The meth issue in your property
Methamphetamine contamination is a problem for New Zealanders, especially for those in the property market. Chemcare has the experience and expertise to perform the deep cleaning and meth decontamination process, ideal for whether you’re planning to buy a house or you're an owner who recently found out that the property you currently own is contaminated based on meth test results.
It’s important that you keep the possibility of meth contamination in mind as it is becoming more common.
Our meth decontamination and cleaning experience
Chemcare is a New Zealand meth cleaning company with experts who have a range of experience and certifications in the cleaning and property maintenance industry. This includes dealing with minor precautionary cleans to full meth lab strip-outs.
With over 20 years of experience collectively, our team and contractors are experienced in the meth remediation industry while placing health and safety on top of the priority list.
We want nothing more than for you to make your property safe and sound again.
The Peter Gluckman Meth Report
A few years ago, the government commissioned Sir Peter Gluckman to prepare a meth report. Prior to this, the New Zealand approach was to treat meth labs at the same level as a house where people engaged in drug use, which has led to tears and stress for some house owners.
In other countries, however, the focus is on meth testing and remediation work on properties with heavy methamphetamine use and houses where huge traces residue was found.
The study found that a thorough remediation plan and meth decontamination in most cases is necessary only for homes that have been formerly used as a meth lab producing the drugs and where the illegal substance has been heavily used.
This is mainly because the chemicals used in the manufacturing process can lead to health issues like skin rashes, eye irritation, or even a more serious potential health effect.
The new meth standards
Chemcare requires detailed documentation from clients so that every room can be brought to a habitable standard again. The meth test reveals contamination levels in each room, which rules out the unnecessary need to strip out rooms that have low or negligible levels of meth.
Any company with professionals engaged in methamphetamine cleaning or decontamination should be able to send you these results.
With the release of the NZS8510 or the new meth standard by the New Zealand Ministry of Health, we know that rooms in high use are safe up to 1.5µg per 100cm2, and limited use areas (which are difficult to access, and unlikely to be accessed by children) have a higher allowance of meth contamination, are safe up to 3.8µg per 100cm.
From this testing, and after a site visit, we will be able to provide you with a full scope of work, so you can see exactly what will be happening on your property.
Areas we cover for meth cleaning include the Bay of Islands, Coromandel, Kapiti, Tauranga, Rotorua, Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Palmerston North, Whangarei, Wanganui, and New Plymouth.
Areas we cover for meth cleaning INCLUDE: THE Bay of Islands,
Coromandel,
Kapiti,
Tauranga,
Rotorua,
Auckland,
Hamilton,
Wellington, Palmerston North,
Whangarei,
Wanganui, AND
New Plymouth.
Meth contamination and the LIM report
Normally meth only shows if the police have been involved or if there is confirmation that meth has been cooked. There have been instances however where tenants randomly did meth testing on their home and news came back as positive. They felt that their landlord/property manager was not fully disclosing and as a result, sent their copies of the test results to their local council.
On the other hand, once the local Council receives information that a methamphetamine lab has been discovered, the information is recorded on the property’s Land Information Memorandum (LIM).
The local authorities are obliged to store this information and the information would normally stay with the LIM document. Once the authorities get involved, your property is likely to stay with this LIM notification. This is why it’s better to do meth testing and decontamination before it gets too late and you’re left with an ongoing problem.
Meth clean up at lower levels of contamination
At lower levels of meth contamination (up to levels of 1.5 micrograms per 100cm2), of course, our team of technicians can decontamination work on your property to return it to a habitable standard with precautionary clean.
This is often referred to as a ‘triple-clean process’. The benefit of this is the cleaning products we use won’t leave any nasty residue after we’ve finished the clean. So when the property is returned to you, you can be assured it is safe.
Meth clean up at high levels of contamination
At a highly meth contaminated property, our people will need to undertake a site visit to see the extent of the damage. In most cases, our team will be able to bring down the meth levels in the property by using specialised cleaning solutions and equipment.
However, at levels deemed high enough, some stripping out of building materials may be necessary. It’s important to note that highly meth contaminated houses will probably be deemed as ‘uninhabitable’. It’s important that at this time you have somewhere else you can stay while the property is being decontaminated.
What can be disposed of, and
what will have to go?
Only hard non-porous items can be decontaminated. Such as plasterboard and ceiling, subfloors, hard surface flooring, doors, cabinets, countertops, metal ductwork, furnaces etc. Items to be removed and disposed of would-be carpet, carpet underlay, drop ceiling tiles, acoustical ceiling tiles, insulated ductwork, and exposed insulation.
If you want to know how our company can help you with decontamination work after finding out that your house was a former meth lab, call us on 0800 800 646 or contact us via this website.