Consumers told to gut Chinese-drywall homes - Los Angeles Times (OT)

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Consumers told to gut Chinese-drywall homes - Los Angeles Times

Sunday, April 4, 2010, 5:21 PM

 

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/apr/02/business/la-fi-chinese-drywall3-2010apr03

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Consumers told to gut Chinese-drywall homes

Wallboard, wiring, sprinkler systems -- all of it should go, two

federal agencies say.

 

April

02, 2010|By Alana Semuels

 

 

 

 

Brian Tietz / For The Times

 

 

 

 

 

Homeowners who may have hazardous Chinese drywall in their homes

should remove it, two government agencies said Friday, in effect

advising thousands of people from Florida to California to gut their

homes.

Consumers should remove "all possible problem drywall" and replace

their electrical wiring, sprinkler systems, smoke alarms and carbon

monoxide alarms, according to new guidelines issued Friday by the

Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Department of Housing and

Urban Development.

"Based on the scientific work to date, removing the problem drywall

is the best solution currently available to homeowners," said Inez

Tenenbaum, chairwoman of the safety commission.

Authorities began investigating problem drywall in 2008, when

homeowners in Florida complained of foul odors seeping from their walls

and corrosion in their air conditioners, mirrors, electrical units and

jewelry.

 

 

 

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Although officials initially found no problem with the Chinese-made

material, studies eventually showed that the corrosion could be linked

to drywall from China. The problematic drywall emits hydrogen sulfide

at rates 100 times the rates of non-Chinese samples, the commission

said.

Some homeowners complained of health problems, including coughing,

nosebleeds, sinus infections and other throat, nose and lung

irritation. The commission said it was continuing to investigate claims

from residents in 37 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and

American Samoa.

The agency issued guidelines in January to help consumers identify

whether their homes contained problem drywall.

Homeowners who had new drywall installed between 2001 and 2008 were

instructed to look for blackened copper electrical wiring or air

conditioner coils. Inspectors would then test the corrosive conditions

in the homes and the drywall.

Now, the same homeowners are being told that the best step is to

remove the drywall, which amounts to gutting homes or additions where

the cheap, imported building material was used.

It's still unclear who will pay for this process. Thousands of

homeowners have filed suit against the Chinese manufacturers who made

the drywall and the U.S. companies that sold it.

"We are looking to recover not just the cost to fix the home, but

other damages," said Jordan Chaikin, a lawyer with Parker Waichman

Alonso, a New York law firm that is representing about 1,000 homeowners

who have sued for damages.

Many of the homes containing the Chinese drywall are in the

Southeast. They were constructed after hurricanes destroyed homes in

Florida and Louisiana.

In addition, many complaints have arisen from homes built in

several states in 2006, near the end of the housing boom.

alana.semuels@

latimes.com