# Secret/Hidden Spaces?



## CrashTestRanch (Jul 14, 2010)

Anyone have some ideas?

False walls? Panels?

Whole rooms?


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## AngieM2 (May 10, 2002)

What a NEAT topic. I hope lots answer.

I'm thinking of false bottoms of drawers in quality desks.


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## mosepijo (Oct 21, 2008)

My son in law built a hidden wall in his living room. Behind what you would think are two shelving units is a 3x8 foot area to hold his gun collection. Shelving units are doors.


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## Charly (Feb 20, 2010)

I love these bookcase/doors. Had a set at our old house prior to this move and loved them. Good quality and know one knows what's behind them. 

http://www.spacexdoors.com/


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## Head Roller (Sep 24, 2010)

Now it wont be a secret anymore if we tell... hmmm.
LOL

When you do a major remodel, like we have just done, lots of possibilities present themselves. Look for "dead" space in your house, particularly behind or beside closets, behind toilets - the walls that hold your plumbing have LOTS of unused space... false floors, soffits.


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## ace admirer (Oct 5, 2005)

so what you up to?,,,,,hiding pot?.....just kidding,,,,there was a book out back in the seventies with hiding places......can't remember the name....

pull away wall baseboards
hollow books
false outlet boxes
guted vcr's noone would steal one now
pull away paneled walls
deep picture frames
box type coffie tables with pivot top
lock box under stacked wood in fireplace
had a friend that had a rock fireplace with one rock that pivoted,,,,
under stairway tred 
we have an old sideboard type table with a false bottom...intentional or not. 
wide base type ceiling light fixture,
big potted plant with pot within a pot creating a false bottom
grandfather clock usually have side panels with some room inside, they usually have a false bottom. and can have a false back. 

Wait a minute,,,,,,,,


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## Freeholder (Jun 19, 2004)

Just keep in mind that if anyone really wants to find any hidden spaces in your house, there is equipment out there that will expose them. Not to mention dogs that are trained to sniff things out, such as gun oil.

Kathleen


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## CrashTestRanch (Jul 14, 2010)

there are always ways to thwart dogs, equipment and people ...


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## Freeholder (Jun 19, 2004)

Well, if you know what they are, I would like to hear! I can think of a few things but they all involve hiding places other than in the house.

Kathleen


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## AngieM2 (May 10, 2002)

Heavens - I thought all these hiding places were to hide the clutter so stuff can be had, and company will never know how the clutter exists. Or where to put the extra food, so it won't be obvious to casual neighbors, etc.


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## DaleK (Sep 23, 2004)

BlueJuniperFarm said:


> Just keep in mind that if anyone really wants to find any hidden spaces in your house, there is equipment out there that will expose them. Not to mention dogs that are trained to sniff things out, such as gun oil.
> 
> Kathleen


There was a case in Toronto recently where an elderly person with a serious hoarding problem had died in their apartment. The smell of everything else in the apartment was so bad the cadaver dogs they took in couldn't find the body in the mess on the first two visits to the apartment.


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## Freeholder (Jun 19, 2004)

I seem to recall a case like that somewhere -- maybe in Nevada -- recently, too. But if we are talking about a normally clean (or somewhat clean, LOL!) house, and someone looking for your guns you've got stashed, going to be pretty hard to hide those securely.

Sorry, Angie, I see what you were after. I don't know if you'd call them hiding places, but my bed is up on top of a six-foot, nine-drawer dresser -- it's a twin bed, so there's an eighteen-inch wide space under the bed, behind the dresser. Same thing in DD's room. And I built a 'loft' in the door-nook in my bedroom for storage, too. This is a manufactured home -- the side walls are only a little over seven feet high, but at the center of the house the ceiling is ten feet high, so I used that extra space over my bedroom door. I should do something with the extra height in my bedroom closet, also. It's just hard to reach stuff that's up that high, without getting the step-ladder out! (I can reach the loft over the door by standing on my bed.)

If you have a double bed or larger, you could put two long dressers under it, one on each side, and use the space between the dressers for storage.

