Thread: Large house small fire

In a fire damaged house, growop which never took flight, the fire was confined to a small portion of the house, approximate, one-eighth.
Can one rescue parts of the house which were not damaged to any real degree, other than the smoke, or does the simple fact it was a growop preclude it from being 'rescued'?
The whole house has to be taken down to the studs?
The structural engineer I talked to said that not all electrical has to by law be replaced, as long as it wasn't damaged in the fire. But he also says that all the walls should be taken to the studs to be positive about mold? Even though the growop seems to be confined to one other area of the house? It is just that there were two additions done to the house and the fire was contained in one of the additions, in effect leaving the original 1970 house with nothing to the naked eye but smoke on every wall and surface.

Hello Tom Hennessy,

Welcome aboard. Enjoy your visit here at InspectionNews and if there is anything I can help you with just let me know.

If you are a business owner please accept this gift for making your first post: http://www.inspectionreferral.com

If you are a home buyer, seller or DIYer, this gift is for you: http://www.inspectionnews.net/home-i...als/member.php

Your question is can parts of the house be salvaged? Do you mean can or may? Yes, any damaged house that has not been officially condemned can be repaired, remediated.

There are many degrees of damage done by grow-ops, and one of them is damage to the house's official status. If the authorities are involved, then it will be up to them whether the repairs can be done to their satisfaction.

Re: the wiring, have an electrician inspect the wiring and after repairs are done under a permit you should be good to go. I would not even start before talking to the local authority, who can shut the whole thing down if it is deemed to be unsafe or inadequate somehow.

The only thing that trumps money is time.

Tom, Is your real question, How much money will this cheap house really cost me? Or is it, Which corners can I cut in rehabbing the house?

Smoke damage is one thing and mold is something else. Each has it remedies. But you have to determine the extent of damage. Then you have to factor in how long the house has sat unoccupied as everything ages and grows.

For those who like to click and read.

Identifying Grow-OP
How to Identify A Grow Op

Grow op stats

• from 2007 to 2011 there were 662 confirmed grow operations in Edmonton and Calgary
• from 2010 to 2011 there were an additional 131 confirmed grow ops in rural Alberta
• Calgary grow ops map (2007-2011) - 4 MB
• Edmonton grow ops map (2007-2011) - 959 KB
• rural Alberta grow ops map (2010-2011) - 149 KB

Note: Maps courtesy of the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT)

Originally Posted by Garry Sorrells

The only thing that trumps money is time.

Tom, Is your real question, How much money will this cheap house really cost me? Or is it, Which corners can I cut in rehabbing the house?

Smoke damage is one thing and mold is something else. Each has it remedies. But you have to determine the extent of damage. Then you have to factor in how long the house has sat unoccupied as everything ages and grows.

For those who like to click and read.

Identifying Grow-OP
How to Identify A Grow Op

Grow op stats

• from 2007 to 2011 there were 662 confirmed grow operations in Edmonton and Calgary
• from 2010 to 2011 there were an additional 131 confirmed grow ops in rural Alberta
• Calgary grow ops map (2007-2011) - 4 MB
• Edmonton grow ops map (2007-2011) - 959 KB
• rural Alberta grow ops map (2010-2011) - 149 KB

Note: Maps courtesy of the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT)

Both of the above, because, I'm poor and there are fire remediation and restoration sites, flippers, which seem to say one can remediate and restore while there is still drywall in place. Logically, as the structural engineer has pointed out, he is the one scheduled to do the demolition, the best method would be strip it to the studs and therefore one gets a good look at the structure and mold possibilities. That seems to be what I am going to have to do, just to be sure, and placate the city inspectors somewhat. I've agreed to the offer by the seller, buy the land and then have the house checked by competent professionals, and keep my fingers crossed. As you pointed out, the sheer number of homes turned into growops leaves a substantial number of homes in Alberta which could be restored and remediated IF the job can be done within reasonable monetary output. The 'growop' label follows the property even if one tears down the house and foundation and build new, so the fact it holds this stigma makes it even harder for some of the companies who remediate and restore to 'get in there' and prove their mettle as I believe the structural engineer I've been negotiating with wishes to do, but the Hazmat guy I previously talked to holds that the city and government doesn't just let any professional remediator go in and attempt growop restorations.