Metro Technology Labortories

So the missus and I bought a fixer upper a while back. The time came to rip out a bathroom and I think to myself, «Huh, this house was built in the 1950’s. I wonder if there are any toxic nasty bits that will get into my lungs/​blood/​brain and kill me… How do I find that out?»
The internet presented several options; just risk it and probably die, get a kit from a big box store and mail samples across the country and get results in like months, hire crazy expensive experts who oh-​by-​the-​way also happen to be experts in the removal of toxic nasty bits for thousands and thousands of dollars (yeah, no conflict-​of-​interest there…), or after pages and pages of search results, do the right thing: find a local, independent, NIST-​accredited lab that only runs tests and doesn’t try to sell you a dang thing. Score.
The NIST website said there are a handful of such labs in the area. I even called a few of them. I went with MTL because they were super nice to me when I called. They answered all of my questions. They made sure I wasn’t going to do anything stupid like rip out a chunk of wall without a mask just to get a sample. They gave me a great quote over the phone. When asked how soon I needed results, I straight up guessed, «Umm, like a week?» to which they responded, ‘Pff, yeah, we’ll have these in 24 hours.” OK. Cool.
Here’s where it got really good. I collect my samples, zip down the highway, find the place without getting lost once, and land free street parking just down the block. They buzz me in the door and say, «Oh, hi, you must be the guy who called. Show us what you’ve got.» To be certain that everything was in order, they ran my samples back to the lab right then and there and came back two minutes later and said they could work with everything. I fill out the form, cut them a check for exactly what they quoted, and I’m gone. In and out in ten minutes tops. It’ll be five next time when I know what I’m doing.
Flash forward six hours, my phone dings and the report is in my inbox. Same day processing. The report is easy to read and comprehend. It had a little glossary that explained the terminology. I geeked out over this part, in addition to testing for toxic nasty bits, the report gives percentages of the other materials in the composition of my samples. Neat! I wasn’t expecting that.
All in all, absolutely every aspect of this process clicked into place and I was delightfully surprised by how easy it was. If you are remodeling an old house, there is no reason not to run these tests. I will definitely come back to MTL the next time we undertake a remodeling project.