Derek Neary
Northern News Services

Fort Liard (Apr 09/04) - Due primarily to mould problems in their Kotaneelee Housing Association rental unit, Jack Yeadon and his family are living across town these days.

Jack Yeadon stands alongside the rusting furnace exhaust stack inside his Kotaneelee Housing Association rental unit in Fort Liard. Water leaks inside from the ceiling in this part of the house, according to Yeadon. "Our place smelled like a swamp," he said. - Derek Neary/NNSL photo

The Housing Corporation has identified a common construction deficiency in all 20 units built in Fort Liard in 1991, according to Larry Campbell, the Housing Corporation's manager for the Deh Cho region. Yeadon's house is among three in the worst condition.

A pencil can actually penetrate the wood due to rot caused by excessive moisture, Campbell acknowledged.

"Moisture is getting through and collecting in the crawlspace and there's no ventilation for it. It's been like that since day one," he said.

The units will require a total of approximately $75,000 in repairs, and that work will go out to tender, Campbell noted. He added that the funding is expected to come from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. Although the Housing Corporation did not build the houses, the territorial government got involved several years ago to encourage tenants to buy out the co-op units from CMHC.

The houses were constructed without adequate insulation or a vapour barrier. It was a common practice in the South, and the troubles that would ensue by adopting the method in a Northern climate were unknown at that point, noted Campbell.

"I guess it was acceptable at the time. It was new and it was working everywhere else," he explained.

That particular problem doesn't exist in houses built elsewhere as the Housing Corporation's standard at that time was to use a gravel pad or concrete footings with a waterproof membrane for in-ground homes, according to Campbell.

Moved across town

Yeadon, his wife Barbara and his two children were relocated to another unit in December because of the risk posed to his newborn son's health, Campbell acknowledged.

Although it has been an inconvenience, the family has taken up residence in a vacant senior's unit for now. They had little choice.

"Our place smelt like a swamp," said Yeadon, who used to own and operate a real estate company. "Mould started growing everywhere... The houses don't breathe, and they need to breathe. It's serious. It's really serious."

It is so potentially dangerous that the contractor who does the repairs will have to use the proper safety gear and equipment for working around mould, Campbell noted.

Yeadon has a litany of other complaints about the house including electrical problems, rotting boards on the rear deck, plumbing issues, drafty windows, a linoleum floor with chunks gouged out of it and places where hundreds of staples are holding the linoleum together.

Gordon Timbre, manager of public housing for the Kotaneelee Housing Association in Fort Liard, said the contractor who built the homes erected the 20 units "really quick."

Other tenants have also have expressed dissatisfaction with the condition of those homes, Timbre admitted.

"But this summer we'll repair some," he said.

Next week: More problems on the home front