Poison Chinese drywall destroys metal and your health.

bob16

Another wonder of the modern age brought to you by a joint venture of both the american and Chinese criminal business class.

Gee aren't you surprised that some illegal immigrant hiring scumbag contractors would resort to using cheap chinese drywall to make a few cents more in profit.

I like how they are explaining the importation of this crap because there was a "shortage" of america drywall. Yeah i believe that. Just like the so called shortage of american workers "explained" why we had to bring in scabs from all over the world.

There seems to be some indications that american drywall makers might have bought this **** too and put their name on it.

clip -

Hundreds of millions of sheets of Chinese drywall were imported from 2004 to 2006, but Chinese drywall has recently been found in homes built or remodeled as early as 2001. Accordingly, this phenomenon cannot be explained solely by the shortage of American-manufactured drywall.

www.chinesedrywall.com/

http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/housing/2009-03-16-chinese-drywall-sulfur_N.htm

Drywall Tycoon

Nancy Pelosi will probably hold a press conference and tell everyone that it is anti American to not buy the crap from China. Just like the one she held last week saying it was anti American to to return the illegal workers to Mexico.

Whitey97

Send them/it all back! I for 1 don't want it here!

rckslash2010

I don't see how that could be that much more cost effective to ship the sheerock all that way across the ocean. Probably that dried out toughrock crap they sell at Home Depot, that when you cut it the glue on the back gives away and all the paper peels off.

A+ Texture LLC

Want all you want, with Janet Napolatano more or less in charge of our border under our new president, they are here to stay, with welfare!! I just heard all jobsite raids will be put on hold. Apparently they may be un-constitutional. Funny, I was under the impression it was pretty legal to actually enforce the law.

Drywall Tycoon

I have a friend ( believe it or not ) in the flooring business. He said they can ship oak over to China. Mill, stain and urethane. Then send it back for less than they can do it here. That is hard to believe. He has nothing to gain by making it up.

I was told by other sources here in Michigan. That there are two border patrol agents for the whole state. If they did enforce the law, they would never make a dent in it.

Frankawitz

By BRIAN SKOLOFF and CAIN BURDEAU, Associated Press Writers Brian Skoloff And Cain Burdeau, Associated Press Writers – Sat Apr 11, 4:53 pm ET
PARKLAND, Fla. – At the height of the U.S. housing boom, when building materials were in short supply, American construction companies used millions of pounds of Chinese-made drywall because it was abundant and cheap.
Now that decision is haunting hundreds of homeowners and apartment dwellers who are concerned that the wallboard gives off fumes that can corrode copper pipes, blacken jewelry and silverware, and possibly sicken people.
Shipping records reviewed by The Associated Press indicate that imports of potentially tainted Chinese building materials exceeded 500 million pounds during a four-year period of soaring home prices. The drywall may have been used in more than 100,000 homes, according to some estimates, including houses rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina.
"This is a traumatic problem of extraordinary proportions," said U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, a Florida Democrat who introduced a bill in the House calling for a temporary ban on the Chinese-made imports until more is known about their chemical makeup. Similar legislation has been proposed in the Senate.
The drywall apparently causes a chemical reaction that gives off a rotten-egg stench, which grows worse with heat and humidity.
Researchers do not know yet what causes the reaction, but possible culprits include fumigants sprayed on the drywall and material inside it. The Chinese drywall is also made with a coal byproduct called fly ash that is less refined than the form used by U.S. drywall makers.
Dozens of homeowners in the Southeast have sued builders, suppliers and manufacturers, claiming the very walls around them are emitting smelly sulfur compounds that are poisoning their families and rendering their homes uninhabitable.
"It's like your hopes and dreams are just gone," said Mary Ann Schultheis, who has suffered burning eyes, sinus headaches, and a general heaviness in her chest since moving into her brand-new, 4,000-square foot house in this tidy South Florida suburb a few years ago.
She has few options. Her builder is in bankruptcy, the government is not helping and her lender will not give her a break.
"I'm just going to cry," she said. "We don't know what we're going to do."
Builders have filed their own lawsuits against suppliers and manufacturers, claiming they unknowingly used the bad building materials.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission is investigating, as are health departments in Virginia, Louisiana, North Carolina, Florida and Washington state.
Companies that produced some of the wallboard said they are looking into the complaints, but downplayed the possibility of health risks.
"What we're trying to do is get to the bottom of what is precisely going on," said Ken Haldin, a spokesman for Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin, a Chinese company named in many of the lawsuits.
The Chinese ministries of commerce, construction and industry and the Administration of Quality Supervision Inspection and Quarantine did not respond to repeated requests for comment. Chinese news reports have said AQSIQ, which enforces product quality standards, was investigating the complaints but people in the agency's press office said they could not confirm that.
Meanwhile, governors in Louisiana and Florida are asking for federal assistance, and experts say the problem is only now beginning to surface.
"Based on the amount of material that came in, it's possible that just in one year, 100,000 residences could be involved," said Michael Foreman, who owns a construction consulting firm. The company has performed tests on some 200 homes in the Sarasota area and has been tracking shipments of the drywall.

