Something odd in my attic

[jekajekalynn]

... and I really want to know why someone would put this up there. lol

See.. back when we were getting our house, the home inspector said that there was a big cast iron stove up in our attic, in the FAR corner of our attic no less. He also said that looked old, and that it was bigger then the current entrance to the attic.

So here's what puzzles me, why would someone go through all the trouble of hoisting a huge and very heavy stove upwards into a ceiling when the old chimney/fireplace location was like 4 feet from the back door? The garage we have also used to have an old shed to so it would be a better storage place to hold it I would think. Also, lets say you infact did want to put the stove back in? Seems like it would be harder to get it down then it was to put it up.

I wonder why it was put up there and in such a remote and out of the way corner of the attic?

 

[snarlingcoyote]

The stove may pre-date the shed, or the person who put it up in the attic vs. the shed might have been worried about rust. When electricity made it to your house, a new stove would've been bought, but the old stove was likely a sizeable investment, and the owners at the time might have been worried that they might have lost electricity and would need the stove.

 

[tvguy]

It it just sitting there, or is it connected or appear to have been connected to an exhaust vent?
Maybe a previous owner used the space for living, and needed heat?

Is the floor under it renforced? Those stoves weigh alot, I'd be concerned about it crashing througt the ceiling below it.

I mean, I've found some odd stuff in my house, but those all are sloppy construction or cheapness on the part of the contractor who built the house, nothing left behind. Things like 1950's style plumbing threads used on a house build in 1979. Or flooring that is lower below the dishwasher than in front of it, so you can't get the old dishwasher out without cutting the bottom off.

 

[MizTink]

i don't know, but my sister found a sofa in her attic. also bigger than the opening!

 

[snarlingcoyote]

Remember, a lot of older homes have been retrofitted multiple times. My parents didn't even have access to their attic (built in 1921) except through the roof until they took out the ceiling fan and put in attic steps!

 

[Pumbaa_]

I don't know if I would have accepted the house with that in the attic. Remove ALL your old junk before I take possession please

 

[Wall-E1]

I don't know if I would have accepted the house with that in the attic. Remove ALL your old junk before I take possession please

Don't you watch American Pickers? That stove could be worth some serious cash to the right collector.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

I don't know if I would have accepted the house with that in the attic. Remove ALL your old junk before I take possession please

Oh, there were things in my 200+ year old house up in MA that came with the house and, frankly, I think none of us wanted to remove them. Heck, I consider that just part of the charm of a house that isn't new!

 

[snarlingcoyote]

Don't you watch American Pickers? That stove could be worth some serious cash to the right collector.

Snort. We left an antique, running little tractory critter at one house for the next owner's use (you could snow blow or run ditches or bushhog etc. with it) and the new owners were adamant that we remove it. . .so I put it on Ebay with orders that it be removed by X date, and pocketed a BIG chunk of change!

 

[Kathi OD]

When our next-door neighbor passed away (about 8 years ago, at the age of 85), his daughter was surprised to find a full-sized bathtub in the attic!

The attics weren't designed to be storage areas and so had no access. While some people did put in stairways, our neighbor didn't, so his daughter had no idea how it got up there. It's still there as they would have had to take down the ceiling to get it out.

 

[dismom2]

Is the floor under it renforced? Those stoves weigh alot, I'd be concerned about it crashing througt the ceiling below it.

This was my first thought. I'd be worried it might crash through the ceiling and hurt someone or something.

Perhaps it is worth something or sentimental. Maybe the previous owners forgot about it, or didn't want to go to the trouble of removing it. Maybe it was there before the previous owners moved in? Did you ask the previous owners about it? Did you look up there before you bought the house? You should post a picture of it.

 

[indimom]

Our 104yo house came with an antique wringer washer and antique washtub in the cellar. We sold the wringer washer, but that tub is mammoth and weighs a ton. It's staying unless someone wants it bad enough to move it themselves. We've been told the metal alone is worth a good chunk of money, but getting it out of there isn't worth it to us.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

OP didn't say the age of her house, but my guess is at least 50 years old, probably way older.

