# looking for a privy in sandy soil



## Lilacpa (Jun 8, 2007)

I have asked this question before, but i really can't find this privy because the soil is  sand and dirt mixed alot more sand the probe goes in easy in every spot. the yard isnt that big and i know there had of been a privy the house is 1800's. everytime i go up there, i probe around and it's driving me nuts because i dont want to just randomly dig up the whole yard...lol
 anybody have any suggestions?


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## bottlediger (Jun 8, 2007)

well you can probe on angles and feel for privy walls you'll know when you hit a brick liner or a stone liner, wood liners however are sometimes tough if you dont know what your feeling. If you think you found a wall try to probe out the other sides of the wall. Good luck

 ry


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## Lilacpa (Jun 8, 2007)

hmm the privy in my yard didnt have a liner unless i didnt dig it big enough, found a few bricks in the hole but thats it.I filled it in anyway was too hard by my self.
 i will try to probe at an angel on both privys.
 thanks,
 lee


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## bottlediger (Jun 8, 2007)

If you dug a privy it had a liner, if they didnt the hole would colapse and the crapper house along with the person taking the crap would fall to a nasty death haha. You might not have dug it wide enough, you might have not been in a privy but a trash pit, or the wood liner might have rotted all way. Hard to say without seeing it myself.


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## RICKJJ59W (Jun 8, 2007)

* I wouldStart at the back lot line and probe in 2 foot sections, you said the yard was (small right)? cover the whole yard and be done with here and there probing, if you cant find it then, the backhoe was a good idea[8D] Rick*


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## dirtmover (Jun 9, 2007)

Well I hate to disagree , but not all privy's had liners. I have one on my property that's been there for over sixty years. I know who dug it and it was used from the mid 70's to 1984 by a family of five and never caved in .It is still standing ready to go. (no pun intended) I also know several miners in Oregon who dug and used privy's and none of them put liners in them .


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## Bixel (Jun 9, 2007)

I also disagree that all privys have liners, I have proved that wrong alot. I live in sandy soil as well, and have found something that I am fairly sure is correct. In the sandy soil, they couldnt dig a 20 foot hole, unless the hole was 10 feet wide, because the sand causes the hole to collapse in. I have found that the deepest we get here is about 8 feet, I have only seen 1 bricked privy that I know of. Alot have very crude walls, made of some sand, and bricks, but thats about it. I guess at the depth of 8 feet or less, they didnt block off the holes....


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## epgorge (Jun 9, 2007)

> I know who dug it and it was used from the mid 70's to 1984 by a family of five and never caved in


 
 You had better give that one a few more years. []

 The privy I am working on now doesn't have a liner either but one side of it is a ledge.


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## RICKJJ59W (Jun 9, 2007)

*Id say a few hunderd years...[]*


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## RICKJJ59W (Jun 9, 2007)

*A privy eight foot deep, with out a liner would still cave in, be it sand or dirt, it wouldn't last to long, they would have to keep digging new holes, unlike a lined hole that last a long period of  time, you must not be digging privies, and if there are ones without liners the people who dug them didn't know what they where doing, and made sure they used a liner the next time they dug one, the only hole that doesn't have a liner is a trash pit. RickW*


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## logueb (Jun 10, 2007)

I don't think that all privies had liners.  I know down here in the rural areas the pit was shallow, had no liner and had to be cleaned out regulary. "Been there , done that".  Probably very few on the forum have had to use used a privy on a regular basis. (Porta-pots don't count).  Got "indoor plumbing" when I was about 12 years old. Thought that it was the best thing since sliced bread.  No more cleaning the privy.  This could be the reason you can't locate one at this site.  Sandy soil is very absorbent and the pit does not have to be 8 feet deep to work.


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## epgorge (Jun 10, 2007)

> you must not be digging privies, and if there are ones without liners the people who dug them didn't know what they where doing,


 
 This one is a privy as it still has the shathouse sitting over it. It isn't eght feet deep though, it is about 5-6 ft deep and had a clean out. They may not have known what they were doing, but it did the rtrick for them and it is still standing.


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## RICKJJ59W (Jun 10, 2007)

Put it this way to find one without a liner is a rarity,thats what ya got thar.