I also have quite a bit of space in the corner at the head of my bed (the head of the bed is about thirty inches from the wall -- I built a headboard for it so I could sit up in bed to read), and put two small shelf units in that corner for more storage. Next to that is my desk, a plywood top that I made, and there is a lot of space underneath it. Of course this is all in my bedroom. Since the house belongs to Grandma I try not to clutter the rest of the house too much with my personal stuff (most of the time, LOL!), which is why I had to have so much storage in my room, and in DD's room.

Kathleen


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## DaleK (Sep 23, 2004)

http://www.garagejournal.com/?p=676#more-676

Suppose I should remind folks of this.


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## bee (May 12, 2002)

I have a ceramic tile covered hearth for my woodstove that is up against an interior wall that has a stairway on the other side. Thinking of cutting from the stairway into the hearth box for a storage hidey....


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

In the house I owned before this one, I added a wall and covered it with paneling.

One whole panel was hinged so it would swing in, and there was a 4' X 10' space behind it.

I used magnetic catches to hold it shut, and kept a tall metal locker/cabinet filled with old clothes in front of it most of the time


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## Spinner (Jul 19, 2003)

Every home will have different possibilities. You, as the occupant, must use your investigative abilities to discover them. 

I once knew a couple who after living in their home over 30 years, discovered a small hidden closet inside a small hidden closet that was inside a normal closet. 

I read somewhere that someone found a hidden room under their bathroom. That would be a great find!

A neighbor whose house burnt, discovered there was a full basement under the house. They had lived in the place for several years and didn't know the basement was there. There was a secret entrance from the kitchen, (under the ref. of all places!) 

This area was settled by outlaws so they probably built a lot of hidden spots where they could hide their wives & children if the law showed up and a gun battle ensued. Once the outlaws passed, others moved in and not knowing about the hideouts, didn't search for them. 

I had a hidden root cellar under my house. The entire floor of a closet was the door. If you didn't know it opened, you wouldn't see it as a door, simply as a floor. I probably would have never noticed it if the seller wouldn't have showed it to me. I've remodeled and now it has a stairway going down to it. Much easier to use without having to empty a closet and lift the floor. 

I have a friend who used to hide their valuables under their woodshed. I'd say they are pretty safe, but hard to access in an emergency. If they had to bug out on short notice, their valuables would have to be left behind. They now have them in an unknown to me, easier to access location.


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## tallpines (Apr 9, 2003)

We have several dead spaces in our home that we use ---------but we need to store items in a mouse proof container--------that usually means a metal box.

Metal boxes easily show up on a metal detector.

So while we may be safe from the casual thief, our hiding spots are far from fool proof to anyone who comes prepared to find something!


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

I have a friend who has a trap door in a closet floor that leads to a space underneath his house

Often there is space around masonary chimneys that would be accessable through an adjacent wall or from the attic

You can hide a lot of cash in an electrical outlet box (that has no wiring)

This isn't inside, but I have a "birdhouse" I can put things in. 

The "hole" is covered from the inside with black plastic, so unless you walk right up to it, you can't tell its not a real birdhouse


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## secretcreek (Jan 24, 2010)

This reminds me a bit of the Holocost book _The Hiding Place_I read as a teen by Corrie Ten Boom (bio-faith based book on keeping faith under severe repressive conditions).

The dutch family built a false wall in a third floor home, and hid jewish people behind the wall from Gestapo searches. They regularly had drills to speed their escape techniques. The book covered how stealthy the family had to be to cover the fact that so many people lived in their house unbeknownst to the neighborhood. People traffic, noise, food, rubbish, etc. all had to be considered.

-scrt crk


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## CrashTestRanch (Jul 14, 2010)

Secret Passage - Hidden Stairway


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## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

BlueJuniperFarm said:


> Well, if you know what they are, I would like to hear! I can think of a few things but they all involve hiding places other than in the house.
> 
> Kathleen


If they're trained to 'gun oil', have every nook and cranny in the house sprayed with ode de' gun oil!

Granted professional law enforcement can have ground penetrating radar... if you've gone that bad, you're SOL, and should have bugged out to Mexico the day before. However, you're average meth head isn't going to have the hi tech equipment.... and unless someone's gone on vacation, time is always an issue with a burglar.

