Metal Detector to Search Inside a House

Finding a lost ring in a backyard or a lost ring in a lake can be challenging, but finding a lost ring inside of a house can be near impossible. Think of all the places a ring can hide inside your house? I’ve heard stories of rings slipping off and falling down a sink or tub drain. Rings ending up lost in the trash while preparing supper. Women taking their ring off and placing it in a “safe place”… only to forget later where that “safe place” was exactly. You’d think your house is a controlled area, no one else is coming and going that could find the ring and pocket it. However, there are so many places for the ring to disappear, making searching for your lost ring harder than you might think.

Metal Detector Rental?

One night I got an email from Lerin asking if I could use a metal detector to search inside a house for a lost ring? I explained the challenges, but said that we did do a search recently inside a house with a hand held metal detector. I asked a series of questions to try to get a better handle on how and where she had lost the ring. You’ll never believe where … and who was responsible for the lost ring. I’ll let Lerin tell the story of the lost and found ring:

“I spent the day preparing my horses for show, meaning covering several acres of rural farmland on horseback, giving horses baths and washing their tails. I packed and loaded the horse trailer and covered a lot of ground. When I got home I noticed my shiny new engagement ring was quite dirty. I removed it and set it on the bathroom counter while I showered. I had planned to wash it after, and even set out the ring cleaner. As usual, something most cat owners are familiar with, I left the door cracked, because this sort of action requires the supervision of all three resident felines. The cats typically come and go, stealing hair ties and removing offensive objects from all horizontal surfaces.

To Do: Resize Wedding Ring

After showering I pursued other tasks, essential for the upcoming horse show, such as laundry, packing my clothing for a weekend away and packing up groceries. Ring cleaning slipped my mind and became a low priority task. I crawled into bed at 1:00am and began to go through the “to-do” list, mentally checking off items and deciding how early I should get up to account for all the things I forgot, or failed to plan in the first place. I used my thumb to reach for my ring finger. Spinning my ring has become somewhat of a nervous habit to verify its presence, as it is still 1/4 size too big. Recently engaged, we haven’t made time to do the un-fun things like setting up ring insurance or giving it back to the jeweler to be sized. It is part of the checklist.

At 1:15am I leapt out of bed … It was not on my finger. I attempted to quell the panic rushing over me, reminding myself I distinctly remembered placing it on the counter top next to the jewelry cleaner. Calming myself down, I walked to the bathroom and found it was no longer where I remembered. Did I even put it there at all? Was I reflecting on a previous day, as I have done this, now obviously risky, behavior so many times before? Had I left it in the jewelry cleaner for five hours?! Is it in the drain?!?!

With panic returning, stronger than before, I searched the cabinets, my clothing pockets (which were wet in the washing machine), the dryer, my nightstand, the shower floor … where could it have gone? I depressed the stopper of all the drains in the room and refused to run the water. At this point I fessed up and woke my fiancé. His ability to find the things directly in front of me, that I can’t seem to see in a blind panic, is one of the many reasons I love him so. I perpetually lose and/or misplace items, but never the important things. I guess I can’t force myself to pay attention to all the details. How could I be so careless? I wasn’t! If I had lost it prior, where would it be? In the sand indoor horse-back riding arena? The grassy outdoor arena? The horse wash stall? The horse wash stall drain?

We searched together until the early hours of the morning. My fiancé was not worried, or at least letting me perceive it. We attributed our inability to locate it to sleep deprivation and stress. I slept very little and began to “google” professional help. I felt I should treat the missing ring like a missing person, with my hope of recovery dwindling every passing hour.

Professional Ring Finder

I found Dan, through www.LostandFoundRing.com, and contacted him immediately to set up a time for help. He specialized in finding lost rings with a metal detector, but primarily outdoors. We discussed options. I pulled the catch on all the drains, and did not find what I was looking for. We checked the vents, and removed items one by one. Per Dan’s advice we treated the area “like a crime scene” including checking the trash and saving it. Dan asked about children and pets, and found the cats to be a weak point in our search. They usually go for hair ties, coins, string, but with his advice we redirected our search to find “where cat toys go to die”. I had already swept the floors and checked behind and under everything I could find in the bathroom. The cats don’t usually take things too far (other than hair ties), and I wasn’t sure I was innocent.

Lost Ring Crime Scene

We checked under appliances and found plenty of cat toys and cat favorites, but no luck on the ring. Our next thought came from one of Dan’s blogs, where a cat had taken a ring into the room and bed it felt it owned. Though our cats prowl the house, their favorite area to play is the stairs. We started searching our tri-level townhome from top to bottom. I walked barefoot down the hall, from the “crime scene” bathroom, down the stairs repeatedly with a flashlight. I assumed they would play down the stairs and take it to their layer, aka the lower level living room (catroom). Meanwhile, Dan e-mailed in for updates, and scheduled a time to visit and search with his metal detector over the holiday weekend. It was my one bit of peace. The whole time we questioned whether the cats would have carried the ring or cared. We began to assume the worst- that it was really lost somewhere in my horse filled day, in rural land or deep sand.

No Metal Detector Rental Needed

About to give up for the second time, I hiked back up the stairs, pausing to take a phone call. I sat on a step talking, absent mindedly examining the stairs while having an unrelated conversation. When I hung up I stood up and saw a glint in the carpeting at the back of a step. I quickly dug through the carpet attempting to find the source of the shine. My fingers grazed the carpet seam and found it! My lost engagement ring had been found. Shocked and in disbelief I called off my fiancé’s search. I e-mailed Dan to share the news and thank him for the help.

I am so glad I contacted Dan, or I would have resumed the trace-my-steps path to end up digging through sandy horse arenas with no luck. Don’t worry, we have prioritized that insurance policy and fitting. If I can find something, anyone can, with the right mindset and plan. This is coming from the woman who can’t find her cell phone when it is ringing in her hand.

Lerin

Metal Detector to Search Inside a House