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## appliedlips (Jun 10, 2007)

Ryan and Rick are correct,almost all old pits had a lining.Most old woodliners are rotted away,especially in sandy and well drained soil.In clay,which holds moisture in the hole,the wood walls last longer.9 out of 10 woodliners I dig are rotted away except maybe a reminent of a corner post or two in the bottom.Regardless of soil type the privy will have a different feel.You can still feel a "woodliner",most of the time when angle probing.There are yards that I still have a hard time finding pits on and some I cannot find any at all.Being persistent is the key,I have found some of the best holes after a 3rd or 4th visit to a lot.I have also found good holes others have missed,after digging 3 or 4 others on a lot.Don't dig any with the building on top!Haha!Good luck,I hope you find those holes and they are full of glass,Doug.


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## RICKJJ59W (Jun 10, 2007)

*yea Doug we are in that per Dick a ment right now, we got permission to dig this end of row home house its 1850 so are the four next to it, the yard is small but...we cant find the pit, I have found pits in football sized lots, but sometimes I cant find them in postage stamp size yards, this yard is loaded with river type stone through out the whole yard! its like they laid stone as a base some where in time, for some weird reason, it hits half way down the probe every time,I probed real close to the house right out side the back door and found some shards and bones they where mighty old but as i dug I hit a tera-cotta pipe, and the hole got hard, there is an another pipe that goes through what we thought  was a pit at the property line, but the rocks stopped us again!  I hate yards like this! there  I feel better now. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





RickW...we shall return.*[/align]


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## RICKJJ59W (Jun 10, 2007)

You used the key word to this whole debate....(old) pit not new pit,the one you just took a dump in last night (old) pit the ones we dig to find bottles. R


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## zanes_antiques (Jun 10, 2007)

Hey Lila, If you can wait until next weekend, I can take a ride up and help you find a privy there.


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## epgorge (Jun 10, 2007)

There are privies up here still attached to the old barns... You dig from the outside under. Most of them are four to six feet, without liners, or they were wooden which rotted out. My neighbor down the road has turned his old privy into an outside bathroom. Still has the wooden seats but has plumbing and is hooked into the septic system. It is quite nice as a guest bathroom. It even has a wash basin. There are contra-indications to most everything. I would assume it has allot to do with geologic formation. Many places up here have limited glacial til and is mostly slate ledge. Difficult, at best to get 10 feet dig and you don't need a liner.
 Ep

 Up here there were usually two outhouses. One for summer away from the home and one for winter attached to a woodshed, an L or an old barn. 

 Ep.


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## epgorge (Jun 10, 2007)

*RE: $5 Dr. Jone's 4 oz. apple green*

.


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## RICKJJ59W (Jun 10, 2007)

*RE: $5 Dr. Jone's 4 oz. apple green*

Nice DR Jones I dug one last fall..


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## epgorge (Jun 10, 2007)

*RE: $5 Dr. Jone's 4 oz. apple green*

Rick, 
 Nice looking bottle ..
 What does the embossment say? Is that the 6 1/2 inch tall one with the beaver on it?
 Yeah, I made a mistake by posting that here... so I deleted it (I thought) and reposted it under collectors chat https://www.antique-bottles.net/forum/m-109885/mpage-1/key-/tm.htm#109899

 Has anyone heard of Napolean Ohio milk? IT is a pint I think but it is weird, with a longer nec?

 Ep


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## baltbottles (Jun 11, 2007)

*RE: $5 Dr. Jone's 4 oz. apple green*

Liner or no liner that is the question? From My experience I've found that every old pit I have dug had some sort of liner. Weather it was wood, barrel, brick, or stone It was lined. I however do agree that depending on what type of soil the pit is built in and what type of liner was used will be detrimental to the liners survival. I have dug brick liners where the first 6 or so feet of the liner had been robbed from the pit to be used else ware after the pit was abandoned. Wood lined pits in heavy clay hold moister and the wood survives very well after a couple feet into the pit. Wood lined pits in very sandy soil don't survive well at all and you may only find a slight delineation in color to designate the edge of the pit and maybe only the bottom foot of a corner post surviving.  I do however agree that in an area with bedrock or very geological stable soil very close to the surface may not require a liner. I have herd of pits in Boston that are actually cut into the bedrock because it comes so close to the surface in parts of town. I would also think that the acidity of the soil would also play a major role in the survival of wood lined pits. More acidic soil less of the liner surviving. And The type of wood and thickness of the planks used to construct the pits. Some types of wood are less prone to decay then others. A pit in sandy soil lined with thin pine boards probably didn't last too long where as a pit lined with thick redwood boards probably lasted much longer. Overall I believe there are many factors that have to be taken into consideration. Weather newer pits have liners or not I can't help you with Most pits I dig were built before 1900

