Feds: Homes with Chinese drywall must be gutted

[Kadie]

Feds: Homes with Chinese drywall must be gutted

Friday, April 2, 2010

(04-02) 10:25 PDT New Orleans (AP) --

New federal guidelines say thousands of U.S. homes tainted by Chinese drywall won't be safe unless they are completely gutted.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission released the guidelines Friday. They say electrical wiring, outlets, circuit breakers, fire alarm systems, carbon monoxide alarms, fire sprinklers, gas pipes and drywall must be removed.

About 3,000 homeowners, mostly in Florida, Virginia, Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana, have reported problems with the Chinese-made drywall.

A large quantity of the drywall was imported during the housing boom and after a string of Gulf Coast hurricanes. It has been linked to corrosion of wiring, air conditioning units, computers, doorknobs and jewelry, along with possible health problems.


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/04/02/financial/f101643D92.DTL&tsp=1#ixzz0jxzGpk2L

[Wickerman]

1. I've been reading about this, but haven't yet heard what makes it bad

Anyone know what the problem is?

[Kadie]

4. I was just reading this to find out more myself...

2009 Chinese drywall controversy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 2009 Chinese drywall controversy is an alleged health and safety issue involving defective drywall manufactured in China and imported by the United States starting in 2004. Laboratory tests of samples for volatile chemicals have identified emissions of the sulfurous gases carbon disulfide, carbonyl sulfide, and hydrogen sulfide.<1> These emissions, which have the odor of rotten eggs, worsen as temperature and humidity rise.<1> Homeowners have reported respiratory tract infections, sinus problems and nosebleeds.<1>

In homes with the defective drywall, copper surfaces such as pipes, wiring, and air conditioner coils corrode, turning black and powdery, a chemical process indicative of reaction with hydrogen sulfide.<1>


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Chinese_drywall_controversy

[Kadie]

5. Here is more info...

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/03/18/chinese.drywall/index.html

[librechik]

6. here's a word or two from Popular Mechanics

The Truth about Chinese Drywall
Congress met last Thursday to hold hearings stemming from accusations that some drywall manufactured in China poses health threats. Earlier in the week, the EPA released test results showing elevated levels of strontium in the imported material. Additionally, the Chinese panels contained small amounts of sulfur, whereas domestic samples contained none. As politicians waited for upcoming conclusions from planned x-ray diffraction tests by the EPA, others were taking early action—officials in Norfolk, Virginia banned all Chinese drywall from use in the city. Here are the latest conclusions from the EPA and government labs on the threats of drywall.

snip

Keith Baker noticed sour smells emanating from the walls of his newly built home in Fort Myers, Fla., soon after he took up residence there in March 2008. Then the copper pipes from the hot-water heater turned black, "as though someone threw soot on them." Soon, Baker and his wife started experiencing sinus problems, dizzy spells and muscle aches. They are among thousands of homeowners in Florida and elsewhere who are blaming such problems on low-quality, imported drywall.

Domestic supplies of the building staple ran short during the building boom of recent years, which was compounded in coastal areas by post-hurricane reconstruction projects. Contractors imported 540 million pounds of drywall from China between 2004 and 2008, according to shipping records surveyed by the Associated Press. The office of Florida Sen. Bill Nelson estimates that the material may have ended up in as many as 100,000 homes nationwide. Lab analyses obtained by the Florida Department of Health show that the gypsum in some Chinese drywall contains strontium sulfide, a material absent from most samples manufactured in the United States. The EPA tests for this material are still pending, but scientists suspect that this compound, which releases sulfurous gases, could be the cause of homeowner complaints that range from nose­bleeds and respiratory ailments to black coatings tarnishing shower fixtures and corroding air-conditioner coils.

Researchers say the evidence isn't conclusive—and point out that not all Chinese drywall is suspect. However, a number of class-action lawsuits have been filed against plasterboard manufacturers and others. Builder Lennar Corporation has identified dozens of houses containing potentially harmful drywall, and has pledged to fund the only known remedy: Removing the drywall, replacing damaged plumbing and wiring and relocating homeowners until new materials are installed. In a sure sign that fear is spreading, con men have started hawking bogus test kits and remedies such as chemical sprays and ozone generators.

Homeowners worried about their own wall material can check for a "Made In" stamp or a manufacturer's name on exposed board backs. If no name appears, the Florida attorney general's office recommends an inspection by the builder or a licensed contractor.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/home_journal/home_improvement/4319849.html

[Wickerman]

12. Thanks all - strontium sulfide

makes sense, I guess. Sounds really nasty.

Thanks to everyone who responded so quickly. My love affair with DU continues even after all these years.

[Greyhound]

8. Short version;

They decided that putting their toxic waste in the sheetrock they sold us would kill two birds with one stone.

