Buying a house formerly used to cultivate cannibis - 'weed house'

C

Call me Al

Guest
Hi
Partner and I are considering putting an offer on a property which was used as a fairly elaboarate spamspamspam grow house a couple of years ago. The property has since been redecorated. Is there anything in particular we should be on the look out for or could it effect insurance cover etc. All advice welcome.
 
Grow houses need ventilation ducting,which is normally routed through huge holes in the structure of the house.Has this been professionally rectified?Also,I understand that the electrics are tampered with to bypass the meter.Has this been put right and certified by ESB?
 
Many thanks for your reply.

A surveyor has checked the house and made no reference to finding any sign of ventilation ducting. Would these ducts be very well concealed? The ESB is currently switched off in the property so this would have to be checked out. As far as I know the the meter was bypassed to facilitate the heavy electricity usage by other means. The property is currently vacant and has been since the swoop etc.. It all leaves me a little uneasy about proceeding.
 
I don't blame you! Has all the weed been safely stored away from paint, solvents and other such contaminants?

 
There was programme on TV before "Homes from Hell" or one of those, where one house was used as such, it was shocking. The owners had rented it out. Perhaps viewing it would give a good understanding of what your house was like before the redecoration.
 
Check for any loose floorboards - and see if you can find a shopping bag full of euro notes. PM me if/when ye find it. ;-)
 

I think I watched that programme or one very similar. As I recall the main problem wasn't ventilation, as another poster commented, but general damage. I've no expertise in this (honestly Your Honour) but I think they had turned the house into a giant suana (hot and humid). In that case I'd say sustained water damage would be an issue. They also had removed internal walls to alter the space to their needs.
 
From that program, the problems were:
1. A sophisticated ventilation system was installed with a large diameter pipe going from the ground floor up through the first floor and into the attic where the heat/steam was vented. They cut huge holes through the ceilings/floors to run this pipe.
2. They tapped into the mains power directly, this was considered highly dangerous and they had ruined the power supply into the house.
3. They had drilled holes/screws all over the walls to hang lighting/venting equipment.
4. All the carpets, furniture were ruined due to the humidity.

That was about it, though it was something like £STG 25,000 to rectify it.
 
Thanks grackal for that synopsis. The house is unoccupied, redecorated and empty of furniture and has been checked by our building surveyor so I will have to hope that they would have spotted any irregular ducts/drilling. Guess we will have to get the ESB to check and certify the electricity if we want to proceed - I imagine that cost should be covered by the vendor?
 
Maybe they were paying for their electricity? Why make such accusations without proof?
 

I am on sale agreed on a house at the moment. The electricity, gas and water were all disconnected

I would not let my surveyor in to inspect the property until the vendor reconnected all 3 as I wanted him to check them all out.

If the esb is disconnected for a number of months, the electrics of the whole house has to be checked and certified before the esb will reconnect it
 
Not if it has an isolation switch. The ESB don't care then as it is the owners problem after that.
 
Not heard of this happening in Ireland. Do the ESB report high users as weed growers?
 
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