Those houses weren't built like today's houses. They're pretty sturdy and stout. I wouldn't worry too much about something crashing thru'. I might have the structure checked, although the home inspector should've already done that, but it wouldn't be my primary concern.

If that's a woodstove the latest it was probably put up there was maybe 1948 or so. (Most houses had electricity before WWII, but almost all houses had elecricity within a year or two of WWII ending.) If the house is out in the country, it would really depend upon when the Co-op got out there - but, yeah, I suspect that stove has been there a v. long time. If you lived anywhere near me, I have a bunch of relatives that would be happy to figure out how to get it out of your attic and pay you cash money to get that stove!

I suspect you'd have takers for it if you advertised, and some of them would even be able to figure out how to get it out of your attic with minimal disruption!

 

[Colleen27]

I don't know if I would have accepted the house with that in the attic. Remove ALL your old junk before I take possession please

You might be surprised by what people will pay for that old junk. The woman remodeling the house across the street from us has made about $5000 from selling her old (cast iron) radiators, clawfoot tub, and woodstove as she updates the house.

 

[golfgal]

It is very possible that at one time it was actually used in the attic and that is why it is there. In older home, attics were rooms, often used for storage but also for other purposes. If the home is old enough, often a 3rd floor was a ballroom or other type room. It could have been servant quarters as well.

 

[pumba]

in our home....it is three stories high....first floor was the home over 100 years ago they made the attic into another small apartment.......then the second floor had an attic put in........then the attic turned into a third floor apartment that had my mothers piano that was the type that was high in the back....so when they wanted to take the first floor piano and trade it with the third floor piano.....they found that it couldnt come down.....so third floor piano had to be taken apart and out the window...

when we remodeled we found alot of stuff in the walls...like old bottles and medicine type bottles too.....my uncle's sheriff billyclub.....I figured as long as we didnt find any bones or bodies we were all set......

 

[Maridw]

Things left in older houses I can understand, but how about a toilet left above the existing bathrooms in a business? Our dance school recently moved and at the old studio in a space above the bathrooms was an old toilet. We never did figure out why they put it up there, let alone HOW they got it up there.

Oh well, it's not ours to worry about now. Let the new residents (when they get some) worry about it.

 

[roscoepc1]

OP didn't say the age of her house, but my guess is at least 50 years old, probably way older.

Those houses weren't built like today's houses. They're pretty sturdy and stout. I wouldn't worry too much about something crashing thru'. I might have the structure checked, although the home inspector should've already done that, but it wouldn't be my primary concern.

If that's a woodstove the latest it was probably put up there was maybe 1948 or so. (Most houses had electricity before WWII, but almost all houses had elecricity within a year or two of WWII ending.) If the house is out in the country, it would really depend upon when the Co-op got out there - but, yeah, I suspect that stove has been there a v. long time. If you lived anywhere near me, I have a bunch of relatives that would be happy to figure out how to get it out of your attic and pay you cash money to get that stove!

I suspect you'd have takers for it if you advertised, and some of them would even be able to figure out how to get it out of your attic with minimal disruption!

Not necessarily...I grew up with woodstove heat (to save money...we had a two bushes, so wood was free, and my parents were poor), and I'm only 42...so did many of my family and friends....my aunt and uncle had a cookstove in their kitchen that they used daily right up until they moved to town! (maybe 10 years ago?)

But yes, it's probably worth around $1000 if it's enameled and in decent shape....

 

[NotUrsula]

It could be up there precisely because it is large and heavy. If the people who built the home thought that they might want to turn the attic into separate living quarters some day, they might have put it up there at the time that the house was built, because they would not have been able to add it afterward without tearing out the walls or floor to get it in.

 

[lovesmurfs]

It could be up there precisely because it is large and heavy. If the people who built the home thought that they might want to turn the attic into separate living quarters some day, they might have put it up there at the time that the house was built, because they would not have been able to add it afterward without tearing out the walls or floor to get it in.

Like Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel!!

Our house was built in 1939 and we still have a woodstove on the 2nd level -- the only source of heat in our bedroom! When we moved in 12 years ago, it seemed so....romantic. After 12 Chicagoland winters, the honeymoon's over.