Couple renovating home find 23-year-old hidden message from previous owners

The note has since gone viral online

(Getty Images)

Buying a new house can be exciting but when it comes to home renovations, it’s always a good idea to expect the unexpected.

However, when one couple began refurbishing their bathroom, they could never have prepared for the surprise they found.

Having purchased their new house in San Jose, California, five years ago, Alex and Jess Monney decided that now would be a good time to redecorate, starting with the bathroom.

But, when the couple’s contractor began to demolish the original suite he came across a note hidden inside the walls.

Concealed behind the plasterboard, the couple discovered a message from Mr and Mrs Shineski, a couple who lived in the house 23 years ago.

“Hi! We’re the Shineski’s! We remodelled this bathroom summer 1995,” [sic] the note read.

“If you're reading this, that means you're remodelling the bathroom again. What's wrong with the way we did it?!?!?"

(Twitter: Alex Monney)

Alongside a photograph of themselves, the Shineskis also included a picture of their pet rabbit for good measure, adding: "Hi! I’m Cassie the bunny rabbit. I lived here too! (I’m potty trained!)"

Monney decided to share the note on social media where it has since gone viral.

Amassing more than 80,000 likes on Twitter in just 24 hours it has also been a hit on Reddit where internet sleuths have attempted to track down the former home owners.

The 23-year-old note has since inspired the Monneys to include their own message before they complete the renovation.

Meanwhile, other people replied to the couple’s tweet with tales of the objects and messages they discovered in their own homes.

One person shared an image of a stack of Playboy magazines that he and his wife discovered stashed in their bathroom wall.

“My wife and I bought our first home last summer,” they wrote.

“Had to cut a hole in the bathroom wall to install a vent. Here’s what we found behind that wall.”

Another person shared a photo of a beer can from the 1970s writing: “My parents had their house custom built in the late 1970s.

“Dad routinely stopped by and gave the builders a six pack of beer at the end of the day on Fridays. He found this in the wall when renovating the master bathroom shower in 2013."