Today I accepted an assignment. At the end of the conversation the buyer says, oh and this was a meth house we are buying. Police broke down front and back doors, boarded for now. This is the first time I have run into this situation, inspecting a known meth house. I pulled the current listing and there is no mention of a meth bust, meth anything. I need out of this and it would not bother me to just say I’m not qualified to inspect a known meth house, and I’m not. What is your advice?
From the sounds, you aren’t inspecting a house for Meth, you are inspecting a meth(and/or meth byproducts) contaminated house. Is the money worth it?
Be-careful,
tom
Hi to all,
Personally I would call this guy, and only this guy for advise:
http://www.inspection-perfection.com/main/pages/Caoimhin.htm
BTW, I would also turn the job down, until I had a clearance notice in my hand!!
Regards
Gerry
I don’t know that it is contaminated, it sounds like it is or was talking to the out of state buyer that has never seen the property. I think I will just call them in the morning and excuse myself from this assignment due to lack of “meth house training.” I have no experience with meth.
Dan,
Numerous advisemnets on previous threads
http://www.nachi.org/forum/search.php?searchid=756940
this one has great info Post 11
Caoimhín P. Connell
Forensic Industrial Hygienist
www.forensic-applications.com
http://www.nachi.org/forum/showthread.php?t=15821&highlight=meth+house
Gerry,
Is spot on with his advise
exactly I would not do a meth house myself.
Read and talk to Caoimhín P. Connell I have talked to him he is great.
…Cookie
Hi to all,
Here is a better link to Caoimhín (pronounced Queeveem (hates been called Kev or Kevin 
)(closest Engish translation, kinda!)
http://www.forensic-applications.com/
Regards
Gerry
Bow out, Meth addicts are known to boobytrap their houses. They are EXTREMELY paranoid.
Entering the house would make me EXTREMELY paranoid.
Good morning, Gents – from freezing Colorado.
I was thankful to be told about the current threat since I haven’t had much time visit the board in the last few months.
I’d be happy to share thoughts, experiences and suggestions if someone needs some help. I will watch the thread for a week or so.
Everyone have a bountiful Thanksgiving!
Cheers!
Caoimhín P. Connell
Forensic Industrial Hygienist
www.forensic-applications.com
WOW!!! Thanks for posting the thread and special thanks for respondents I read all the links. It’s a good day I learned something. By the way, the map is probably way off as it is from 2002. But the picture of the dead girl still applies.:shock: :shock: :shock: 
Hi Caoimhín,
welcome back to the asylum, where you been hiding? you’ve been missed
Happy thanksgiving to you and yours
Slainte
Gerry
I personally would not do an inspection on a Meth house.
We had a narcotics detective come speak at our NACHI chapter meeting
some time ago, and what a revelation about problems with Meth!
He basically told us that if we were to come across the signs of a Meth Lab, i.e. materials, suspicious items too numerous to mention here, that we were to walk away, and have the Realtor for the property contact the police.
Cleaning a previous Meth Lab property is almost cost-prohibitive, if it was a real Meth Lab. Its a VERY expensive cleanup, and very hazaradous to your health.
Hi Steve,
I totaly agree, I know from case studies that Caoimhín has published that this is just not an area for the average inspector.
I have seen somewhere a list of the top 10 reasons to suspect a Meth home, Caoimhín, if it was a piece of yours please post it again, and again, and again.
Regards
Gerry
I want to thank you on a personal level for having brought this to my attention, having many years in the proffession my ego occasionally prevents my logic from kicking in. Meth lab, so what, has nothing to do with my inspection-right -wrong, not if I know about it beforehand. Wow, what a revelation, twenty disclaimers to write. Not worth it. Read all the info folks you all stand to benefit from it.
Dan, send me an email with your tel#.
Russ (at) cdainspector.com
We can pull a fast EDR report on it, which will give all the known environmental issues on this property.
If methed up, it will provide you with the data you need to back out.
Hope one of these has the info you’re requesting
http://www.squidoo.com/methlabsigns
http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/director_staff/public_information/pr031103.htm
http://www.kci.org/meth_info/neighborhood_lab.htm
http://dhfs.wisconsin.gov/eh/ChemFS/fs/MethClnUp.htm](http://dhfs.wisconsin.gov/eh/ChemFS/fs/MethClnUp.htm)
Here is a very interesting article about Meth
http://springfield.news-leader.com/specialreports/meth/20050313-Whocleansupthem.html
Thanks Gerry, and I hope everyone here also had a great Thanksgiving.
Recognizing a methlab can be tricky business due to both the false positives and the false negatives.
For example, we know that smoking meth in a house can contaminate the house to a greater degree than manufacturing. In Colorado, an home where meth was smoked and/or stored constitutes a methlab – under those circumstances, there aren’t many indicators.
Similarly, I was on a raid with a veteran cop who had raided dozens of labs, and had been through numerous classes. During an “attempt to locate” he encountered no less than about seven positive indicators for a lab including the equipment; that’s when I got the call – however, upon further evaluation, I found that each of the indicators actually had an alternative interpretation. In the end, the house was actually heavily contaminated, but not for the reasons initially thought.
So in the first case, there are false negatives (no indicators in an house that can be heavily contaminated) and in the second case false positives (indicators didn’t actually indicate a methlab).
When we put on our (free) classes, our objective is to simply provide the inspector with sufficient information to better recognize both the indicators, and the pseudoindicators; and then protect themselves.
Cheers, all!
Caoimhín P. Connell
Forensic Industrial Hygienist
www.forensic-applicaiotns.com
Add Meth-Screening to your company. It is easy to do and requires no special training. The latest technology is here. I have had great success with the machine and bottom line it is paying for itself quickly. Use it to market to home buyers, medical field, child services, jails, hotels, commercial transportation etc… The sky is the limit.
Check out this link : www.MethInspection.com or give me a call 888-867-5995.
**I also sell the scanners and of course NACHI folks get a sweet deal! **
We use the [FONT=Georgia,serif]ID2 METH SCANNER to provide immediate qualitative results[/FONT]
**of testing. The ID2 Meth Scanner is a hand-held, battery-operated, scanner for detecting all forms and concentrations of methamphetamine on virtually all surfaces, including skin, clothing, plastics, wood, metals and masonry. We can detect and verify the presence of meth at trace quantities (in the low nanogram range), without touching or disturbing the surface. **
**
http://www.sentryenvironmental.com/resources/_wsb_237x249_methscannerunit.jpg
http://www.sentryenvironmental.com/resources/methscannerinuse.jpg
**
Principle of Operation – Photoemission from an optically excited surface is used to detect minute quantities of methamphetamine. The Meth Scanner uses an energy source to provide optical excitation at the appropriate wavelength and senses the resulting photoemission.
Rodney Bailey
A-1 Quality Inspection
www.InspectGA.com
706-235-1372
What’s the deal Rodney? Retail is 5K NACHI members= ? Thanks