After this many years in the home inspection business, we thought we’d seen it all, but this story surprised even us. A couple in Washington bought a home and soon after they moved in their son became ill. They had the home tested for mold (thinking that was the issue), but they had a big and expensive surprise coming their way. They were told the home had contamination for meth. Apparently the previous owner used it as a meth lab. Very sad story, but here’s the important part: they said they had a home inspection performed, but it did not mention meth contamination.
According to the article, “The Barnes bought the place after the Navy transferred them here a year ago. But after their son kept getting sick they had the place tested for mold. It came back positive for meth. It was four times the legal limit. They said none of this came up in the home inspection done before they bought the place because apparently they don’t test for meth. ‘Someone is responsible for this and it’s not us,’ said Katie. ‘We didn’t know.’”
While I think this is obvious to say, I wanted to remind agents we do not test for meth contamination, but unfortunately, I suppose it’s something to be aware of when purchasing a home. Believe it or not, I even found a company that tests for this type of thing (called Meth Lap Cleanup). It’s sad such a business is needed, but it’s not a new service we plan on adding anytime soon.
