Geoffrey Cannon says it will likely be at least three months before he knows if he and his family can move back into their Clayton Park Drive home in Halifax.

On Saturday, as Cannon and his family were on the back deck, a Mercedes crashed into the house and hit the oil tank. Since the crash, workers have been trying to stabilize the house and remove contaminated furniture and items.

"It all depends on the oil. If the oil doesn't go under the house, it might be a bit faster," Cannon told CBC News.

"If they have to do what they suspect they might, then it's going to be three to six months at least. If they find that oil, there's even a possibility the house might have to be written off and knocked down."

Halifax police say extracting the vehicle will take some time. (Anjuli Patil/CBC)

The driver of the car fled and the scene and Halifax Regional Police said Sunday he is still at large.

Cannon said his insurance will cover the damages to his home. He said his family is now staying in a furnished suite in downtown Halifax for the short term and they'll eventually look for a house to rent.

Since the crash, Cannon said he's had an opportunity to go into his house to see the damage. He said there was oil in the basement so everything was removed and that the floor and basement will need to be redone.

"The upstairs, it's fumes, it smells really bad but there's no real damage upstairs," he said. "The outside doors, the patio to the deck — they're not closing anymore. So the house has been kind of knocked off kilter a little bit."

Tire skids across Joel Bremner's lawn from the Saturday morning crash on Clayton Park Drive in Halifax. (Anjuli Patil/CBC)

A wrap has been placed over the hole where the car hit the house. Although the car has since been towed away, Cannon said it completely broke through the wall.

"The hood of the car was all the way into the house, so the windshield was just kind of level with the house wall," he said.

"My wife went downstairs when she heard the bang and it was all kinds of dust and stuff there and she saw the headlights inside the house. And she thought it was a fire so she just ran out, but it was actually the lights."

Joel Bremner, Cannon's neighbour, was home when the car drove across his lawn into his neighbour's. (Anjuli Patil/CBC)

Cannon's neighbour, Joel Bremner, was home at the time of the crash. There are tire marks across his front lawn and dirt caked on to the windows of the house.

"I was downstairs playing Playstation and then I ran upstairs because I felt it," Bremner said.

"The second I opened up the door, my neighbours were saying 'Joel, hurry quickly and get to the other side of the street' because they thought the car was going to explode."