Home renovation projects come in many different varieties, and everybody has their own reasons for deciding to get one going. Sometimes they might be serious repairs that are needed to help the house’s overall stability, and other times, they might be more of a decorative project or a hobby to spruce things up. No matter what the inspiration is for the new addition, however, one thing remains certain – you never know what kind of surprises you might encounter along the way.
For one Imgur user who had spent the entire summer helping his boss build a new wine cellar for a client in Vancouver, this was most certainly the case. It was his job to transform the client’s basement into a beautiful wine repository, but it ended up turning into so much more!
(Ever started out on some home renovations and then realized you were in over your head? Let us know in the comments section below, and then don’t forget to like this video and make sure to subscribe for more!)
It all began when the man decided to share his amazing tale with the entertainment website Imgur. “I built a wine cellar with my boss for a client,” the man shared online. “Found something pretty neat! It was built with local sandstone and reclaimed brick,” he explained.
While the wine cellar was set to be an entirely new addition to the home, many of the bricks that were being used to build it were actually “reclaimed bricks” that had been around for quite some time. This would ensure that the beautiful new space for storing fine wine would have more of a “rustic” feel to it. Shortly after they began the project, however, the man happened to notice that one of the bricks had a strange set of markings on it.
“Here is one of the reclaimed bricks with a partial stamp,” he shared. What could those strange symbols on it possibly mean? At this point, the man could have easily just shrugged off his discovery and continued on working, but he was now genuinely curious about the label on the mysterious-looking brick.
He was sure that the stamp must hold come kind of significance, so he decided to dig a little bit deeper into the history behind the brick’s origins. Luckily, there are several online resources that can be used to identify different marking that are found on old bricks. Some of the markings may indicate who the firm responsible for making the brick is, and others might be a label indicating exactly when and where the brick was made.
“I did some research to find out where these bricks had come from, and how old they actually are,” said the man. He figured that with all of the information that’s available online, it would most likely be pretty easy to find what he was looking for.
However, it took him a little bit longer than he initially expected – although it was absolutely worth the wait in the end. The man discovered that the reclaimed bricks were originally made in Illinois by the Illinois Brick Company, which had been shut down all the way back in 1938.
“It’s quite impressive seeing as though the wine cellar is on Vancouver Island,” he said after learning of the brick’s origins.
While this did clear some things up, it also left the man with even more questions at the same time. How did bricks that were crafted in middle America make it all the way onto a Canadian island? And where had they first been used? Well, as it turns out, the man would then go on to make yet another fascinating discovery.
“One day, I reached for a brick, only to have the end of it fall off,” he said. “That revealed what I am assuming to be some poor factory workers’ old house key inside. Either that, or I am about to embark on an adventure as grand as National Treasure 2!” he joked.
It’s crazy to think that something as valuable as a person’s house key might be hidden inside of a random brick! It’s pretty unlikely that the key was placed there intentionally, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not still an amazing find.
Hopefully the man will keep us updated if he ever does embark on some kind of crazy adventure that’s worthy of its own film! Who could have known that there would be so much history behind an old set of bricks being used for a modern improvement?
(Have you ever found something strange while preparing for a new renovation? Let us know in the comments section below, and then don’t forget to like this video and to subscribe for more!)
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