SAUGUS, Mass. (WHDH) -- A home repair project revealed a secret stash of weapons in a Saugus home.

Jose Carvalho was working hard on his new home. He never expected to find anything but insulation when his workers started gutting the basement.

“They were taking the sheet rock down and the guns came down because they were on top of it,” said Carvalho.

Five weapons were found, including ammunition. They were tucked away neatly where they couldn’t be seen.

“Surprised [when I saw them] my guys were nervous -- not every day you find guns,” said Carvalho.

Saugus police said the guns appear to be 25 years or older and that their starting point is the serial numbers on all of them.

“The older the weapons are it’s a little bit more difficult to research because our current databases don’t go back as old as these weapons,” said Asst. Chief Leonard Campanello of the Saugus Police Department. “If we do discover there’s been criminal activity associated with these guns or that they’ve been illegally possessed at one time, then we’ll turn our investigation toward that.”

In the meantime, Carvalho is turning his attention to finishing up work on his house and hoping there are no more surprises.

“Second time, second house I buy there are guns on the ceiling,” said Carvalho. “I’d rather have a million dollars, but [laughs].”

Carvalho said a lot of people hide things in the ceilings and behind the insulation because they figure that it is the safest place to keep things.