I still have lots of 'cavities' in my exterior wall framing (stone/concrete) where I haven't leveled it all out with sand. Keep contemplating just framing numerous caches under the slab, accessed through closet floors, to store whatever type of stuff.

Helped one of my cousins build his house, and he has an underground safe... requires cutting grout of the bathroom floor, prying up a slab of concrete, to get into... and regrouting to seal up. It's for his long term stuff.:nono:

As in so many other things, I prefer camouflage to brute force protection... once you 'find' my place, to find the 'booty', you'll need to go through a dozen false positives... hopefully they'll have given up, if they get that far.

I've also, besides the normal 'hidey holes', got numerous hollow trees.


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## radiofish (Mar 30, 2007)

Here is a link to the .pdf file, for the book of "Secret Hiding Places"...

http://drum-runners.com/01_Secret Hiding Places.pdf

I have downloaded it to several USB memory sticks as a .pdf file. I want to print it someday when I have plenty of paper and ink..

That and I have found several neat hiding places here in my place, but I wont post what they are. You can use to link to the book to find your own ideas..


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## CrashTestRanch (Jul 14, 2010)

thanks Radiofish, downloaded and saved the ebook ...

could you add your .o2 to this com thread? Intercom system


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

AngieM2 said:


> Heavens - I thought all these hiding places were to hide the clutter so stuff can be had, and company will never know how the clutter exists. Or where to put the extra food, so it won't be obvious to casual neighbors, etc.


Yup, the dirty dishes get hid in the oven!


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## Cascade Failure (Jan 30, 2007)

Spinner said:


> I once knew a couple who after living in their home over 30 years, discovered a small hidden closet inside a small hidden closet that was inside a normal closet.


This brings up a point I have had to reinforce with some of my security officers. When you find something during a search, don't assume you are done, keep looking until the search is complete.

The lesson for us is to be creative. Use Texican's false positives. Create space behind space. Leave sacrificial finds.


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## tallpines (Apr 9, 2003)

Anyone else here do geocaching?

Over one million caches hidden all over the world.

For more info about caches near you go to www.geocaching.com and type in your zip code.

I mention this only because it may give someone new ideas for hiding spots.

And, on the other hand, it may warn you that an experienced geocacher may find most all of YOUR hiding places easily----such as the bird house trick......just because they are accustomed to looking for and finding things in strange places.


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## Common Tator (Feb 19, 2008)

radiofish said:


> Here is a link to the .pdf file, for the book of "Secret Hiding Places"...
> 
> http://drum-runners.com/01_Secret Hiding Places.pdf
> 
> ...


Thank you! I have been looking for this book!


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## Old John (May 27, 2004)

My younger brother is a little paranoid,...or careful. He has a space above the door into his walk-in closet, where he keeps a little .38 special hidden, in case he needs it quick.
I just carry mine, when I think I might need it.


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## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

Cascade Failure said:


> This brings up a point I have had to reinforce with some of my security officers. When you find something during a search, don't assume you are done, keep looking until the search is complete.
> 
> The lesson for us is to be creative. Use Texican's false positives. Create space behind space. Leave sacrificial finds.


no no no... don't tell anyone... :grin:

Rather a 'searcher' take the cheese offered (cheap) than the cheese hidden. If someone takes my old beater .22, hopefully they'll be happy, and not look further for the expensive .22.

Or, find that not so well hidden Benjamin (sitting on the bookcase) and be happy... and leave the silver collection alone... 

Next time you have the wallboards off (paneling, wood, or sheetrock), if your hiding something in the walls elsewhere... place some metal sheeting between every other stud.


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## CrashTestRanch (Jul 14, 2010)

Texican, metal detecters are gonna have a heckava time in houses, all that plumbing and wiring is gonna set that thing a blaze


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## secretcreek (Jan 24, 2010)

tallpines said:


> We have several dead spaces in our home that we use ---------but we need to store items in a mouse proof container--------that usually means a metal box.
> 
> Metal boxes easily show up on a metal detector.
> 
> So while we may be safe from the casual thief, our hiding spots are far from fool proof to anyone who comes prepared to find something!


