The Real Story …
News and commentary about the real estate market and related topics.
Dave Parrish, ABR ®, CRSA, CSP, GRI, ePRO ®, REALTOR ®, RealtySouth
The New Hazard … Chinese Sheetrock…
Seems there’s a never ending stream of alerts and alarms for homeowners. If your home was built between 2003 and 2007, the letter is in the mail… The hazard du jour: Chinese Sheetrock.
Used extensively in rebuilding following the hurricanes of 2005 and during the housing boom, Chinese-made drywall was an alternative to the U.S. product, which was in short supply. However, it appears from some sources that the problem could go back to 2000.
The Problem:
It’s believed that the Chinese Sheetrock emits a foul-smelling sulfuric gas when exposed to heat and humidity. Those gases are also suspected as the cause of corroding wires, pipes, home fixtures and even jewelry. Air condition problems and malfunctions are one of the common problems associated with Chinese Sheetrock. While not yet proven, there is serious concern over possible health effects particularly respiratory problems associated with the presence of Chinese sheetrock.
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Chinese drywall is friable, which means it is in a state where small particles can easily become dislodged with very little friction, thus enabling them to easily enter our lungs. For this reason, even after Chinese drywall is removed from your home, the toxic particulate will likely remain unless properly removed. To date, however, there is no State or Federal Government mandated remediation protocol and, therefore, exercise extreme caution before remediating a home with Chinese drywall.
As a result of these issues and the lack of approved remediation methods/procedures, there is serious concern on the impact that the presence of Chinese sheetrock will have on property values of effected properties and the ability to resell the home.
Background Information:
Often referred to as sheetrock or drywall, the technical term for the widely used construction material is gypsum wall board. As a result of cost and short domestic supplies of sheetrock, during recent years the import of Chinese sheetrock has occurred to fill the demand. This sheetrock has been used during new construction. Some hurricane damaged homes and businesses in the southern United States have been repaired with Chinese sheetrock.
Reportedly, Chinese sheetrock has been imported in at least forty-one (41) states.
It has come to light that that some of the imported sheetrock has impurities in the raw material used in the manufacturing process that contains sulfur. It has been reported that under the right environmental conditions sulfur containing gas can be released from this sheetrock. Over time these conditions can corrode exposed metal surfaces. This may include copper plumbing pipes and fixtures, copper heating and air conditioning systems, and electrical wiring. Often an odor can be associated with the gases emitted.
There are several suspected sulfur compounds including iron disulfide, sulfur dioxide, and hydrogen sulfide to name a few. Some moderate respiratory problems have been reported. As of early 2009 there were no known reported significant health risks. Likely the concentrations encountered are relatively low limiting the health effects. However, in high enough concentrations some of these compounds can result in more serious health problems.
But how did the sulfur get in the sheetrock? Gypsum, the primary raw material for manufacturing sheetrock, is mined from the ground. It can naturally contain sulfur. It is logical to expect the level of sulfur would vary depending on the region where it is mined. However a waste byproduct from coal fired power plants called fly ash is used by some sheetrock manufacturers in the process.
This practice is not just limited to Chinese manufacturers. Fly ash usually contains sulfur especially when from a lignite coal plant. The sulfur content alone is not the problem. For a chemical reaction to occur and emit the suspect gas or gases, moisture and heat are needed. Therefore humid or wet conditions are needed. Warm moist conditions are prevalent along the coast
Determining if your home is impacted:
Does your home smell like rotten eggs or ammonia (sometimes a sweetish smell)? Is it more noticeable
when entering your home and then seems to dissipate? The level of odor varies greatly in each home as
does each person’s ability to detect the odor. Of course, the strength of the odor also depends on how much drywall was used in the home. Significantly, some homeowners report no smell, but their home clearly has Chinese drywall. In short, do not rely on your nose alone, particularly since many develop olfactory fatigue after being exposed to Chinese drywall.
Chinese drywall corrodes electrical wiring. Check the electrical receptacles in your walls to see if the wires are blackened. Pull off the electrical plate and look inside. Obviously, do not touch anything – you could get shocked. There should be a copper wire inside. If the exposed portion of the copper wire is blackening, this is a positive indicator for the presence of Chinese sheetrock. The breaker panel should also be checked.
There are chemical test that can be performed by trained and certified experts in the field to determine definitively the presence of Chinese Sheetrock.
Recourse:
Regrettably, there is no effective recourse other than legal action available to homeowners at the present. In the opening of this article, I made mention of the letter in the mail … That is a letter from a law firm or associated organization asking you to join in a Chinese Sheetrock class action law suit. The major benefactors of this action will be the lawyers. Homeowner payments are unlikely to see much more than a small fraction of the cost to them for remediation (once a remediation method has been decided upon and approved) or a small fraction their financial losses.
There is some isolated talk about possible government relief. But that is still very embryonic at this point. Bringing these issues to the attention of congress may be the most effective recourse for homeowners.
On a go forward basis, purchasers should take extra precautions to assure themselves that their new home does not have a Chinese sheetrock issue. This is best accomplished through professional home inspection and drywall testing.
