Searching Razed Homesites---Good or Bad

[nascarfan]

Hey Gang, I have a question to ask the group, not sure if this is the best place or not, but here goes. I worked a couple of razed homes the other day and had alot of problems w/ trying to decipher good signals from the bad ones....WAY too much trash. I've heard these places are a gold mine, but so far my experiences have been subpar. I did find 1 wheaty and several clad coins, along w/ 3 matchbox cars that my son took........oh well, Just wondered what everybody else thought. Oh, I'm using a white's 6000 di pro........Thanks, Nascarfan

 

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[ClonedSIM]

I've had good luck at razed homesites in the past, but you do have to work them slowly. If you don't have to worry about keeping your holes neat and have unlimited time to work the areas, then dig everything that sounds decent and work your way through it slowly. If it's a time situation you're facing or if the area has been landsacaped since the razing, try a smaller coil and just listen carefully to your machine. Happy Hunting!

 

[Gribnitz]

They can be very bad trash wise. I tried hunting a 1930ish home a while back and had to give it up. Too many nails, round washers and assorted junk to sift through. Every step was a signal and a lot of them registered as good coin hits, but was some odd junk once uncovered.

I have an old pre-1870's vanished house I am working on now. The trash is still bad, but at least it is old trash

 

[hollowpointred]

trashy sites like this can be a real pain in the a#$!!! short of sectioning off a small section and digging out all of the junk, i dont know of a way to get to the good stuff under all that crap.that junk is probably masking some real gems though! one good thing i guess.........most guys will just pack up and leave saying that the site is undetectable before they will go to the trouble of removing the junk. it is still a lot of work though.

 

[ClonedSIM]

one good thing i guess.........most guys will just pack up and leave saying that the site is undetectable before they will go to the trouble of removing the junk. it is still a lot of work though.

Ain't that the truth. Use that to your advantage, Nascar. Go in with the mindset that you're going to dig a ton of trash and just do it. And when the coins start to pop up, just keep on going like before.

 

[JakePhelps]

I have detected on the site of an old drive in movie, there was tons of trash, most of it a strange white crubly metal, but there was also alot of other stuff, like broken tile, copper pipes, melted lead stuff, large peices of iron, and lots of hardware. There was alot of coins though, almost 5 bucks worth, most of it new but a few wheaties and tokens for the work I find it easier with the tracker4 cause if you turn the discrim up alot you can just find silver, copper, and brass, you loose nickels and gold and all the trash but o well, cant win em all

 

[Vrent]

you have to work them slow and dig it all eventually you will sort throw thw trash. I did one that I do not k now how many roofing nails I dug before I got a decent target.

what is the age of the houses?

with a ton of trash I would try to stick to older sites not from the lates 60's or so

HH vrent

 

[MUD(S.W.A.T)]

Keep @ it and HH!!

 

[Monty]

Some of my best finds have been at house demolition sites. You have to grid it off into small sections and work each section very slowly. The last house site I worked took me 3 weeks of working it about 3 to 4 hours a day. I found lots of things incidental to digging signals such as marbles, toys, dishes, bottles, etc. Once you hit a good target you can't wait to go back and dig a lot more trash! JM

 

[WV Hunter]

I use the 6000 DI Pro. I am looking at a house now that dates back to 1830. But since the original owners i could not even count the people that has lived there. I am fighting tabs,slivers of pop and beer cans from a lawn mower cutting it up. I have hit a 1884 dime a few indian heads and other odds and ends. One day i will dig every beep just to clean it out to find the good stuff later. Other days i will hit just good signals and other times i will just watch my needle. I have found that the 6000 DI Pro when running across a signal and the needle jumps like trash it will hessitate like on penny/dime then jump all over. Dig it cus it will be a coin under trash at least 8 times out of 10. I need to get pics of this place and post it. The woodwork in this place tells me he was a creat carpenter or had alot of money . I hope it was alot of money.The thing about this place is no pressure. My friend owns the place and no one is going to be moving in so i have all the time in the world and me and another friend is the only ones that hunt it.

 

[nascarfan]

Gang, Lots of great advice!!!!!!! Those 2 homes were side by side on a block where most of the homes were probably 30's or 40's and some newer homes and businesses are kind of taking over the old neighborhood. It's nice to know that other people have the same problems at these trashy sites. WVHUNTER---Thats some great tips, THANKS, I will try them nest time I go to these homes. I find myself watching the needle alot, but then its hard to concentrate on a good tight grid. Thanks guys for all of your input, this is a great website for learning and just plain olf getting fired up about MDing...........later, Nascarfan

 

[b1pw3ha]

Okay without sounding too dumb,whats a Razed homesite?

 

[Zeke]

Where a house used to be.......and the house

burned

was torn down

was moved

bulldozed

or all of the above.

 

[Xraywolf]

I hunt lots that used to have old houses on them with some pretty good success.
Its been my observation that hunting in the middle, where the actual house stood, is all but useless.
Obviously, there may be debris from the house buried there - Which is bad for getting alot of crap signals, and bad for digging.
Not only that, but of course people tend not to drop much change under their houses - So unless some fill dirt was used that had some goodies in it in the first place, your not likely to find much in the middle.
I usulally ignore the middle, and concentrate hard on the areas where I presume the front and back yards were, the sides of the hosue, old trees, sidewalks, paths and bush lines.
I go at random at first , then [over the course of days,sometimes weeks] get more methodical, and go real slow and over lap in an exagerated fashion in, I suppose, a grid.. You'd be suprised what you can find in an area that you hit already if you really slow down and properly overlap.
When the hits start getting thin, I then hot shot the middle to see if possibly anything of interest is there.

 

[Monty]

The way they raze a structure now days you are apt to find things about anywhere. The use of heavy equipment scatters things all over. Lots of times they will even remove some topsoil when removing sewer pipes and footing stones. I find a lot of artifacts beneath where an old wooden porch was located. Sometimes just dead cats but often other things! Around the edge of where the foundation lay is a good place. For some reason in the area where the kitchen or bathroom was once located is a good spot usually. Also, I find a lot of things in the area of the lot where the trailer parks to haul off the debris or the huge commercial dumpsters were located, usually very shallow. Like most sites there has to be a method to your madness. Also, I never fail to marvel at the old houses before they are torn down as many times they have dozens of intricate cuts and angles that are all done by hand. Carpenters use to be artists! JIM

 

[Maggie from Indiana]

Hello,
I live on a farm that was built in 1863. So far all I have found is alot trash too. I can't believe people used to bury there trash. Underneath our beautiful yard is a bunch of trash piles. Its amazing.

 

[rvbvetter]

It depends on how high they razed them. You don't want to stand under one of those suckers.

Its probably been said, but if you know where they stood, hunt outside of where the foundation was. I've heard some say they hunted where the house sat, but all they found was copper tubing. Gee, I wonder why.
That's not to say don't hunt there. I would cover the area outside the foundation first.
And then maybe check inside. Because you never know where the dozers might push the good stuff. HH