So get a glass jar -cookie jar style that has a plastic screw on lid maybe?
-scrt crk


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## secretcreek (Jan 24, 2010)

tallpines said:


> Anyone else here do geocaching?
> 
> Over one million caches hidden all over the world.
> 
> ...


I've geocached. Haven't in a long while...my family didn't enjoy it as much as me. 
-scrt crk


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## jamala (May 4, 2007)

My house plans had a "secret room" built into them. It was suppose to be in the office behind sliding bookshelves and it accessed the area under the main staircase. We didn't build it that way as we wanted the area under the stairs for a toy closet for the kids and were building a "safe room" in another part of the house.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

Hypertuffa home made containers with rubber gasket sealed lids would not show up on a metal detector. The metalic contents would though. Any metal detector would go nuts in a house where metal screws and nails have been used to assemble the interior. 

As for keeping a dog off the scent, pepper or hot peppers, horseradish, and empty jerky packages would be a slight deterrent. Fox urine or other canid lures or musks would draw a dog away from your hiding place. 

I've got quite a few stash places in the works where we are doing remodeling.


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## DENALI (Mar 25, 2008)

I once helped pour a new basement for a house that included a 24x24 attached garage. Half of the garage, closest to the house was also poured as a basement then capped with a cement roof/garage floor as well. This gave the owner a 12x24 safe room that laid outside the footprint of the home itself. If someone was looking for hidden rooms within the home there wouldnt be discrepancies in total floor space or room sizes found. The room was accessed behind a heavy hidden paneled swing away door which then revealed a browning safe door. Pretty slick and who would ever think there would be a hidden room under a homes solid concrete garage floor.


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## TheMartianChick (May 26, 2009)

Our house has a "secret" closet. I have often wondered if our place was a stop on the underground railroad. We used to live next door to a home that was a part of it and our current home is only about 5 city blocks away. I still wouldn't trust it as a super-secret stash, though.


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## demeter (Jul 15, 2010)

30 odd years ago I worked for a fellow who had bought a Victorian house. He found many hidden spaces while doing repairs and remodeling. Nothing much inside them, found some old jars, I think, in one. (illegal hooch hideaway?) One closet upstairs had a panel in the floor that could be removed and you could jump down through it and land in another closet downstairs.

demeter


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## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

secretcreek said:


> I've geocached. Haven't in a long while...my family didn't enjoy it as much as me.
> -scrt crk


I believe you really needed to 'motivate them'... as in drive up into the mountains, go for a couple of miles, to a nice deep and dark canyon... then throw your car keys (or a facsimile) into the chasm. Tell them, to get home, we must find the geocache with the compass, gps, and spare keys... otherwise, we're bear snacks! 

Of course, they may never take a ride with you in the mountains.


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## Sarabeth (Sep 14, 2008)

Somewhere recently I read about using hollow core doors as hiding places....I think it was drug dealers though hiding drugs or money in the doors. At the top of the door was some sort of device (string?) for pulling up the loot. It was somewhere on this forum, but I can't remember where.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

Sarabeth, never heard of that one. It would be a good idea though.

What I meant to say in my previous post about the fox urine and such was if you put that somewhere away from your stash a dog would probably be more attracted to the lure. Pepper, hot pepper and horseradish would be good to put around your stash area. But I really don't know how well it would work with a well trained dog and a handler determined to find something in your house.


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## tallpines (Apr 9, 2003)

texican said:


> I believe you really needed to 'motivate them'... as in drive up into the mountains, go for a couple of miles, to a nice deep and dark canyon... then throw your car keys (or a facsimile) into the chasm. Tell them, to get home, we must find the geocache with the compass, gps, and spare keys... otherwise, we're bear snacks!
> 
> Of course, they may never take a ride with you in the mountains.


Hmmm!
Now that's an idea to consider!


