Rental Property Investor · Salt Lake City, UT · Member since 2017 · 17 posts · 8 votes
Anyone have experience with meth remediation? How big was the house, and how much did it cost? The companies I talked to say they can do it for $4-$5k (1100 sq ft), but I'm skeptical. I read one article that said $26k. I believe they can clean it well enough that they can test the walls again and get a negative result for that price, but I am not confident that will actually get all the residue out of the house (I would imagine it gets into the attic insulation, rafters, etc., since everything vents into the attic). I got a positive reading on a property I am trying to buy and am not sure how much of a discount I would need to make this not a dealbreaker. I will find out the exact levels tomorrow, but I'm pretty sure it's from a previous tenant smoking, not a lab.
Also, if meth levels are above the state's "safe" limit, would I legally need to evict the current tenants immediately?
I do meth remediation for a living. Utah has State regulations. I would be happy to tell you the protocol and average costs for cleanup. Run away fast from the $5K cleanup.
I do meth remediation for a living. Utah has State regulations. I would be happy to tell you the protocol and average costs for cleanup. Run away fast from the $5K cleanup.
@Kristie Giles Hi Kristie, I sold a rental I had 2 years ago and the buyer tested it. It came back positive. I used the company called AEI Decon. It cost me $3,198 for the meth clean up. It was a 2 bed 1 bth unit with 650 square feet.
The issue that I found is that after they clean up the meth then you will need to clean up their mess. They removed the carpet so I had to replace that. I had to hire a cleaner to clean everything and then I also painted it before I tried to sell it again.
You can figure out your costs based on what I had to do.
Thanks for the responses! I had already gotten this taken care of by the time replies came in, but for anyone else who might come across this post, here's what I've learned:
In my area, anyway, if the testing is done by a certified meth decontamination specialist, they will be legally required to turn the results into the county within 5 days if it comes back over the legal limit. The county comes to red-tag/condemn the property and tenants may only have about 15 minutes to move out if you don't tell them ahead of time. Any belongings in the house will be considered 'hazardous waste' and will cost extra to dispose of. And at that point, it becomes illegal for anyone to enter the property besides whoever is listed on a county-approved work plan. If the permit gets pulled and the work plan is submitted before the county comes to tag your door, it is possible to have the tag placed on the inside so that the neighbors won't know about it. And then once the decontamination work is complete and it passes the retest, they take your property off the list, and you aren't required to disclose it was a meth house to tenants or buyers.
If you just use one of those DIY mail-in test kits, the county doesn't find out, so you will have more flexibility in how you handle the situation.
The prices the meth remediation companies quote you are legit to get the meth residue levels on exposed surfaces in the main living area below the legal limit and get the house un-condemned, but if you do a bunch of remodeling afterwards that involves cutting down walls, cutting holes in the ceiling, sanding through previous layers of paint, etc., you might be re-releasing residue in the process.
Also, it is a very wet process that is likely to cause bubbling on paint, vinyl flooring, cabinets, etc., and any porous material will need to get thrown out (carpet, curtains, etc.).
@Chris Purcell based on my research, pretty much no insurance companies will cover meth use. However, they do cover vandalism, so I read that a few people have had success getting it covered by spinning it as vandalism.
@Kristie Giles I'd remove your most recent post here - that's called insurance fraud. Thanks for the forum post though - looking at a deal with meth remediation and this is helpful. Which state did you do yours in?
@Kristie Giles I'd remove your most recent post here - that's called insurance fraud. Thanks for the forum post though - looking at a deal with meth remediation and this is helpful. Which state did you do yours in?
Lol. Are you an attorney? I think it's stretch to say that she is suggesting insurance fraud. She is just sharing what she read people have had success with.
I could see a case where an insurance company would look at this as vandalism, just like if somebody came into your house and spray painted all of the walls. But I'm not an attorney or an insurance broker.
Always consult a professional in situations like this.
Anyone have experience with meth remediation? How big was the house, and how much did it cost? The companies I talked to say they can do it for $4-$5k (1100 sq ft), but I'm skeptical. I read one article that said $26k. I believe they can clean it well enough that they can test the walls again and get a negative result for that price, but I am not confident that will actually get all the residue out of the house (I would imagine it gets into the attic insulation, rafters, etc., since everything vents into the attic). I got a positive reading on a property I am trying to buy and am not sure how much of a discount I would need to make this not a dealbreaker. I will find out the exact levels tomorrow, but I'm pretty sure it's from a previous tenant smoking, not a lab.
Also, if meth levels are above the state's "safe" limit, would I legally need to evict the current tenants immediately?
Kristie you never mentioned how much it ended up costing you per square foot to clean up the meth. Do you mind informing the community how much it costed you per square foot?
I paid around $2.50 per square ft back in 2018. That was the lowest of 3 quotes. The highest quote was around $4.50 per square foot. But the unit had no ducting, which made it cheaper, and I'm sure prices have gone up since then. I think the guys I used may have done a bit more damage than the more expensive people would have. They used a pressure washer on a low setting instead of a paint sprayer. There was tons of paint bubbling everywhere afterwards that took forever to fix.