Lost my engagement ring!! Help!

[geekgrl]

I lost my engagement ring!! Well, not really lost.......
My husband and I went to the gym last night, and we put our rings on the dresser. We came in to find my kitten batting my engagement ring around, and suddenly, before we could get to him, he batted it underneath some door trim that has raised from the floor.
Here is the major problem: The ring is an heirloom. It is OLD OLD OLD OLD OLD, passed down from a great great great great grandmother, etc. (I think you get the idea) It's platinum with a beautiful 1K diamond. Next problem is that the apartment we live in is owned by the Historical Society and is OLD OLD OLD, too. It used to be everything from a civil war hospital to a storefront to a ballroom. It is about 200 years old. The flooring is 200 year old pine, and the wood trim is all original wood. EVERYTHING is original. The walls are brick with plaster over top of them! But, where the house is settled, the trim is raised from the floor and there is hole underneath it. The ring is down in that hole, where we can't even see it. We don't know how deep it went, etc. Tonight we are going to try a first step, and get a professional to try and remove some trim without ruining the original wood, so we can replace it.
Anyone know anything about carpentry or old houses?

[Knothead]

Yes, and you will need a professional, which you already thought of...don't be surprised if he has to remove some of the floorboards...

Let us know how it goes.

[Thud]

My next concern would be finding a place to bury the cat.



















I'm kidding, folks.

[MDS]

I agree Thud -also you might take a piece of small solid copper wire and try to fish it out. But hey who knows if you pull up a few boards what you'll find behind there.

[Bob The Great]

I'd probably stick the cat in after it. To big you say? Not today! LOL No I love cats. They can be pesky though (eating school papers!). Any way I hope you get the ring back!

[prttybean]

Good luck on getting it back. My cat has swatted my eyeglasses somewhere in the house. Good thing I wear contacts normally. Darn cats!

[jerrygarcia]

Before you start tearing things up, you might want to see if you can get a hold of a fiber optic scope. It is a flexible shaft with a like periscope and a light on it, like you see in the movies. See if it is in that hole and where. If you have an exact location, you might be able to retrieve it without removing any wood. It's worth a shot! You can probably rent one at a tool rental place.

Look at the attached pic.

[jerrygarcia]

Another pic.

http://www.provision100.com/features.html

[NeoStarO1]

Originally posted by jerrygarcia
Before you start tearing things up, you might want to see if you can get a hold of a fiber optic scope. It is a flexible shaft with a like periscope and a light on it, like you see in the movies. See if it is in that hole and where. If you have an exact location, you might be able to retrieve it without removing any wood. It's worth a shot! You can probably rent one at a tool rental place.

Look at the attached pic.

This is what I was thinking too and if you can get an exact location might be able to use a magnetic wire or something to extract it.

Not sure if rings are magneticable tho?

Just a thought.

If not go with what Knot Suggested as he would know.

[swamp-fox]

vacum cleaner??? maybe suck it out . I was gonna say get mechanics magnet on a telescoping rod but I guess platinium is non metallic. Shine flashligt all over area it should reflect some light or like mds said go fishing with coat hanger or something. Sometimes the old floors don't go all the way to the walls there may be a gap just past the trim where the flooring stops Maybe between flooring edge and wall laying there on the subflooring.good luck
swampy