The time I had to pull up a floor because of a hidden pet door

Last month I was putting down new vinyl plank in a house in Springfield. The homeowner said the old carpet was just glued down, no big deal. I started pulling it up and found a perfectly cut square in the subfloor, about two feet by two feet. It was covered with a thin piece of plywood that was just painted over. I lifted it and there was a hole straight down into the basement! The lady laughed and said, 'Oh yeah, that was for the cat about 15 years ago, I totally forgot they sealed it up like that.' I had to stop everything, cut a new piece of subfloor, and secure it before I could even think about the new floor. Has anyone else ever found something totally wild hidden under an old floor?

3 comments

3 Comments

campbell.robin22d ago

Honestly that sounds like a pretty easy fix. It's just a small patch in the subfloor, not a major structural issue. I've seen way worse hidden under old floors.

valthomas12d ago

Yeah @campbell.robin, you haven't seen my floors.

terry_thomas22d ago

Oh man, my buddy found a full-on raccoon nest under his kitchen tiles last year. That was a whole thing.