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## CrashTestRanch (Jul 14, 2010)

Danaus29 said:


> Sarabeth, never heard of that one. It would be a good idea though.
> 
> What I meant to say in my previous post about the fox urine and such was if you put that somewhere away from your stash a dog would probably be more attracted to the lure. Pepper, hot pepper and horseradish would be good to put around your stash area. But I really don't know how well it would work with a well trained dog and a handler determined to find something in your house.


MythBusters just did an episode on sniff dogs ... very interesting ...


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

CrashTestRanch said:


> there are always ways to thwart dogs, equipment and people ...


like start using the same gun oil to oil your sewing machine , every door hinge , every lock , ect...

create as many false possitives as possable


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

> Somewhere recently I read about using hollow core doors as hiding places


The reason you HEARD about it is because the cops FOUND it LOL


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

> like start using the same gun oil to oil your sewing machine


They aren't trained to find the *oil*.
They are trained on the gunpowder (explosives)

"Gun" oils are no different than any other lubricants, but the powders are unique to firearms and ammo


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## fetch33 (Jan 15, 2010)

I spent a semester of college in an old manor house in England that had been turned into a school. We had the run of the place and there were secret passageways throughout the house.. very elaborate ones.
We know some people who have a unique house probably built in the 60's. It has a secret passage leading I suppose to an attic or room above a staircase. There is a whole wall of lower cabinets with bookcases on top. The ladder to the secret room is at the back of one of the cabinets. You'd have to look very closely after opening up the cabinet to actually see anything. A large person would be hard pressed to actually crawl through the cabinet and up the ladder though. I guess people were smaller 50 years ago!

There are all kinds of things on youtube

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GavzsMW8ec[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4ram8nFW1o&feature=related[/ame]


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## Txrider (Jun 25, 2010)

Cops are using infra read heat detection for finding a lot of hidden stashes these days as well. So if a wall panel or such shows a little different temp than the rest because of the open space behind it it's a flag..


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## CrashTestRanch (Jul 14, 2010)

Txrider said:


> Cops are using infra read heat detection for finding a lot of hidden stashes these days as well. So if a wall panel or such shows a little different temp than the rest because of the open space behind it it's a flag..


they would then have a hay day in all these track houses around here, tons of dead space construction ....


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## whodunit (Mar 29, 2004)

We remodeled a bathroom in a previous house. I built a half wall and put a built-in cast iron tub on one side and a vanity on the other. I later realized that if I removed the sheetrock on the vanity side, I could access the hollow section in the front portion of the tub through the vanity cabinet door. It was long enough to insert anything long (such as a rifle) into that space and it would be surrounded by cast iron. The entrance could easily be covered with a panel or just things typically found under a vanity such as bottles of cleaner, toilet paper, etc.


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## megafatcat (Jun 30, 2009)

The toe kicks under cabinets can easily be made removable and you can pack a lot in there. Waterproof around plumbing in case of leaks.


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## Roadking (Oct 8, 2009)

Our old house has several "hidden" areas. Dating to the mid 1800s, it's an adventure with each new project. Just re-organized the attic to start building knee walls and finish it off as a hobby room and discovered an old chimney. Goes from basement to attic floor (about 25'). Apparently when they re-roofed the place, they built a new, larger chimney and just cut this one off. Good stash place, but a better "extra" chimney for my wood stove, once I build it back up and put it thru the roof.
Matt
as for making your own "hidey holes", and remodel job can add empty spaces, you just need to be creative; we've found old doorways, fireplaces, etc. that just were walled over. I love old houses.


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## Shrek (May 1, 2002)

CrashTestRanch said:


> Anyone have some ideas?
> 
> False walls? Panels?
> 
> Whole rooms?


If you want to hear stories of in house hiding spaces find an old bootlegger, rum runner or moonshiner in your area and listen to their tales of hiding their goods from the revenuers. Some of those old geezers tales will leave you with a :shocked: look on your face at their inguinuity from 50 to 70 years ago.

Also do not consider installing hidden hiding space in a vehicle. Regardless of the use of the storage space, if the access to it is hidden it violates Federal regulations and carries a hefty fine and jail term possibility.


