I opened it. It sounded like gold coins in there. I opened it up and saw all those old paper shells leaking nitro. Luckily they didn’t go off.”

Hear are 10 hazards you haven’t thought of at home.

Imagine doing a renovation and finding a bunch of old beer bottles and cans. That’s just what happened to one reddit user while doing a bathroom renovation. “It seemed the preferred brand back then was Rheingold.” Rheingold was a beer introduced in New York in 1883 and was a popular working-class beer until operations were shut down in 1976.

“I found a bottle of 120-year-old Scotch behind a bookcase,” said one DIYer. “Since I was hired to do the remodel, I gave it to the homeowner.”

Learn how to finance your renovation without breaking the bank.

One reddit user recalled an interesting find his friend made while knocking out a wall between the kitchen and living room. “Between the wall, he found an old canister. He opened it and there were some trinkets and crumbled newspaper. It was the front page of the newspaper the day after Pearl Harbor.”

Here are 13 things you’re doing to your home that real estate agents wouldn’t.

You may learn a lot about your family when doing attic renovations on the family home. “While getting ready for some work in the attic, I found some 30-plus-year-old letters written to my dad from his mother. She had died 20 or so years before. I read the letters and realised they were written to him while he was in prison. I asked my mum about the letters and she admitted to me that my dad had been in prison for murder. My dad still doesn’t know I know.”

Here are 32 ways to save during a home renovation.

Here’s a stinky find: One reddit user noticed a strong odour when doing some renovation work in the basement. “It turns out the previous owner had decided to use their basement as a nappy disposal zone. I found over 300 used nappies in a huge pile in a corner.”

Here are 10 house smells you should never ignore.