Author Topic: Family sick from home being former meth lab.  (Read 389 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline DalesCarpentry

  • Trade Count: (32)
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 6111
  • Gender: Male
  • I would rather be shooting!!
Family sick from home being former meth lab.
« on: July 20, 2009, 03:33:55 AM »
This just stinks. ;D A new family starting out buys a house and has 3 kids. The whole family gets very sick over time. Turns out their house used to be used as a meth lab. It is going to cost them a bunch of money to fix the problem. There should be some type of testing required in all states to check for this sort of thing. What do you think? Dale

http://news.aol.com/health/article/family-ails-from-homes-meth/571357

(July 14) -- When Rhonda and Jason Holt started their family in the Winchester, Tenn., home they bought in 2004, they couldn't understand why they and their children were hit by mysterious illnesses.
Rhonda started getting migraines. Her husband had problems with his kidneys. And the three children they had, now ages 4, 2 and 1, had respiratory problems that required drugs and hospital visits, reported

Finally, in February, they found out that their house had previously been used as a drug lab, and was contaminated with methamphetamines, which had permeated the drywall, carpets, insulation and air ducts, leading to the family's health problems. And cleaning up the toxins would cost at least $30,000.
"We had no idea that we were starting a family in a meth house," Rhonda Holt told the Times. "We bought a house that eventually was going to sentence our family to death."
The paper reports that seizures of meth labs are on the rise across the country, and that federal data suggests there are thousands of contaminated residences in the U.S. The massive cleanup costs can destroy a family's finances.
About 20 states have laws requiring cleanup from meth contamination, but there are no national standards.
The Holts are now living with family nearby as they try to save money to have the decontamination work done on their home. Their health problems have largely subsided since they moved out, the Times said, but "We don't know what it's going to be in the future," said Rhonda Holt.
The quality of a mans life is in direct proportion to his commitment to excellence.

A bad day at the range is better than a good day at work!!

Offline Siskiyou

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3417
  • Gender: Male
Re: Family sick from home being former meth lab.
« Reply #1 on: July 20, 2009, 04:42:17 AM »
Some states have disclosure laws that would require sellers to disclose the property history.  This allows the buyer to go back on the seller if they failed to disclose drug labs, murders, suicides, and other events on the property.
There is a learning process to effectively using a gps.  Do not throw your compass and map away!

Boycott: San Francisco, L.A., Oakland, and City of Sacramento, CA.

Offline Skunk

  • Trade Count: (2)
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3520
Re: Family sick from home being former meth lab.
« Reply #2 on: July 20, 2009, 05:55:49 AM »
There should be some type of testing required in all states to check for this sort of thing. What do you think?

What do you think? I think that given the number of "clean" homes for sale in each state compared to the number of homes for sale in each state that were actually meth labs, "required testing" would become a bureaucratic nightmare of magnificent proportion. 
Mike

"Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition" - Frank Loesser

Offline williamlayton

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 15415
Re: Family sick from home being former meth lab.
« Reply #3 on: July 20, 2009, 09:12:18 AM »
I am wondering WHO the seller was?
Blessings
TEXAS, by GOD

Offline Questor

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 7075
Re: Family sick from home being former meth lab.
« Reply #4 on: July 20, 2009, 10:29:10 AM »
We've had a few kitchen disasters that might require disclosure. I can recall a number Minnesota "hot dish" (i.e. noodle or rice casseroles, but worse) disasters because of my wife's heritage. She makes them as a comfort food sometimes. Then there's the sauerkraut I cook sometimes because it's my comfort food. Any of those could make a family sick.
Safety first

Offline DalesCarpentry

  • Trade Count: (32)
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 6111
  • Gender: Male
  • I would rather be shooting!!
Re: Family sick from home being former meth lab.
« Reply #5 on: July 20, 2009, 10:30:02 AM »
I could be wrong on this but I think most banks require some sort of home inspection done prior to receiving the loan. If they were to make it part of the inspection I don't see a problem. I think all they would probably need to do is take a few swabs of drywall,counter tops and floors. Send the swabs off to a lab. Dale
The quality of a mans life is in direct proportion to his commitment to excellence.

A bad day at the range is better than a good day at work!!

Offline Questor

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 7075
Re: Family sick from home being former meth lab.
« Reply #6 on: July 20, 2009, 10:32:59 AM »
Here's an interesting FYI: House trailers have a lot of formaldehyde in them. I think it's the furniture, carpet, and paneling. I worked with a woman who grew up in them and she eventually got sensitized to it so she had an allergic reaction every time she got near anything with formaldehyde in it. This is just about everything. She couldn't, for example, put her arms on a formica desk top because it made the skin on her arms turn red, burn and itch.
Safety first

Offline mechanic

  • GBO Supporter
  • Trade Count: (32)
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 5112
  • Gender: Male
Re: Family sick from home being former meth lab.
« Reply #7 on: July 20, 2009, 11:24:33 AM »
Here in Ga. a house used as a drug house is siezed by the Narcs.  To my mind, I would hope they would clean it before they sell it.???
Molon Labe, (King Leonidas of the Spartan Army)