There are some ignorant comments being posted here. I am a Chinese drywall homeowner and let’s get a few things straight. I didn’t purchase chinese drywall, I purchased a home that had the wall board already installed. It was also painted. So who would know? Two. It isn’t just a problem of the smell. It is about the corrosion of the copper. It is currently over 80 degrees outside. Sadly the same inside as I just had another A/C failure! So there in lies the problem. My home is corroding from the inside (copper wire & hvac) out. No one wants this home, not even me! What should we do? Want to vaction here in FL in my home :-)
I do get it! You didnt ask for it and you had no control and no idea that there was even such a thing as chinese drywall.
You are going to have an issue with the romax wiring in your home, the end of the wires will corrode to black and there will be a few times that you need to pull outlet and switches if they loose a good contact. Your copper pipes will get a black corrosion on them, If you have a sterling silver set it will tarnish badly and requires more frequent polishing, some decorative household items with brass, copper or silver will tarnish, metalic paints will tarnish, Your jewelry will tarnish and require cleaning, The evaporator coil on the inside unit of your HVAC and its copper tubing will corrode causing leakage and could ultimately cause your outside compressor to fail because of lack coolant pressure. Your house guests think that dog has constant gas and there is that faint smell of rotten eggs.
The upside is that this will go away eventualy as the sheet rock dissipates all of its sulfide gasses. Truly it is a pain in the behind to invest big bucks into a new home and have to deal with this but it will go away and a few years down the road it will all be forgotten by you and buyers.
It is not worth walking away and ruining your valuable credit. And yes, id love to vacation in your home.
Question-how is it the CPSC, in the span of two weeks, goes from saying no link between Chinese Drywall and health/property damage problems to a “strong link” to health and property damage concerns????? Did they miss something major or did political pressure play a role? Why do I smell trial lawyers???
The answer is that it is a bit of both! First commenting quickly on the science; the problem is Reduced Sulfur Compounds (RSC) contained within the gypsum. When exposed to temperature and humidity sulfur based gases and compounds are created. These cause corrosion and are a respiratory irritant. All of this is exacerbated current building codes require “tight”, low air infiltration buildings. One comment said “wait a while and it will go away when the drywall has outgased all of the sulfur”; this could happen, but it will take decades. Some homes have already had multiple HVAC system failures.
From the government’s viewpoint this is a political hot potato. If the EPA says that this is a “pollutant” we have a problem similar to Radon; can’t sell a home if the problem is not fixed. If the CPSC says it is product defect that impacts safety there is the potential for a product recall. In both cases there are really no deep pockets to pay for any of this. Insurance coverage is limited or non-existent in both cases.
Contractor GL policies beginning in the mid-2000’s began limiting coverage of construction defects (recall EFIS and other problems of the past). So at the very best there is limited coverage and the contractor is likely to have a significant amount of retention. If it is a pollutant it is excluded. With the recent bust in the construction industry there isn’t much money there. One could go after the supplier. Yeah, let’s sue China!
HO policies exclude both pollutants and construction defects; hence no coverage. More recently some carriers have cancelled (or refused to renew) after a Chinese drywall claim was filed. The rational is that it is a hazard that could result in a covered peril loss. More recently some carriers have backed down on this position; but the CPSC findings could change that.
Where does this leave the homeowner? They are between a rock and a hard place. They cannot sell the home. They may not be able to get insurance as required by their mortgage holder. One solution is to walk away from the home since their equity is less than what they owe. The loan defaults and is probably insured (or held) by a government agency; another bailout in the works. An estimate of this exposure is in excess of $15B!!
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Im going to make a movie where the Chinese take over all our businesses – Even on the service end (along with India of course)
But then after we default on our debt, oddly nothing happens, except that mysteriously 1000’s of people and their dogs go randomly missing.
They are secretly sent by the American Govt to slave camps in China, where they are eventually eaten by the Chinese population for being fat and lazy.
