Frequently Asked Questions

Methamphetamine Property Testing

If you suspect that meth may have been smoked or prepared in your home or a house you are thinking of buying, your rental property or business premises then a meth test can give you a reliable answer so that you can take appropriate steps to deal with the situation.

Living in a meth contaminated house can have a serious impact on your health and can also put a serious dent in your finances if you need to undertake extensive remediation work.

It can be very hard to tell if you are living in or about to buy a meth contaminated property with the naked eye and by the time you find out you are living in a former meth lab or user site it could be too late in terms of your health or your finances.

Meth testing can give you an accurate result and immediately tell you if you are living in a contaminated property and if needed exactly what levels of meth contamination are present.

Meth testing is important for a range of different people involved in the property market including:

Prospective buyers: if you are thinking about buying a property and are concerned about the potential contamination, then get a meth test before committing to a sale. This will either give you the peace of mind to go ahead with the sale or allow you to enter negotiations with your eyes open and in possession of all the facts.
Tenants: if you are looking to rent a property you might like to ask the landlord to carry out a meth test or carry out your own before signing a tenancy agreement (with the permission of the landlord).
Home owners: if you already own a house and suspect your property may be contaminated after talking to your neighbours or you are experiencing health problems, then you might want to get a home meth test sooner rather than later.
Landlords: as a landlord it pays to get a meth test before you buy a property to add to your portfolio as well as on a regular basis during tenancies. This can help you identify any problems as soon as possible and can provide evidence should you need it for tenancy disputes.
Real estate agents: if your business is selling properties, you might like to think about offering meth testing as part of your services. This gives both buyers and sellers peace of mind that the properties are safe.
Business owners: if you are concerned your business property such as storage units or offices are compromised a meth test may give you a clearer answer.

You can buy do it yourself meth test kit for home use and carry out your own testing if you are concerned. These are cheaper than getting a professional test, but are not always as reliable.

A professional meth testing company will take a series of samples in different areas of your house, send them off to a laboratory and if meth is discovered then you know exactly what you are dealing with. The next step is to find out and how much decontamination work might need to be undertaken.

Further testing is done once remediation work has been carried out to ensure levels are below the New Zealand Standard NZS8510

If you are thinking about starting your own meth testing business, talk to us about our comprehensive meth training course that can help you learn the techniques and gain valuable tips to get you started in your business including training on the different types of testing kits and how to use them, where to test in a property, health and safety, report writing, etc.

Methamphetamine FAQ

Are you concerned your home or rental property may be contaminated with meth or do you want to know more about the implications of living in a meth contaminated property? These common questions will help you understand a little more about your potential problem.

Methamphetamine, also known as P or Ice, is a highly addictive drug that is usually smoked but can also be snorted or injected after being dissolved in liquid. The drug affects the central nervous system and can be addictive from the very first try. Meth is relatively easy to make and many of the ingredients are found common household items.

Some properties are just lived in by meth users who smoke the drug while at the property. Other places are used as meth labs by the people who manufacture the drug either for their own use or to sell to others. At a meth lab, precursor ingredients many of which are easy to find, are combined to make the drug. Because meth labs are easy to set up they can be found in any type of property and in any suburb. If the property has been used as a meth lab levels of contamination are likely to be much higher than if the house has simply been used by meth users, especially if the manufacturing is on a large scale.

Living in a property that has been used for smoking or making Meth can contribute to a range of health issues. In fact these unexplained health problems may be the first indication that you are living in a contaminated house.

Health issues include dizziness, headaches, nausea, excessive sneezing and breathing problems and skin issues. More serious long term issues are still being researched but current studies suggest problems could include serious respiratory problems and possibly even cancer.

It is actually very hard to tell as a novice whether you are in a meth contaminated house especially if it was just used by meth users.

Things to look for if a property has been a lab include:

Cat urine or chemical smells
Stains on the wall or evidence of recent cleaning above what you might usually expect
Evidence that windows have been blacked out
Rubbish around the property such as glass containers and chemical packaging

Things to look for if a property has been a user site:

Missing incandescent lightbulbs
Property neglect
Reports of lots of visitors to the property – day and night

You may also experience health symptoms that cannot be explained which may be an indication that your property is contaminated.

In reality the only way to know for sure if your house is contaminated by meth is to carry out meth testing.
The best solution is to get a professional sampler who will carry out extensive meth house sampling for you. Most can give you a quick yes or no answer and then carry out more testing if necessary.

If you think you need a professional meth sampler we can recommend reliable companies to carry out sampling for you. We also offer products for meth lab decontamination if you wish to do a clean up yourself or can recommend a decontamination company. Contact us to find out more.

Methamphetamine Cleaning and Decontamination

If you have discovered that you are living in a house contaminated with meth, you have two main options to help you move forward. Most meth contaminated properties will need some form of decontamination which you can either try and do yourself or get a professional company in to do for you.

The work needed to bring your property back up to a livable standard will probably depend on the extent of the meth use at the property and whether it was used simply for smoking the drug or as a lab to manufacture meth.

Meth labs require more remediation work than houses where the drug has simply been used as the chemicals and toxins used in the manufacturing process may remain and the levels of meth and precursors are higher than most user sites.

In most cases any soft furnishings like curtains and carpets need to be replaced and in more extreme cases you may even need to rip out counter tops and other fixtures and fittings or even demolish parts of the property in order to ensure the contamination has been completely eradicated.

Just because the house has been a meth lab, it does not necessarily mean that it has to be stripped back to the house frame, i.e. kitchen, bathroom, gib & ceilings removed. There may be an option to use a meth removing chemical to clean the property.

If the results of meth sampling has shown only low levels of contamination you might consider cleaning up the property yourself.

In this case you will need to purchase safety items to ensure you are protected during the clean-up process and a range of cleaning products to remove the meth. Potential equipment includes:

respirators, gloves, gum boots and overalls
cleaning chemicals
machinery for cleaning such as sprayers and foggers

You will also have to dispose of any soft furnishings and carpets, etc. as hazardous waste by using an appropriate waste contractor. A better solution may be to get a professional meth decontamination company in to do the job for you. Professionals will have all the right equipment and be efficient and thorough in the cleaning.

When you are requesting quotes from a company to do meth decontamination for you, it is important to make sure you are dealing with a reputable service.

Things to ask include:

What qualifications and training do the technicians have
Does the company have testimonials from other decontamination jobs
How does with the waste taken from your property get disposed of.
How much demolition might be involved in the meth remediation work
How long the job will take
Will the process make my property habitable as per the New Zealand Standard NZS8510.

Reputable companies will be able to provide you with all relevant information and evidence of their qualifications before starting work. Cleaning Systems can recommend a number of suitable companies to help you with P lab decontamination.

Once your property has been cleaned further samples need to be taken to clear the property for habitation.
A good decontamination company will be able to bring levels under the current New Zealand Standard NZS8510 level of 1.5 micrograms per 100cm2 in high use areas of the property or 3.8 micrograms per 100cm2 in low use areas of a property and the final tests will show levels of contamination are now at safe levels.

Meth lab decontamination is a great business for the right person, offering the chance to carry out work that could make a real difference in people’s lives. If you are thinking about getting involved in the meth clean up business, Cleaning Systems can provide a training programme which gives you a wide-ranging grounding in the methods and techniques for meth decontamination.