   Chris


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## Lilacpa (Jun 11, 2007)

I went away for a few days so i didnt get to see all the replies, thanks. iam going to go out now and dig the privy in my back yard wider to see if it had a liner for sure because i know  it was the privy.I never did end up digging it further then about 3or 4 foot deep was too hard by my self .....the privy  at camp in the sand we'll i need to get back up there and probally get some  help .
 thanks
 lee


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## LC (Jun 11, 2007)

*RE: $5 Dr. Jone's 4 oz. apple green*

I found what was left of a privy back in the 70s in Cincinnati. The dozer had dozed away all of it but a couple feet. Only privy I ever got the chance to dig in ! I found a few pontiled sodas, most of them broken, and some open pontiled meds. The privy was a wood liner, and what was left of the planks were still in pretty good shape after all that time. I was truly amazed as to their condition. I have often wondered what kind of wood they were to enable them to survive all that time.


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## zanes_antiques (Jun 11, 2007)

*RE: $5 Dr. Jone's 4 oz. apple green*

It seems to me the more wet the hole stays the better the wood is when dug.


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## RICKJJ59W (Jun 11, 2007)

*RE: $5 Dr. Jone's 4 oz. apple green*

yesindeedee..one 1850 pit we dug, had all the slats of the barrel still visible in the walls, and it was a wet hole.Rick


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## LC (Jun 12, 2007)

*RE: $5 Dr. Jone's 4 oz. apple green*

I might be wrong, but from what I can remember, I was quite surprised that the wood had an abundant amount of moisture, and the contents of the hole was not real wet, but did seem quite moist as well, and not the easiest fill to dig in. That was a long time ago. It was a hell of a rush for me, the only time I have ever got the chance to dig pontiled bottles.


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## logueb (Jun 12, 2007)

*RE: $5 Dr. Jone's 4 oz. apple green*



> It seems to me the more wet the hole stays the better the wood is when dug.


 Your right Zane.  In the early years when they floated logs down the rivers, when the sawmills got overloaded they sunk the logs in the rivers using chains to weigh them down.   Some of these logs are still underwater and preserved today (they make nice firniture if you don't get caught pulling them up out of the river). Large sawmills still wet the wood in the holding area until it can be milled.  Ever wonder why that cut piece from the privy seat survived all those years?  The moisture and the absence of air preserves the wood.  Just a thought.


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## camron_poe (Oct 5, 2007)

*RE: $5 Dr. Jone's 4 oz. apple green*

Not all privys have liners, In the part of illinois i live in the soil is very strong so actually few of the privys i dig actually have liners


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## RICKJJ59W (Oct 5, 2007)

*RE: $5 Dr. Jone's 4 oz. apple green*

NO soil is that strong when the hole is first dug back in the 19th century.mabey it is now but not when thay dug it.holes that looked like they had no liners where wood liners, that rotted to almost nothing, you have to look close for traces of powdered wood in the walls.
 I am not saying there isn't any privy's with out liners, because people do what they want to do, back then and now days.
 There are no set rules.BUT... when a privy was dug  99% of the people who dug privy's put in liners to be sanitary.be it wood,brick,stone,or barrel they had liners.never dug one with out. Rick


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## lexdigger (Oct 5, 2007)

*RE: $5 Dr. Jone's 4 oz. apple green*

Where I dig there is usually two to three feet of topsoil dirt and then the ground turns to a hard clay. We dig brickliners, stoneliners, and woodliners. When I first started digging I'd call the woodies a "clayliner" because the walls just looked like hard clay. When I finally got into a wet one you could still see what was left of the wood around the bottoms of the walls. It was definatly lined with some type of wood. Since then I've dug wet pits that still had huge support beams, intact and in place. Chris


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## RICKJJ59W (Oct 5, 2007)

*RE: $5 Dr. Jone's 4 oz. apple green*

Amen!


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