RTK Environmental Group

RTK is a great company. Unfortunately the work that had to be done by remediation and was quite costly and unexpected. It was $90.00 per sample.

One guy came out and it took him about an hour and a half. Then I waited for a report and it came within a couple of days. They then made suggestions on what needed to be done. After I had what needed to be done, done, they came back to check that. There was an additional charge for that, since I did not have to have them come back, but I chose to.

They did a pretty thorough job and they were very professional. They did offer additional testing too. They also sent a written report with explanations. They made recommendations to remediation; they do not perform those services, but they made suggestions. They offered that if I had any questions, I could call, which I did.

They came out and it was very quick service. They were personable and efficient.

They did a good job. They were responsive and they gave me preliminary results right away. It is a little long to know the final report. The cost was between $475 to $500.

We had a HUGE dispute over price AFTER the work was completed. –the estimate I received was VERY misleading. $450 plus $35 for sample testing. I agreed to test the playground as well as the inside of our school thinking what is $35? I anticipated an bill for $520 and provided my credit card information for payment over the phone. When my card was charged over $800, I was shocked. The owner than told me he had collected 11 samples as required by the state. I asked why he neglected to mention that he would need 10 samples he said – he didn’t know how many he would need. I still don’t understand the logic, and feel there should have been a ball park quote provided over the phone. Something like it will cost $450 plus $35 per test. You may need several tests…. 1 per room, 1 every 10 feet – usually it is between 7 – 15. I am not an expert. But, some sort of clarification seems necessary. The owner agreed to give me $200 back on my card but we still ended up paying a lot more than we anticipated. We had no choice. I gave a 'C' for responsiveness because we worked via email.

They were very thorough. The cost was $450 for the initial consultation and $85 for each room they tested for mold in, but most of this was covered by my insurance. They were always there on the phone. Any questions I had about the report, they got right back to me. The cost seemed high, but you get what you pay for. They are very well established and you can trust them.

It turned out very well. They were very professional and responsive. They did a good with the inspection and had the work done promptly which I was satisfied with. I know I have a clean store now so that made me feel good. I received more than one estimate on the job and they came in similar. They were local so I used them and I was happy that I did. Everything worked out well.

They were good. They got results to us within a week. They ended up finding some hazardous materials and we had it treated ourself. I felt they were really expensive though.

We were able to get scheduled within a week. It turned out fine! The price was $955 and that included the on-site visit, testing in a lab, and materials.

It was great! They were able to come out quickly, within 2 days. They were very thorough. They went over every surface inside and outside: e.g. windowsills and door jams. The price was reasonable too.

It went great! We were able to get it scheduled quickly and they got the results to us very fast.

Overall, the experience was fine. They seemed knowledgeable, but we ended up going with another company.

I got a very good report of them. They explained everything they were doing along the way and why. They were very thorough and prompt. They aren't cheap, but if they find something horrible -- it's worth it! The price depends on the amount of samples they test because they have to send them to a lab. I did a fair amount of research on them before hiring.