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## beaglebiz (Aug 5, 2008)

bee said:


> I have a ceramic tile covered hearth for my woodstove that is up against an interior wall that has a stairway on the other side. Thinking of cutting from the stairway into the hearth box for a storage hidey....


We had a closed over staircase (in the kitchen) when I was a kid. I always thought of "Anne Frank" and the secret room. There was a window at the landing, small but up high from the outside (where the landing was).
I have a fake campbell's soup can I got at a garage sale that works as a secret stash. You'all just dont know if its the chicken noodle, tomato or cream of mushroom


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## CrashTestRanch (Jul 14, 2010)

old houses are cool Roadking, lived in one built in the early 1800's off the riverfront in Savannah ... that was a huge, cool house, all kinds of hidey holes ...

wasn't thinking nefarious Shrek, just keeping things from the 2 legged predators ... my gp's used to brew in the hidden floor space under the kitchen in Cali, the house was built into the side of a mountain and that space was considered the "basement", not really big enough, but they did brew under there... preacher came over for tea one hot summer afternoon, and the bottles started popping tops, g-ma ushered the preacher out and gave g-pa a tongue lashing ound:

can you direct me to the Federal Regulations on the "hidden spaces" in vehicles?


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## TheMartianChick (May 26, 2009)

Roadking said:


> we've found old doorways, fireplaces, etc. that just were walled over. I love old houses.



One of our rentals still has a pair of pocket doors that were walled up. We found them when making a sheetrock repair. We will likely remove them at some point when we have time.


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## Common Tator (Feb 19, 2008)

radiofish said:


> Here is a link to the .pdf file, for the book of "Secret Hiding Places"...
> 
> http://drum-runners.com/01_Secret Hiding Places.pdf
> 
> ...


Gah! does anyone else get an eror message that says "this file is damaged and cannot be repaired" when they try to open this?

I reinstalled Adobe reader, and still get the message.


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## Roadking (Oct 8, 2009)

Common Tator said:


> Gah! does anyone else get an eror message that says "this file is damaged and cannot be repaired" when they try to open this?
> 
> I reinstalled Adobe reader, and still get the message.


A while back, it happened to me. I re-downloaded it onto a smaller usb drive and it worked...don't know what happened, but my NEC just must have preferred the smaller drive (shrug)
Matt


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## CrashTestRanch (Jul 14, 2010)

you can try this link:

http://www.uaff.info/SecretHidingPlaces.pdf


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## Common Tator (Feb 19, 2008)

Thanks CrshTestRanch!
his one works for me!


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## CrashTestRanch (Jul 14, 2010)

Common Tator said:


> Thanks CrshTestRanch!


you are welcome, my friend ... :buds:


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

demeter said:


> One closet upstairs had a panel in the floor that could be removed and you could jump down through it and land in another closet downstairs.
> demeter


That was just a laundry chute...


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## CrashTestRanch (Jul 14, 2010)

suitcase_sally said:


> That was just a laundry chute...


I wondered about that, what was it's purpose, LAUNDRY CHUTE makes perfect sense ... wonder if there was a laundry room close?


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## secretcreek (Jan 24, 2010)

I read the secret hiding places book...very interesting! 

@ Texican: Think I'll keep my family, even if they are goofs for not sticking with geocaching. *(each kid wanted to hold the gps and I probably snarled at all the fussin'). 
-scrt crk


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## spiffydave (Mar 19, 2008)

Danaus29 said:


> As for keeping a dog off the scent, pepper or hot peppers, horseradish, and empty jerky packages would be a slight deterrent. Fox urine or other canid lures or musks would draw a dog away from your hiding place.


Don't think that's going to work well enough for a trained dog and handler. Just watched a Mythbusters and they tried EVERY tactic to put a trained dog off the scent of contraband and absolutely none of them worked.

Here's the write-up:

http://fandomania.com/tv-review-mythbusters-8-18-–-“hair-of-the-dog”/

Very impressive...


