Feds: Homes with Chinese drywall must be gutted

AP via Yahoo.com ^ | April 2, 2010 | CAIN BURDEAU

[mlocher]

NEW ORLEANS – Thousands of U.S. homes tainted by Chinese drywall should be gutted, according to new guidelines released Friday by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The guidelines say electrical wiring, outlets, circuit breakers, fire alarm systems, carbon monoxide alarms, fire sprinklers, gas pipes and drywall need to be removed.

"We want families to tear it all out and rebuild the interior of their homes, and they need to start this to get their lives started all over again," said Inez Tenenbaum, chairwoman of the commission, the federal agency charged with making sure consumer products are safe.

About 3,000 homeowners, mostly in Florida, Virginia, Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana, have reported problems with the Chinese-made drywall, which was imported in large quantities during the housing boom and after a string of Gulf Coast hurricanes.

The drywall has been linked to corrosion of wiring, air conditioning units, computers, doorknobs and jewelry, along with possible health effects. Tenenbaum said some samples of the Chinese-made product emit 100 times as much hydrogen sulfide as drywall made elsewhere

[mlocher]

I smell another Obama government tax credit fiasco headed our way.

[headstamp 2]

I’ve seen pictures of the damage this stuff does. Incredible. Copper piping turning black, nails rusting and corroding from the highly corrosive gassing, etc.

[republicangel]

I personally know someone that this has affected. It is horrible.

[john drake]

And when will the U.S. Government seek damages from the ChiCom government for it’s sale of dangerous materials to the U.S.? Uh....never.

[BookaT]

Minorities, women and children hurt most.

[Tuscaloosa Goldfinch]

How do you know if your house has this kind of drywall? Is there a time period during which this material was sold?

Our vacation rental house, begun three years ago and finished 26 months ago, has a peculiar smell, but I haven't noticed any corrosion anywhere.

[republicangel]

I would say google it, and you will find out how to tell.

[Qwackertoo]

I talked to my friend who this has happened to this morning. He said something about the drywall purchased from China, in his case, was damaged during shipment (still doesn’t count for the inferior and toxic product) but that it became wet/damp during shipment, the shipping company filed a claim which was paid for by Fireman’s Insurance, so at that point you’d think it would be destroyed . . . but I guess the insurance company let it dry out and sold it to Ace Hardware and Stevado’s (sp?) building supply . . . so sounds like to me Fireman’s Insurance should be in BIG TROUBLE especially IF they sold it as “new” to the building supply companies. He said it would be tied up in litigation for 3-4 years at least. They moved out of their brand new home within the first six months. So sad.

[mlocher]

And when will the U.S. Government seek damages from the ChiCom government for it’s sale of dangerous materials to the U.S.? Uh....never.

This is not going to happen, as you mentioned. Purchasers should be suing their contractors. When I purchase something that is bad, I ask for my money back from whomever I purchased it from. I do not care where he got it from.

[null and void]

Simply use Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy on a sample.

Or you could go here...

[RegulatorCountry]

Drywall is, in layman’s terms, just a chalk-like gypsum plaster, wafered between two layers of dense, thin cardboard.

What on earth is in that gypsum plaster, that causes this?

And, what compelled Chinese manufacturers to put it there, whatever it is? Was it just a convenient way to dispose of hazardous industrial waste or something?

Short of veering into assuming some insidious intent, it just does not make sense otherwise. But then, melamine in dogfood didn’t make sense, either.

[Sister_T]

Ping!

[Momto2]

That is so sad about your friend’s house. My parents own a vacation home in Fla. and recently they inspected the whole community for this dry wall. Fortunately, their home was not affected - but another section of the development DID have the stuff.... these are not cheap houses, either!!! This is what lawsuits are for... people always bad-mouthing lawyers and lawsuits.... but without them in this case - I fear these retired people would see their life long savings demolished - and still will probably have to wait years to recoup their losses..there is NO excuse for selling a product like this if they knew it was defective.

[freeangel]

The article didn’t give the years in which this particular drywall was used. I wonder how one finds out?

[Qwackertoo]

His house isn’t cheap either, 20 acres, they had horses, barns, a huge shop, brand new house, 3/4 of a million and now they are in limbo, can’t sell it, can’t live in it, can’t afford to bulldoze it and start over. He is of retirement age. Yep we need lawyers but I wonder how much they will get after all is said and done. All built to hurricane standards up to 140 mph winds. So sad.

[NavyCanDo]

How would we even know we have it. My house was built in 1967 so its safe, but we remodeled our basement into a theater room, using newer drywall back in 2005.

[PowderMonkey]

"What on earth is in that gypsum plaster, that causes this? And, what compelled Chinese manufacturers to put it there, whatever it is?

I've seen research that indicates a very high level of pyrite in Chi-com gypsum, possibly triggering a chemical reaction releasing hydrogen sulfide. What compelled them? The same thing that compelled them to build substandard school buildings for the masses, while fully meeting seismic construction standards in protecting the offices and homes of Communist Party leadership. The same thing that compelled them to put melamine in baby food products. The State is all. There is no higher authority. The State will rectify (on its own terms). There is no conscience, no God, no...humanity. And yet, we've given these monsters permanent most favored nation status.

[Qwackertoo]

Do you have headaches that came on after that? Does it smell like rotten eggs? Also my friend developed some sort of infection at the root of their hair follicles, can’t remember the long name of it, but they will now have flare ups perhaps the rest of their life and have to take anti-biotics. He said he is NEVER sick until this happened. Some serious stuff.

[PowderMonkey]

Check your power receptacles. If the copper ground wires are turning black, you've got a problem. Also, I've heard it reported that Chi-com drywall is a darker gray in color than the U.S. made. Compare that room's drywall with the rest of the house.

[Sherman Logan]

Here are some links that will get you started.

http://www.chinesedrywallinfo.com/

http://www.doh.state.fl.us/Environment/community/indoor-air/drywall.html