This was, hands down, the worst experience we encountered during the purchase and closing process of our new home. During the initial home inspection, an area of concern in our basement was called out by the inspector as possible mold. I contacted 3 different companies to discuss & schedule an official mold inspection prior to the end of attorney review. RTK Environmental was, by far, the most expensive of the three choices, however we decided to go ahead with their services based on the fact that they were strictly an inspection company and felt they would not be biased by the incentive of gaining additional income from remediation costs. The initial conversations with the office were informative and went smoothly. When we made the decision to go ahead with the inspection, the process was simple and it was scheduled with ease. The day of the inspection, our realtor met the inspector at the home to let him in. He was a few minutes late due to unforeseen traffic on the highway, although he was very diligent about reaching out to me with the updates on the situation. From my perspective of the 5-10 minutes, it was minimal and had made no initial effect on my opinion. But unfortunately, that is where my positive experience ends. While the inspector had called to let me know he was experiencing traffic delays, I had been relaying this information to our realtor who was waiting for his arrival at the home. After our last phone conversation, the inspector indicated that he still was unsure of his arrival time so I followed up with him approximately 15-20 minutes later for an update to relay to the realtor. To my surprise, within this time frame, the inspector had made it to the home, completed the inspection and was already en route to his next destination. I was shocked as to the minimal amount of time it took and further baffled by the price. When I expressed my shock that the inspection was already completed, the inspector very confidently continued to tell me that the area called out by the home inspector was NOT MOLD and that it was just "dirt mixed into the concrete." He continued to reassure me that he "knew what mold looked like and that wasn't it", we did not have mold, and had nothing to worry about with our home. He indicated that he had taken samples anyways, and would send me the report when it was completed. He had also spoken to our realtor about all of the above during the inspection. At the moment, this was a huge weight off our shoulders. In hindsight, we should've never proceeded without the official report, although based on the time constraints of inspections during this process, we made the huge mistake of communicating the "go ahead" through attorneys that we did not have mold. However, to our surprise, when we received the official mold report the following week, we DID have mold! And to top it off, there were indications of multiple kinds ranging in levels of concern on both levels of the home. I immediately contacted the inspector directly to question the variances between the report and our conversation the prior week. He retracted his previous statements about the "dirt mixed in with the concrete" and again tried to reassure me that it was of minimal concern. He made additional comments that contradicted the state & cleanliness of the home vs. the report. During our approximately 20 minute conversation, I told him about my concerns with the costs of remediation since we had mistakenly trusted his word in communications surrounding our attorney review process. He proceeded to reassure me that while it was not something to ignore and we SHOULD DEFINITELY have it remediated, the cost should be minimal and it was nothing to be concerned about. At this point, I should've made my first phone call back to the office and file a complaint. But, I didn't. Based on my last conversation with the inspector, he had ball park estimated that the cost of remediation for the problem would be approximately $1,000-$1,500. Since we realized that we should not have taken his "word" in the first place and felt that cost was affordable to correct the problem, it was not worth complaining and creating a ruckus. The inspector was actually very nice & while I am sure that he meant us no harm or deception, the entire situation would've resulted in a different outcome had he practiced a more professional approach and stuck to the FACTS & NOT provided us with his OPINION. After our closing, we reached out to 3 different mold remediation companies for estimates. During all 3 walk through’s, those inspectors immediately found areas of concern not pointed out in the original report. We had a large area of black mold in visible sight and other smaller areas in another room of the basement not mentioned at all in the RTK inspection report. Approximately $5,000 dollars later and after over half of our basement walls were removed to clean up the mold issues, we are mold free. We paid close to twice as much as other inspectors quoted for services I am not sure were completed. We definitely accept some of the blame of incurring the cost of remediation, however, based on the amount of other areas that came to light during remediation, I find it hard to believe that a full walk through ever happened. This was a huge expense, from the get go, that did not have to be ours and would've been handled differently had a thorough inspection been completed in the first place. I would not use this company again - or recommend them to anyone. My trust is gone in the quality and accuracy of their work.

It went very well, it was done profesionally and in a good time. I was happy with their work.

Everything was good, except the final report format was not that clear in relation to the non existence of mold. I believe the report was more focused on legalize and liability than clearly state no mold was found.

Very thorough, found more tile we didn't even see during our home inspection, we had the reports expedited and they arrived in less than 3 business days. very good service, very professional and respectful

Robert was very professional and efficient. He tested our entire home for lead in the walls and soil. He went from room to room and used a device that analyzes the paint in the wall to see how many layers of lead paint are hidden underneath. He also took soil samples to test them for lead. He arrived on time and was courteous. He delivered the lead report within a week or so. I don't remember the exact number of days, but it arrived electronically and showed each room and how much lead paint was in each room. He wasn't in the business of recommending any remediation companies to help with your lead situation, so as long as you don't expect that, you will be pleased. I've dealt with other contractors who were more verbal and talked more in depth about the home's issues, but everyone is different, and he definitely got the job done.

They were quick to give me an appointment for the initial testing. They were very informative when I had questions. And the results were in much quicker than anticipated. Very helpful when waiting for important results.

Excellent. On time and great to work with. Knowledgeable about tests and results. We received a detailed report explaining their findings. We would definitely recommend their services to others.

Although it is obvious that there is mold in our crawl space along with debris that needs to be cleaned out. I am not certain that the air quality tests inside the living space prove that the crawl space mold is a health hazard. This surprised me, since I have allergies that have been terrible since we moved to this home over 5 years ago. We are looking into mold remediation with a number of companies, as well as encapsilation of the crawl space. It is not obvious to me who would replace the insulation in the crawl space as well. The costs for taking care of all this are estimated at over $25,000. Somehow, this doesn't feel right. I will try to get in touch with RTK again in order to better understand what absolutely needs to be done. Hopefully I will then update this info.

Very professional and they mailed and emailed the report.

Principal of the company was punctual, professional and very competent. We received a detailed report promptly.

Robert Weitz, a Senior Project Manager, was professional, prompt, and pleasant. RTK does other kinds of testing (air quality, radon, etc.) as well as mold testing. They do not do mold remediation because they feel that is a conflict of interest. I found that reassuring and it made me feel that I got an unbiased opinion.