Remember when we used to mix mud in a bucket with a drill?

Got a call for a patch job in an old Portland apartment, found the wall had three layers of rock lathe behind the drywall. My drill motor gave out halfway through mixing a big batch of 90 minute mud. Had to finish the mix by hand with a paint stir stick, took forever. What's the oldest building material you've found hidden behind a wall?

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3 Comments

joel_brown195mo ago

Found a whole section of wall stuffed with old newspapers from the 1920s once. They used them like insulation. Could still read some of the headlines. That rock lathe is a nightmare, especially when your tools quit on you. Hand mixing that thick mud is a special kind of arm workout.

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ninah105mo ago

What was the weirdest headline you could still read?

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reese_taylor693mo ago

Has anyone ever actually read an old newspaper they found in a wall? I saw a post once where a guy found a 1930s paper with a headline about a bank robbery, and it sounded wild. Makes me wonder what stories are hiding in those walls people tear down. @ninah10 remember that thread where someone found prohibition era ads? Crazy how much history gets stuffed in there.

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