I found the throne, now what?

[glopf43]

I finally went to an old abandoned farm near my property, recently exsposed by the fall of the leaves. And there over grown and leaning, the door ascew, AN OUTHOUSE! The throne (complete with home made wooden seat and lid) still standing. Now what?? How?? Why?? Safety?? Etc?? Etc?? I have dug in a dump but not a privey. So, ANY advice would be greatly welcome! >Keep those fingernails dirty, glopf 43 ps>I am returning with the digital camera to get a couple of shots of it in the condition I found it and will soon post them in this thread...

 

[glopf43]

Well, I was really hoping that some one would be able to give me some advice before I "dig-in" to this out house. This being my first time. I suppose I'll have to take down the old building first (for safeties sake if nothing else). ANY advice at all would be wonderful! As promised; here is a photo of the "throne-room" as I found it. I have others if your interested...

 

[grdigger35]

I've never dug one with the little house still standing over it, but I would definetley knock it down before digging or someone might be digging you out.

 

[diggerjeff]

here is what i would do push it over and start digging. dig a few feet down center and then dig outwards untill you find the liner. this will be a wood box . stay within the walls of the liner, and keep your hole dug straight and even as you go down. if it starts to stink stop and fill it in,you dont want to dig the if they smell bad. if it is old enough to dig it will have lost the oders. as you dig you might encounter a clay or lime layer . you might need to dig 6feet deep or so , poss. deeper. that does not look like a very big privy, but i bet it will be about four feet square and 5-7 feet deep. dig with a friend , if your soil is unstable . when you get to the bottom it starts to get real hard to dig because the soil has never been disturbed. i have never dug one with the outhouse still standing, this might be a fairly new one. the best is always on the bottom ! good luck and let us know how it turns out.

 

[Maine Digger]

I think most of us were awaiting the pictures. If it was me, I would remove the structure before excavating. SAVE that privy seat! They are collectible as is any hardware - hinges etc. What is the seat sitting on? It almost looks like a green plastic liner of some type. How old is the homesite where the privy is located? If you probe, you'll likely find some other filled pits in the immediate vacinity. Check out any of the websites devoted to privy digging; they have a wealth of information, great stories and pictures too.[]

 

[glopf43]

Thanks to all. The seat is on what seems to be a concrete with some kind of glazing or paint. The site is pretty old I think. Some of the stuff in the old barn (Magizines etc.) date to the mid to late 60s. I have already found jars laying about dating from the 50s. One cool one says on the bottom "COCAO MARSH" with two very happy looking lions embosed on the shoulders of the jar. There are several other "soft spots" in the area. As for the one with the house; the hole is open about 4 feet deep and the same square I've sent anoter pic (note the dead rabbit). No stink. Yet! Any ideas on tools and supplies. I read about the "spring steal" in this post before. Perhaps I sould start with some of the older privey sites first. What do you think?

 

[oldshoe4u]

I've never dug a privy, but Having learned in the dump but I think you just made a great point.. Look around for any other privies in that area before you knock that one over so you don't cover up another "goldmine"[]

 

[Bottleman]

Well, my personal rule is to dug the newest first because if I dig the old one and get a ton of nice early bottles I might not feel like digging the “milk bottle hole†as I call it. Do make sure you don’t put the dirt over the old one though if its that close. I would put the dirt right behind it if I were you because I usually find the older ones are beside the new one but that’s just where I live. Like diggerjeff said, the bottle are usually at the bottom so when you start hitting broken shards or hole bottles STOP using a shovel and use a small trawl or three pronged digging tool so you don’t break them.

Good luck, Tom

 

[oldshoe4u]

LOL[] "The milk bottle hole"! Thats great. Good advice Tom!

 

[glopf43]

Hey all, First I want to thank every one for all the great adivce. It helped me discover two privey holes in addition to the one still under the shed. I found them behind and to one side of the standing outhouse. I could plainly see a square depression in the ground. Using an "L" shaped 5' piece of 1/4" steel (once a crank handle for a R.V awning) I probed and it went straight in all the way! Both were good holes so I chose one and started digging. It went pretty quick since the dirt was soft. In well under two hours I had a 4'sq hole about 3 feet deep. at this point I discoverd the concrete container I was told to expect. I also found a plastic toilet paper bag. I knew at once this did not bode well! But I had come this far so I continued digging. The probe was sill sinking in almost 5 more feet. A couple more feet and I came to the "ash" and more plastic wrappers and long bundles of string that I later figured out to be the remains of femenine napkins. I lossened a foot or so more of dirt with a garden claw and removed it. Long story short; nothing but plastic wrappers and "rags". There is still about 2' to the bottom but probing this every few square inches carefully, I made contact with nothing solid. This put and end to my first dig. The possitive thing is that I was able to l locate and recognize a privey spot. Thanks entirely to all your advice and knowledge. I don't think I wil excuvate the final two feet of this hole since it is obviously modern, most likley from the mid-70s (judging from the TP wrapper design and a nearby dump full of bottles as late as 1976). Amazing to me that people still used outhouses at this late date! Now comes the hard questions. If this was a burried privey then it seems obvious to me that the one still under the shed is from an even later date. The other hole I sank the probe to the gound in is right next to the one I dug out. It is likley from the same era, Should I let it be? I found a few other likley spots some distace away that I am pretty sure are covered privies. These could be much older since the are nearer to the barn on the site (see pic attached). You can see by the photo that this seems to be a rather old structure. Should I try diging them? I guess that is a dumb question. I don't think I need to ask what all of you would do. Do I?!? I am putting a few pics of "my first dig" in this post. THANKS AGAIN, for all your advice an support! I hope I have not ramble on too long...