Should You Get A Meth Test Before Buying a Home?

By Lindsey Wolf Lunney

You Can't Tell a Meth House by its Cover

Meth labs can be found anywhere, and you cannot always tell whether a house is a meth lab by just looking at it. We advise all our clients to test for meth contamination during the inspection phase of the home buying process. Recently, we found a home in Arvada that had no visual signs of meth contamination, but the tests came back at 60 micrograms of meth in a 4 square inche space. The Colorado state standard is no more than .5 micrograms per 4 square inches. Anything above that requires mitigation, which can be very expensive.

But This Looks Like a Nice House!

A house can test positive for meth even if a person smokes it only a few times. So, even if a home looks nice and is located in an above average neighborhood, all it takes to contaminate a house is for a visitor or a handyman to smoke meth there. Most often, the the homeowner is completely unaware.

The Cost of Meth Contamination

Homes where actual meth cooking has been done can test over 1000 micrograms in a 4 square inch space. This is a serious contamination and could cost many thousands of dollars to mitigate. At Agents for Home Buyers, we are committed to protecting our buyers from hazards such as this. If you would like more information, give us a call at 303-448-8808.

Should I Get a Meth Test?

In short, emphatically yes! In this region, there has been a sharp rise in meth affected properties in recent years. We recommend all of our buyers proceed with an abundance of caution. Shouldn't your new home be tested before you sign on the dotted line?