any ides on hunting old home sites where the hous burned down?

[dobbie]

i know of a site that once stood a very old 2 story farm house. but for reasons unknown it was burned down several years ago in a control burn by the city. now sits a huge empty lot. I tried hunting once with no success. just tons of trash. seems they left whatever was in the house there when they burned it. i got bed springs and garbage. Is hunting a burned down site any different then one that was torn down? any help on this with greatly appreciated for I really think there may be something good there. but i havent hunted many old sites before so i am a newbie at it

 

[tabdog]

Hay Dobbie,

I have found burned house sites to be very difficult.

That's not to say that they are not good sites.

They take time patience and determination.

But the rewards can be worth the trouble.

The experience can be worth bunches in

the form of valuable knowledge.

Good luck,

 

[GRAY GHOST]

hi dobbie. burned houses are difficult to detect in the best of circumstances. the burnt wood is much like coal, which in itself will send out lots of false signals. add old iron, pipe fittings, and all manner of junk into the hunt, and you end up frustrated and wondering where you went wrong.

the burnt ruins are often pushed around by a bulldozer, scooped up and taken to the dump. the best thing to do is detect outside the path of destruction in what used to be the outer yard, and avoid the homesite itself. there might not be much land left to detect, but it's worth a shot. good luck, and hh,

 

[dobbie]

i just wasnt sure where to detect. the only thing left standing of the house is the steps leading to where the front porch used to be. then there was a place where it looked like maybe an old shed or something of that sort stood off to the side of the house site. there is an indentation of land which i am guessing was the basement or something. i want to detect it before they build on for it is for sale now. so i wouldnt know who to contact to ask permission.

 

[coinnut]

I agree with Gray Ghost. You'll go nuts if you work the immediate area where the house burned down. Start from where the signals start to thin out. Go slow and isolate targets. Leave the trash areas for last. Move into them from the outer yard inward, never from the junk area outward. I do lots of cellar holes where the colonial buildings burned repeatedly. I start away from the cellar hole and work towards it. That way I keep my sanity. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[Elton]

Hi TD:

larry was asking about you.Said he hadn't heard from you, and he was concerned..Said you were a great guy......