Marijuana Grow-Ops

Being a professional home inspector means there is never a time where you can say that the learning stops and you know everything. If I haven't made it clear through my credentials I have an insatiable appetite for growing my understanding of all things home related that was fostered both through my late Grandfather (possibly the most skilled carpenter I have ever known) and 14 years at working with NSCC. My education continues to this day as can be seen clearly in the photo above: I especially like to learn more about topics that are only lightly touched upon in the formal home inspector programs: one such topic is marijuana grow-ops.

As everyone is well aware, marijuana has been legal in Canada for a while now and while still technically illegal throughout the entire United States, in reality as of 2021 only 5 out of 50 states have a full ban on it. One of the consequences of this is a drastic decrease in the black market and a corresponding drop in houses that are used to grow large quantities of cannabis illegally. It goes without saying that former growers generally do not advertise what the home was used for in the past and it can be difficult to identify a house that was used as a grow-op. There are a number of reasons why it is critical to know if the home was used as a grow house aside from insurance and mortgage issues:

1. Large scale Marijuana production requires a lot of electricity and heat to grow plants, far more than any standard home electrical setup can provide. In many cases illegal and dangerous bypass connections have been made and circuits are loaded far more than they can safely handle. Estimates are that a grow-op home is about 40 times more likely to have an electrical fire.   
2. Extra ductwork is needed to remove the high levels of moisture. Not only can these greatly decrease the efficiency and safety of a home’s existing HVAC system, often times the extra vents are cut through joists, subfloors, foundations and other areas that can potentially compromise the home's structure.
3. Marijuana also needs a lot of water to grow. As a result, many amateur plumbing jobs are performed to add the ability to easily water the cannabis plants. As I have previously discussed in another blog post, a home's plumbing systems (emphasis on the plural) look simple but in reality, are quite complicated, carefully engineered and a reason why I do not do my own major plumbing repairs at home. I have faced the reality of a burst water pipe firsthand many times and it can be VERY destructive very quickly.
4. All this moisture leads to extremely high humidity levels. I won’t repeat my previous articles except to emphasize MOISTURE IS BAD!

I remember way back when I worked in home improvement retail how it was emphasized over and over that there is no ‘profile’ of a shoplifter and the 'average' thief could look like literally anyone from any background, culture, gender or age. This is a good analogy for grow-ops: contrary to the stereotype that drug houses are run down, dirty and scary looking they can just as easily be your neighbour with a clean, well maintained property. Grow-ops were generally designed to blend in to not attract attention and this is the reason it is important to know the signs and keep an eye out for clues that a home might have been used for nefarious purposes in the past. These are numerous and include:

• Lack of snow on roof in winter
• Condensation on windows
• All windows covered

I should point out that a house can have all these signs and more and simply have nothing more than easily fixable insulation problems. Even poor electrical or plumbing work is merely a clue that causes me to look closer not loudly and immediately proclaim that I found a drug house. It can be extremely difficult to identify a former grow-op that has been covered up but an inspector can point out many areas that suggest a high likelihood of a past that is far from advertised.