A Saskatoon family regrets a decision it made when they purchased their house, and now they're offering advice to other buyers.
The Lysters bought their home five years ago during the housing boom, when many homes sold in a few hours. They never got a home inspection, for fear the extra time would cost them the deal. Now they regret it.
From improper venting to mold to low efficiency windows and a foundation crack, the problems at the Lyster home never seem to end.
"Had we had a big, good house inspection done at the time maybe they would have found some more things that are still lurking in here that we don't know about and maybe we would have decided to take a look at the next house," says Stephen Lyster.
A home inspection won't necessarily find every problem, but it does let the buyer know the basic issues, so they can decide to take a closer look, budget to fix something, or walk away.
Brad George, from Pillar to Post home inspection in Saskatoon, says home inspections are essential. "I would recommend having a home inspection just for safety as well. If plumbing isn't done correctly, junction boxes, home owner done wiring in the basement if they developed it can lead to a dangerous situation."
In addition to their house woes, the Lysters are dealing with a personal challenge. Their daughter Tegan was diagnosed with leukemia. Life now revolves around the chemo treatment she'll be on for the next two years.
Since Tegan got sick, the Lysters haven't had the time or money to tackle more repairs.
"We want to get it fixed, we want to get it cleaned up, we want everything to be safe in our house for our kids and we're not able to do it right now," says Stephen.
But the family does have idea. They are trying to get HGTV's Mike Holmes to come in and make things right. A friend started a social media campaign on Twitter and Facebook to try and get Holmes to come to Saskatoon.
So far, there's no word from Holmes, but the Lyster's say their bad luck has to run out sometime. And if they are able to put aside their home worries, they can focus their care on their daughter.
