Crystal-Meth lab

I'm looking to buy a house, and there's one on the market that used to be a meth lab. The house overall is in good shape, but needs to be cleaned because of the leftover toxins. Can this be taken care of by those companies that clean up after crime scenes, or fire/smoke/flood damage? The house is priced at about $99,000 and would be priced at $140-150,000 if it was in "good" condition. Even if it would take $15,000 to have it taken care of, it could still be a good purchase.

And I wouldn't per se be worried about druggies coming to the house... it's been on the market a few months... I'm sure anyone interested realizes nobody is home anymore.

Any thoughts?

I'm not sure the cleaning services that handle the more conventional messes are necessarily equipped to do a sweep for toxic chemicals. They can clean up all right, but I'm not sure they can certify the house as 'clear' of chemical residues ...

A lot might depend on what chemicals are involved and how much they pervade the house ... :thinking:

I think the kicker here is that if there was a problem of leaking chemicals and airborne gases, I would think the duct work would have to be replaced at the very least. I wouldn't want to deal with something where I wasn't sure that 99% of the toxins were removed. Still, it's an intriguing "prospect."

I can see the plaque on my door now. "Home - Sweet - Meth Lab"

I'm guessing you'd probably have to involve local / state environmental or safety agencies to get an official 'all-clear' on any clean-up ... :thinking:

I'm not saying it's impossible or anything - just that it may take some additional parties signing off on the results ...

http://wdh.state.wy.us/epiid/methcleanup.asp

about middle way down the page....."How can a meth lab be cleaned up"

I say buy the house and get some protective masks and clothing and scrub that b!tch down yourself then let it air out...save you some money.

you could always contact your local EPD office and see what they say.

Personally I'd stay away unless the price is so cheap you can tear down the house and build a new one!!!!

Why? Think of the chemicals that have seeped into the drywall, insulation, and framing. My family is to important to risk it!

What kinda of neighbor hood is the house in if it had a meth lab in it? :shrug: That would be a concern of mine for my families sake. Remember you can change everything about the house but the location.:waytogo:

The house is in a well-kept middle/upper class neighborhood.

And I wouldn't per se be worried about druggies coming to the house... it's been on the market a few months... I'm sure anyone interested realizes nobody is home anymore.

Any thoughts?


except for those that been locked up for the past year... they may come around looking to score... :evil:


on a serious note, i WISH i could find a home in L.A. for 150,000 that was in a decent neighborhood...

You should look at alot more then 15k in cleanup. You should do a total renovation hvac ductwork and system, drywall,flooring,cabinets,etc,etc.
If your willing to do the work you should make it worth your while. Such a good deal? Why is it still on the market. Think about that. Good luck in whichever you chose.:waytogo:

*Get a good primer and primer the entire enterior of the house and repaint to include ceilings.

*Replace all carpet through out the house.

*Have all of the A/C ducts cleaned.

*Blow out the insides of the ceiling fans and clean the blades.

*If it has blinds or curtains throw them out and get new ones.

*In some states if it was taken by the state as a seizure they are responsible for cleaning the place before resale.

*Also find out how long it was used as a meth-lab before it was closed down... length of time makes a difference.

What kinda of neighbor hood is the house in if it had a meth lab in it? :shrug: That would be a concern of mine for my families sake. Remember you can change everything about the house but the location.:waytogo:
They dont have meth labs only in bad neighbor hoods. They have them in good neighborhoods as well. The only problem I see is if you get tweekers nocking on your door at 2:00am:silly:

*Have all of the A/C ducts cleaned.





Cleaning of hvac ducts is not all that effective. Good point of the time it was a meth lab. Imo if they knew that that would of been there on the grand opening.:silly:

Personally I'd stay away unless the price is so cheap you can tear down the house and build a new one!!!!

Why? Think of the chemicals that have seeped into the drywall, insulation, and framing. My family is to important to risk it! That was my first thought as well. The chemicals used to make that nasty garbage are EXTREMELY VOLATILE compounds. That stuff will pretty much permanently adhere to the drywall, carpet, paint on the walls, insulation. In my opinion, you'd have to replace all of these to be "safe". However, I definitely WOULD NOT buy that house. That house is tainted with super-toxic chemicals as well as bad karmic energy. Not to menton, cranksters are insane. Sure it's been a couple of months, but say that one of these cranksters gets out of prison in a month or a year and decides to break in to "this one place where this guy is making meth", but it's you and your family there instead of a meth lab and crazy drug-addicts? I honestly think there are just too many issues with that.

They dont have meth labs only in bad neighbor hoods. They have them in good neighborhoods as well. The only problem I see is if you get tweekers nocking on your door at 2:00am:silly:


Very true man, but alot of people buy houses not realizing that its in a questionable neighborhood.

just make sure it's clean and buy it

Try lighting a candle, if the place blows up just build it over and your good if not try using
http://www.ljcfyi.com/blog/aug2003/febreeze.jpg

Thanks for the input everyone... apparently it wasn't all that bad... an offer was made this morning that was accepted.