How to Know if Your Utah House Is Contaminated With Meth

If you are a Utah homeowner who is currently dealing with a meth problem in their home or are wondering “do I have meth in my house”, then this article is for you. And if you are a Utah investor who has recently found out their new investment has a history of meth, this may also be for you.

We’re going to go over the signs, symptoms and solutions to any meth problems involving your home. There are many variables that go into owning a home. While planning the future of a home it’s easy to overlook the past. How your home was used in the past could have a big impact on how that future plays out.

Utah requires that sellers disclose if a home is currently contaminated from the storage, production or use of methamphetamine.  Only if the seller knows the house is contaminated with meth do they have to disclose. It is usually the potential buyer of a house that discovers it is contaminated with meth by hiring someone to do a meth test on the house. There are some circumstances that these homes are documented and stored in an informational database where the public has access. In Salt Lake County, the data base is with the Salt Lake County Health Dept. With decontamination being a requirement of the homeowner once this report is made, the meth clean-up doesn’t always happen to levels that a new home owner would find satisfactory. Read this for much more detail about meth in your house.

Sometimes, the easiest solution would be to sell a meth contaminated home. Sometimes that takes more time to sale than available because scheduling, doing the meth clean-up, getting approval from the city and final approval and clearance from the local health department can take weeks or months. GaryBuysHouses.com breaks the mold and can help with every step of the way making selling a home quick and easy that is contaminated with meth.

Meth House Signs

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has an easy to use National Clandestine Laboratory Register where all reports can be found. The first step in determining if your home was ever used for meth would be to check this directory. The directory only shows homes that were included in police activity. If your prospective home was used for meth without authorities knowing then it won’t appear in this database. It will also not have been decontaminated properly or disclosed.

Next, you can look for cleanliness in the home. Look for any deep stains on the walls or carpet. The presence of any suspicious and out of place smells is another good indicator of meth usage. While there are many reasons for stains and strange smells use your best judgement to determine if something is out of place.  The DEA database is a useful tool in getting some background on a home but it shouldn’t be your only resource if the results come up negative.

In extreme cases you might see covered windows, strange ventilation systems, security systems and large volumes of strange things like cold tablet packaging, coffee filters and plastic soda bottles with holes in them being thrown away.

Law Enforcement and Neighbors

Two very underrated resources when looking at future homes are the local law enforcement office and neighbors. Talking with neighbors is a good way to find out the regular activities in a neighborhood. They’re the people who see and hear everything on the street. They’ll have a good understanding of what does and does not take place.

The local police station will only tell you the reported criminal activity. Connecting with law enforcement is a great resource to use outside of just drug usage in a particular home. They will be able to inform you of all crime and disturbances. This will give you some more insight on what neighborhood you’re about to join.

Testing My House for Meth

If you have suspicions that your home was used for the storage, production or use of meth the best way to find out is an at home meth residue kit.   Meth residue can be harmful for not only your own health but that of friends, children and pets. These kits can be found online or in stores but to find the option best for you a quick online search would be the best tool.

Many online test or tests bought in a store will only tell you if meth is present and not how much. In Utah the threshold is 1 part per million of meth to be considered legally contaminated with meth. Most online or store bought tests can not tell you the amount of meth in a house. In the Salt Lake City area ALS Labs in Taylorsville have free meth test kits and can process your test for about $50.00. They will give you the exact amount of meth from the area you sampled as long as you sampled properly. If your house tests above the legal limit, any of these Utah meth clean up companies can give you a bid to get rid of your meth.

Please keep one thing in mind about testing your house for meth. It is perfectly legal for an owner, buyer or anybody not certified and licensed to work with meth to test a house for meth. Furthermore, someone that is not certified to take meth tests do not need to report to the Health Department a test result above the legal limit. A seller must disclose to a buyer though. However, if a certified person gets a result above the legal limit, they must report the results to the Utah Health Department. The Health Department will immediately condemn the house meaning all occupants will no longer be able to live in the property. And, all the contents will be considered contaminated and must be disposed of.

Solutions to Meth Contamination in Your Home

Meth usage isn’t a widespread as it once was, meth use can have a lasting impact. Meth does not go away once it is present, and it can even leach through fresh paint. There are local companies that specialize in the decontamination of a home due to meth usage. They come in with specific procedures and testing equipment to make sure any residue is taken care of appropriately. If you do hire one of these companies, make sure you ask them if they are cleaning the meth to under the legal limit or cleaning until it is all gone. There is a big difference in price and how long the meth decon process will take. If you don’t want to deal with the hassle of decontamination we’ve got another, easier solution.

Selling a Meth House

Any decision that can change your life shouldn’t be taken lightly. Researching the history of a home is very much a piece of the home buying and selling process. As we discussed before there are specific disclosures required when selling a house. With all of the variables of selling a house the history of the home should be an important factor. Always look into the neighborhood and its history. Use the DEA database to start the process of looking into meth usage. Then use your best judgement to determine if a home has any out of place stains and smells. To really know if there is a residue threat a testing kit is a definitive solution.

The easiest option when selling a meth house is to get a cash offer from GaryBuysHouses.com. They make the process easy and painless as they take possession of your contaminated home. No condition is too extreme for GaryBuysHouses.com. You no longer deal with the struggles or headache of having to decontaminate or live with the current state of this home.

We are happy to answer any of your questions while going through the process of deciding if your want to just sell your meth house as is or get it cleaned up to sell.