HOMES SALVAGEABLE EVEN AFTER POT ROT

When given lemons, make lemonade -- in other words, turn uninhabitable
marijuana grow houses into non-toxic family homes. That's what a local
environmental cleanup company hopes to do with some of the hundreds of
homes in the area that are uncovered by police each year as indoor
pot-growing operations.

Police in Calgary and surrounding communities, namely Chestermere, are
seeing an increase in the number of grow-ops set up in residences and
when the illicit businesses are dismantled, the homes are often deemed
unfit to live in due to toxic mould that, along with the illegal
plants, grows in the home.

Paladin Services sees a market in the forsaken house business.

"If we could buy these homes at a reduced rate we could clean them up
and put them back on the market, either for sale or for rent," said
Alan Reti, Paladin's project manager.

But the process isn't a quick or simple one.

Reti said a mid-sized grow-op in a 1,200 sq-ft. two storey home would
result in mould "everywhere" throughout the house -- including behind
the drywall and in the studs.

"You have to gut the place from the inside out and rebuild it," said
Reti, estimating it can take up to 10 months and cost anywhere from
$60,000 to $100,000.

When complete, the house would come with a mould warranty.