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

14. +1

[Greyhound]

19. I just installed Karmic Koala on a customer's new econoputer, and it

freaking rocks!

How anyone can stand using windoze anymore is beyond me. My client was amazed at how much computer he got for so little money w/o Micorshit and the attendant expenses.

[fascisthunter]

2. This is another example of what happens when there are no regulation

we buy from a country that has very little regulations, and businesses don't care because they can buy products for very little in comparison to paying an american manufacturer here in the states. As long as their bottom line is ok, they don't give a damn.

This is a result of deregulation and global free-trade. I prefer to call it global wage slavery...

[Loge23]

9. Yes, I agree. (eom)

[unpossibles]

11. but all of my libertarians friends and family tell me that companies will police themselves

I have taken to doing three things:

1 - direct them to http://www.thereifixedit.com and ask them if they REALLY want their neighbors to be able to build their own roads and ignore various codes and regulations

2 - remind them of news stories like this one

3 - ask them if they also believe in removing their front doors to prevent robbery, trusting that people will police themselves.

[fascisthunter]

13. yeah well, they may as well believe in the tooth fairy

or that glenn beck is a good man.

Incredible, isn't it?

[unpossibles]

17. it truly is

I am kind of shocked that they somehow think that people* and corporations** will do the right thing through nothing but market-driven motives.



* white men who are the correct brand of Christianity for the most part; everyone else they have trouble giving the same benefit of doubt
** corporations other than the ones they often mistakenly label as being liberal despite easily researched facts which disprove it

[fascisthunter]

23. it's like an exclusive fraternity... and yet they claim to "love" America

yeah, their tiny bit that they own.

[unpossibles]

24. I've also noticed that many are in that

"I'm doing pretty well and think I'm rich" camp, or as my ex used to call them, Hundred-Thousand-Dollar 'millionaires', so they see it as an outrage that the very society in which they were able to succeed (thanks in no small part to infrastructure, safety nets, and likely the government programs which allowed their parents to be middle class) would want any part of "their" money.

I don't have a problem with anyone being free to use their money as they see fit, and I value hard work/good ideas, etc, but I also never forget that they'd have a hard time being rich if they were alone on an island with none of the benefits of this society we live in.

[jgraz]

18. Hey, it's just the free market in action

Once people who buy Chinese drywall die of cancer, the producers will go out of business and people will start buying toxic Russian drywall.

Why do you hate America?

[JoeyT]

26. It will never go that far.

The invisible hand of the free market will miraculously appear and cure their cancer. Besides, you only get cancer when they steal taxes from you. Everyone knows that. Science has proven it and stuff.

[Greyhound]

3. I was wondering how long they could put this off.

:kick:

[Warpy]

7. Jeez, it must stink, too

because it's emitting a sulfur gas. I wonder how many Chinese drywalled houses have contributed to divorce over the "who farted?" fight.

China has astonishingly poor quality control. I've been disappointed in everything I've bought from tire pumps to the computer armoire I'm sitting at. I've gotten lamps with bad switches, tools that broke when pressure was applied (and I have severe arthritis, so the pressure wasn't much), kits that couldn't be assembled due to stripped threads, and other problems. I don't think I've ever had anything from there I'd consider first quality but a few pieces of clothing.

The poor quality of their goods is the best argument I can come up with for moving industry back here. At least we knew what we were doing and were motivated to do it right.

[theoldman]

10. Who is going to pay the bill for the repairs?

I will bet that the problem is not covered by home owners insurance. The builders will just declare bankruptcy. Here is a case where our government should step in and send China a bill.

[elehhhhna]

21. LENNAR Corp. has been redoing them from the start...at,

I'm sure, a very high cost -- including moving the families out during the process.

Kudos to one decent corporation.

The builders are responsible and they are insured against this. Theh insurers will surely subrogate the claims costs to the drywall supplier, etc.

[Paper Roses]

15. Anyone aware of the time frame during which this drywall was used?

We all have drywall somewhere in our houses, I'm sure. If there was a time frame for this toxic product, we would know if we should be testing.

[elehhhhna]

22. iirc, 'late 06 to '09-ish

[Orsino]

16. Jobs, jobs, jobs.

By now we should should see a major boom in fixing everything that was broken by the mad rush for fasterbettercheaper.

[malaise]

20. Why are they all southern states?

Weren't those ReTHUGS following building regulations?

[Odin2005]

25. Everything that comes from China is SHIT!

EMGARGO their asses already.

[DainBramaged]

27. Never surrender, never give up, K&R

Return American jobs to America.

[PetrusMonsFormicarum]

28. Don't look at me, look at the wall.

Now, if you must let flee a flatus, dispense an unwanted nether gift, fart, foo, or otherwise claim as your mission a gaseous emission, just point down the hall and say "Chinese Drywall"!