GROWING PROBLEM

Unwanted: Suburban bungalow with spider infestation, illegal electricity,
tropical moisture levels and fuzzy, black, mould-covered walls that make
residents sick.

William Lane, a former policeman turned realtor, recalls a fire he was
called to as a police officer.

Although the smell of smoke usually hits people first, when he opened
the front door, "a rotten, wet, soggy mildew reek," offended his
senses, he says.

"The ceiling was like porridge and it fell through," says Lane, who
wandered through the house with other officers noticing the mould had
engulfed the home. "You could poke your finger through a wall."

Hundreds of loonie-sized black and white spiders had invaded one
marijuana grow op examined by Reinhard Thomas of Professional Home
Inspections Ltd. Mould had also grown its way up the walls, causing
more than $50,000 in damage.

Thomas has been to 10 grow ops in less than a year and a
half.

He is currently the only indoor air quality inspector in Calgary
certified by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. who specializes in
finding mould -- and suggesting how to remove it.

Mould can cause side effects such as allergic reactions, birth
defects, miscarriages, headaches, memory loss, destruction of brain
tissue, loss of hair, skin disease, fungal infections and sinus
irritation, says a CMHC brochure.

Calgary's illegal grow-op industry seems to be blossoming, despite
joint efforts by the RCMP and Calgary Police Services in the Southern
Alberta Marijuana Investigation Team (SAMIT).

One of largest grow operation in Calgary's history was uncovered in
February, snagging 2,319 plants.

At that point, $13.5 million of illegal marijuana plants and $500,000
of growing equipment had been seized as of Jan. 1, with 55 people charged.

Growing pot might be less popular if it didn't provide such an
outrageous payoff for dealers.

Calgary police cracked down on $101.8 million worth of marijuana last
year -- a total of 85,000 plants.

It was almost twice as high as the previous year's findings of $53
million, which in turn was enormous compared with $9 million in plants
detected in 2001.

Due to public awareness, the last five years have seen a significant
increase in police seizures of grow ops, says Sgt. Trevor Daroux of
the police drug unit.

"A large part of our success is from the public being willing to come
forward and report it," says Daroux, citing 971 tips last year
compared with 450 tips in 2003.

"The problem, itself, is not only in Calgary, but also in Canada. It
is bigger than one single agency."

A group looking at the problem is the Stop Marijuana Growth Steering
Committee, which is a 40-member community taskforce born in 2004.

It includes Ald. Diane Colley-Urquhart, former Calgary Real Estate
Board president Don Dickson, members of Calgary Police Service,
realtors, insurance agents and bank experts.

The committee is discussing strategies to combat the grow-op problem,
says Daroux.

Although a mechanical engineer by trade, Thomas didn't enter the home
inspection business until after he spent five years building a cottage
at Pine Lake, driving up on weekends to finish it.

"I learned how not to put a house together," says Thomas, who
immigrated to Canada from Germany in 1978. "I was excited to get into
something new (home inspection) because I knew I could do it."

There is a "very high number" of grow-ops in Calgary and Alberta, says
Thomas, who started Professional Home Inspections Ltd. in 1999.

"Lately, there has been an increased number of calls referred to me by
the CMHC to inspect former grow-ops, and from people who moved into or
are considering to buy a former grow-op home," he says.

Mould is the biggest concern about living in a former grow-op, he
says.

Once the plants are gone, what's left can be a shell of house unfit to
live in, depending on the extent of the mould and the structural damage.

Although 95 per cent of grow-ops have some mould, some sophisticated,
well-engineered grow-ops can avoid the problem entirely, says Thomas.

Sheets of plywood are perched a foot from the floor -- in most cases,
with holes in them for the pots. There's often a watering manifold
overtop with a timer that sprays water and fertilizer every few hours.

"They first line the ceiling, walls and floor with plastic and tape
everything is air tight," says Thomas.

"Then an airtight liner of aluminum foil is installed on the inside of
the plastic because they want to utilize as much moisture as they can.
That's why in good grow operations, there's not necessarily mould in
the walls because all the moisture is contained, like in a balloon."

But despite such measures, it doesn't take much for mould to fester.
The temperature a basement reaches on a warm summer day is sufficient
for the growth of mould.

Smashing a hole through the foundation of the house to bypass
electricity metres and steal power is just one of the structural
modifications typical of a grow-op.

"Most of the grow operations are in the basement and they need exhaust
ducts to get the air out," says Thomas, who has even seen plumbing
adapted. "They need to vent the warm, humid air to the outside, but
they don't want to change anything on the exterior of the building to
avoid detection."

Sometimes the ventilation ducts expel excess heat and moisture into
the attic. In such cases, it's possible to spot a grow operation in
the winter if there's no snow on the roof.

Thomas typically spends two hours on a home inspection, with the
potential buyer being present.

An exception would be in the case of former grow-ops where the
occupants stopped paying rent or the mortgage and skipped town. The
bank ends up owning the home and hires Thomas to make inspections and
recommendations.

Although real estate agents are becoming more educated about grow-ops,
it's easier than you think to be tricked into buying one.

Terry (real name withheld because his name was on a potential purchase
agreement in the hands of a former grow-op homeowner) had already done
one walk-through with his real estate agent before hiring a building
inspector.

"I did have some concerns because it's usually organized crime," says
Terry, who was reluctant to even discuss his brush with the drug
industry. "If I could give any advice, I would say: 'Run.'"

Terry cancelled the offer to buy and never looked back. His real
estate agent also stopped showing the home once he found out it was a
grow-op.

The house sold with a different agent three days later to an unknowing
family.

"The first unusual thing about the house was that it was $20,000 under
market value and they were fairly flexible," says Terry. "There were a
few issues like a tampered power line, freshly painted basement floor
and holes in the concrete -- and up in the attic, you could see mould
because of the high humidity."

Terry was fortunate to have Doug Horseley, a certified member of the
Canadian Association of Home and Property Inspectors in Calgary, to
point out the evidence of a grow-op.

There are only about 18 registered home inspectors in Calgary --
people who are fully certified members of the Canadian Association of
Home and Property Inspectors, of which Thomas has been vice-president
since 2003.

Such people have completed the association's educational requirements
and have performed at least 250 fee-paid inspections.

"There are a lot of black sheep out there," says Thomas -- referring
to the massive section in the yellow pages full of people who claim to
be qualified and certified home inspectors, but who often have only
been certified by their own franchise company.

"Mould spores are all around us and they needs humidity and food to
grow," says Thomas. "Mould is not picky with food and it will eat
anything: paint, drywall, wood, dirt, and the adhesives in newer
building materials."

The Calgary Real Estate Board offers a course for its real estate
agents about grow-ops. About 2600 out of 4,685 realtors have taken the
course.

"It is not a mandatory course, but we hope they will take it," says
Marilyn Jones, newly-elected board president. "I'd say there has been
a dramatic increase in the last five years. Probably all of our
realtors are more aware of it."

A hot topic at the Stop Marijuana Growth Steering Committee, of which
Jones is a part, is pressuring the government to have a list of former
grow-ops available to the public.

To date, this list does not exist because of privacy laws, but Jones
thinks that people have the right to know. "I'd like to see a list so
at least people could know," says Jones, pointing out that B.C.
already has such a list of former grow-ops available to the public.

It's a buyer-beware market out there, says Thomas, adding that because
home sellers are not obligated to sign disclosure statements, it comes
down to an ethical decision --and not everyone is ethical.

When asked how law-abiding homeowners can avoid mould growth, Thomas
had a simple answer: "Keep the water out and the moisture levels low."