Vanessa Roman, sales agent with Pemberton Holmes and host of Reno vs Relocate on HGTV, DIY and the Discovery networks, says that while she doesn’t condone growing marijuana indoors, people are still going to do it and here’s how.
“You need ventilation—you need to be able to get warm, moist air out of the property and you need to let fresh air come in,” she said, adding ventilation systems, depending on the model, run between $150 and $500.
“The next thing you need is for the home to be airtight and lightproof. This can be in basements, which are good places, but hire a contractor to build a space for you. Marijuana stinks, and if you want to not have it permeate the walls in the property and annoy the neighbours outside, get a carbon filter and hire an electrician to run wires for the lights.”
The legislation will allow up to four plants to be grown in a single property, but if renovating one’s home isn’t appealing, special tents can be used for the job.
“You might want to look into a grow tenant,” continued Roman. “These tents come with lights, fans and carbon filters—everything you need to contain your plant grow in one place. They’re portable too, and a basic one can be bought for $300, and up to $1,500 can be spent for fairly substantial ones. It’s one of the easiest ways if you plan on growing inside.”
Make no mistake, Roman isn’t an advocate of turning houses into grow ops, but she’s emphatic about knowing how to mitigate the potential for disaster.
“You have to be responsible and ensure children, pets and other unsuspecting adults do not accidently ingest your cannabis or the chemicals you may be using to help them grow. Treat it like any other medication and store it in a locked area out of reach in a childproof container.
“It’s never, ever a good idea to start growing things inside your house because you’re meant to live in it. From the perspective of landlords who are doing this, there’s increased risk of fire from the lights if the wiring isn’t done professionally. There’s also potential for damage from the water for kids and others living in the building if the air causes mould to grow because they can get extremely sick.”
Roman has a final warning for would-be pot growers.
“Insurance companies don’t want to pay for these types of damages, and then you have to disclose it’s a grow op, so you’re looking at a massive decrease in your property value because this has happened.”
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Neil Sharma is the Editor-In-Chief of Canadian Real Estate Wealth and Real Estate Professional. As a journalist, he has covered Canada’s housing market for the Toronto Star, Toronto Sun, National Post, and other publications, specializing in everything from market trends to mortgage and investment advice. He can be reached at neil@crewmedia.ca.