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## CrashTestRanch (Jul 14, 2010)

spiffydave said:


> Don't think that's going to work well enough for a trained dog and handler. Just watched a Mythbusters and they tried EVERY tactic to put a trained dog off the scent of contraband and absolutely none of them worked.
> 
> Here's the write-up:
> 
> ...


well nefarious folks could throw out some "scents" that would throw off the dogs, just make sure they're not on property or maybe "seeds" "poppy flowers in the garden" etc ... dogs are EASILY juked in a fixed controlled environment ... especially one YOU control ...


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## spiffydave (Mar 19, 2008)

CrashTestRanch said:


> well nefarious folks could throw out some "scents" that would throw off the dogs, just make sure they're not on property or maybe "seeds" "poppy flowers in the garden" etc ... dogs are EASILY juked in a fixed controlled environment ...


I'd urge you to watch the episode. They were in a very controlled environment for some of the tests and the dogs were not easily "juked" in any way.


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## CrashTestRanch (Jul 14, 2010)

spiffydave said:


> I'd urge you to watch the episode. They were in a very controlled environment for some of the tests and the dogs were not easily "juked" in any way.


I watched it, and yes there are ways ... if *YOU* control the environment the dogs have to work thru ... put the ball in your court not theirs ...


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## margoC (Jul 26, 2007)

BlueJuniperFarm said:


> Just keep in mind that if anyone really wants to find any hidden spaces in your house, there is equipment out there that will expose them. Not to mention dogs that are trained to sniff things out, such as gun oil.
> 
> Kathleen


But burglers don't have that equipment so chances are, if you have a hidden room your stuff will be safe. 

The previous owners of my house put in a dark room. I took the sink out and put my gunsafe in it's place. It' has tables and drawers in it as well. I have plans for making a slide out door to cover it but I havn't gotten too far with it.


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## spiffydave (Mar 19, 2008)

We're in the process of building and I'll be discussing ideas in that excellent pdf book you pointed out.

Thanks all!


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## Gottabenutz (May 11, 2010)

Capped PVC containers hidden in bucket of new cat litter, animal food, small things can go inside a desktop CPU, put into the freezer, stored with holiday decorations, What kinds of things (or size if you don't want to name items) were you looking to hide? 
Whenever we remodel or build here; we always build in a hidey hole for future use/making false positives.


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## candyknitter (Apr 23, 2009)

Great thread! My granparents had an old mill house in Thame when I was a kid and the wardrobe had a false back which hid the stairway to a small attic room. The rest of the attic you got to from a stairway and minstrels gallery in the lounge so you didn't realise a room was "missing".
One thing I would say is to be sure you let your loved ones know where your hidey holes are - my mum bought a house from a probate sale and six months into renovations they pulled up the kitchen floor and found the last owners jewellery!


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## Gottabenutz (May 11, 2010)

For women, a box full of old purses can be good hidey places. My grandmother tossed out about five thousand dollars because she forgot she hid money in one!


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## demeter (Jul 15, 2010)

I wondered about the laundry chute thing. But the house already HAD a laundry chute on that same floor located in the hall. It went directly through the floors to the basement. A big tin lined thing. The floor panel was nothing like that, and ended up in a closet by the front door. I don't know what it was for. 

demeter


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

Mail chute? Don't know...

I know! I know! It's a quick escape for the lady's lover when the hubby comes home!


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

Gottabenutz said:


> For women, a box full of old purses can be good hidey places. *My grandmother tossed out about five thousand dollars because she forgot she hid money in one*!


Well, apparantly it _WASN'T_ a good spot!


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## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

When it came time to clean out our family home, I made double dog sure to check 'everything'. Found close to a grand, in dozens of places. Benjamins as bookmarks... no 'hidden' compartments... just hidden amongst the accumulata.


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## frazzlehead (Aug 23, 2005)

We had a drop ceiling in the basement at several of our previous houses, and when we went on vacation, Dad would hide valuables up in the space under one of the panels.

Surely it wouldn't hide from a determined searcher, but it certainly put the 'good stuff' out of the normal search path of your average house burglar.


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## Cascade Failure (Jan 30, 2007)

texican said:


> no no no... don't tell anyone... :grin:


Yeah, I hear ya, but it is their safety and mine at stake. I sure as heck hope no one that I have trained will ever be searching any of my loved one's property.


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