In the spring of 2013, Jenny and Chris Nugent were excited
to buy their very first home. They spent their life savings on a beautiful
ranch fixer-upper in Mooresville, and dumped in some extra money to fix holes
in the wall replace the flooring, and upgrade the bathroom. They never expected
to have to deal with meth in their dream home.
Until everyone started getting sick.
Around August, the Nugent kids - then 10, 8, and 1 - started
getting sick. The signs were subtle, like a flu that just wouldn't go away. At
first, Jenny thought it was just a virus they were passing around, as families
do.
But their 10-year-old daughter was getting “the flu” every
couple of weeks. She’d get sick, get well enough to go to school, and then be
sick again within a few days. And the baby grew lethargic and irritable, woke
up every two hours at night, and had diarrhea for six weeks straight. To top it
off, the family’s beloved dog died not long after they moved into the new
house.
Finding the Answers
Jenny searched for answers, but it wasn't until May that a
neighbor mentioned the home’s previous owner had cooked meth. “I was in contact
as soon as I started suspecting,” says Jenny, “I called the homeowners’
insurance company and filed a claim, and then contacted the inspector who did
our property inspection. Both of them called me back and told me about Crisis
Cleaning.”
Jenny ordered one generic meth test kit online. It came back
positive. Just to be sure, she used Crisis Cleaning’s certified test next. It,
too, was positive.
The next day, the family moved into a hotel, leaving most of
their belongings behind. They had no idea what would or would not still be
contaminated.
Jenny immediately contacted Crisis Cleaning, but there was
no way the Nugents could afford to pay for their services. Their homeowner’s
insurance policy didn't cover meth cleanup, and their savings was gone. Not to
mention they’d have to pay rent and a
mortgage payment while straightening out the mess.
Getting it Cleaned Up
Luckily for the Nugent’s, Crisis Cleaning takes on about one
pro bono case per year. After hearing the family’s heartbreaking story, they
offered the Nugent’s their services free of charge.
First, Crisis Cleaning tested the property. It was many
times the legal limit for meth residue - especially in the downstairs in the
kitchen and near the baby’s room. “No wonder he wouldn't sleep for more than
two hours at night,” Jenny says in retrospect. The poor baby probably had
headaches from all the meth exposure.
Crisis Cleaning’s crew soon came to remove all the
contaminated belongings from the home. Jenny says this was the biggest relief.
Without an expert there to take care of it, they would have been clueless as to
which belongings to trash, and where to take them.
From there, things stalled a bit. The Nugent’s were - and
still are - in the midst of a lawsuit against the Realtor who sold them the
home. The Realtor happened to be the previous homeowner’s mother, and the Nugent’s
think she may have known about the meth exposure.
Unfortunately, the previous owner’s attorney’s stalled. But,
eventually, Crisis Cleaning was allowed in to decontaminate the property, which
took about three days.
Where They Are Now
Today, the Nugent family owns a certified meth-free home in
Mooresville, but they’re still living in an apartment. “It just feels like a
huge death happened [in that home] for us,” says Jenny, “It’s just a dark place
for us now. We’re just wanting to break even and move on somewhere else.”
The Nugent's last year hasn't gone as planned, but they’re
much better off than they could have been.
Without Crisis Cleaning, says Jenny, “we would have ended up
foreclosing just because we didn't have the funds. . . To me, it’s like they
were angels for us because otherwise we would have lost everything. It’s that
simple. I mean, they saved us.”
As the Nugent’s rebuild their lives, they’re putting the
finishing touches on the Mooresville home. Soon, they’ll install new carpet so
that it can go back on the market. Hopefully they’ll sell the home soon, so
they can buy a new one; but this time before they buy, they’ll test for meth.
http://www.crisiscleaning.com/home-meth-test-kit-test-meth-residue
http://www.crisiscleaning.com/home-meth-test-kit-test-meth-residue
By Abby Hayes