There are some ignorant comments being posted here. I am a Chinese drywall homeowner and let’s get a few things straight. I didn’t purchase chinese drywall, I purchased a home that had the wall board already installed. It was also painted. So who would know? Two. It isn’t just a problem of the smell. It is about the corrosion of the copper. It is currently over 80 degrees outside. Sadly the same inside as I just had another A/C failure! So there in lies the problem. My home is corroding from the inside (copper wire & hvac) out. No one wants this home, not even me! What should we do? Want to vaction here in FL in my home :-)
I do get it! You didnt ask for it and you had no control and no idea that there was even such a thing as chinese drywall.
You are going to have an issue with the romax wiring in your home, the end of the wires will corrode to black and there will be a few times that you need to pull outlet and switches if they loose a good contact. Your copper pipes will get a black corrosion on them, If you have a sterling silver set it will tarnish badly and requires more frequent polishing, some decorative household items with brass, copper or silver will tarnish, metalic paints will tarnish, Your jewelry will tarnish and require cleaning, The evaporator coil on the inside unit of your HVAC and its copper tubing will corrode causing leakage and could ultimately cause your outside compressor to fail because of lack coolant pressure. Your house guests think that dog has constant gas and there is that faint smell of rotten eggs.
The upside is that this will go away eventualy as the sheet rock dissipates all of its sulfide gasses. Truly it is a pain in the behind to invest big bucks into a new home and have to deal with this but it will go away and a few years down the road it will all be forgotten by you and buyers.
It is not worth walking away and ruining your valuable credit. And yes, id love to vacation in your home.
Thanks Thom
Question-how is it the CPSC, in the span of two weeks, goes from saying no link between Chinese Drywall and health/property damage problems to a “strong link” to health and property damage concerns????? Did they miss something major or did political pressure play a role? Why do I smell trial lawyers???
You have a good nose! But who would they sue and where would they sue?
Chinese drywall, the asbestos and mold of the next decade. I can see the lawyers salivating now. Cha ching!!
Thom, how long does it take for the problem to dissipate?
Dwain, lawyers smell so blind people can hate them too!
Havent heard that one yet, Very Funny !
The answer is that it is a bit of both! First commenting quickly on the science; the problem is Reduced Sulfur Compounds (RSC) contained within the gypsum. When exposed to temperature and humidity sulfur based gases and compounds are created. These cause corrosion and are a respiratory irritant. All of this is exacerbated current building codes require “tight”, low air infiltration buildings. One comment said “wait a while and it will go away when the drywall has outgased all of the sulfur”; this could happen, but it will take decades. Some homes have already had multiple HVAC system failures.
From the government’s viewpoint this is a political hot potato. If the EPA says that this is a “pollutant” we have a problem similar to Radon; can’t sell a home if the problem is not fixed. If the CPSC says it is product defect that impacts safety there is the potential for a product recall. In both cases there are really no deep pockets to pay for any of this. Insurance coverage is limited or non-existent in both cases.
Contractor GL policies beginning in the mid-2000’s began limiting coverage of construction defects (recall EFIS and other problems of the past). So at the very best there is limited coverage and the contractor is likely to have a significant amount of retention. If it is a pollutant it is excluded. With the recent bust in the construction industry there isn’t much money there. One could go after the supplier. Yeah, let’s sue China!
HO policies exclude both pollutants and construction defects; hence no coverage. More recently some carriers have cancelled (or refused to renew) after a Chinese drywall claim was filed. The rational is that it is a hazard that could result in a covered peril loss. More recently some carriers have backed down on this position; but the CPSC findings could change that.
Where does this leave the homeowner? They are between a rock and a hard place. They cannot sell the home. They may not be able to get insurance as required by their mortgage holder. One solution is to walk away from the home since their equity is less than what they owe. The loan defaults and is probably insured (or held) by a government agency; another bailout in the works. An estimate of this exposure is in excess of $15B!!