Federal authorities say they are investigating just how much of the wallboard was imported. Shipping records analyzed by the AP show that more than 540 million pounds of plasterboard — which includes both drywall and ceiling tile panels — was imported from China between 2004 and 2008, although it's unclear whether all of that material was problematic or only certain batches.
Most of it came into the country in 2006, following a series of Gulf Coast hurricanes and a domestic shortage brought on by the national housing boom.
The Chinese board was also cheaper. One homeowner told AP he saved $1,000 by building his house with it instead of a domestic product.
In 2006, enough wallboard was imported from China to build some 34,000 homes of roughly 2,000 square feet each, according to AP's analysis of the shipping records and estimates supplied by the nationwide drywall supplier United States Gypsum.
Experts and advocates say many homes may have been built with a mixture of Chinese and domestic drywall, potentially raising the number of affected homes much higher.
So far, the problem appears to be concentrated in the Southeast, which blossomed with new construction during the housing boom and where the damp climate appears to cause the gypsum in the building material to degrade more quickly. In Florida alone, more than 35,000 homes may contain the product, experts said.
In Louisiana, the state health department has received complaints from at least 350 people in just a few weeks. Many of the affected homeowners rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina only to face the prospect of tearing down their houses and rebuilding again.
In another cruel twist, some of the very communities that have been hit hardest by the collapse of the housing market and skyrocketing foreclosure rates are now at the epicenter of the drywall problem.
Foreman warns of a "sleeping beast" in the thousands of bank-owned condos and houses across the country, with no one in them to complain.
Outside the South, it's harder to pinpoint the number of affected homes. And in drier climates such as California and Nevada, it may be years before homeowners begin to see — and smell — what may be lurking inside their walls.
The drywall furor is the latest in a series of scares over potentially toxic imports from China. In 2007, Chinese authorities ratcheted up inspections and tightened restrictions on exports after manufacturers were found to have exported tainted cough syrup, toxic pet food and toys decorated with lead paint.
Scientists hope to understand the problem by studying the chemicals in the board. Drywall consists of wide, flat boards used to cover walls. It is often made from gypsum, a common mineral that can be mined or manufactured from the byproducts of coal-fired power plants.
Plaintiffs in the lawsuits, as well as U.S. wallboard manufacturers, say the tainted drywall was made with fly ash, a residue of coal combustion more commonly used in concrete mixtures.
Fly ash can be gathered before it ever reaches the smokestack, where technology is used to remove sulfur dioxide from the emissions. The process of "scrubbing" the smokestack emissions creates calcium sulfate, or gypsum, which can then used to make wallboard, experts say.
Haldin, the Knaupf Tianjin spokesman, says some domestic drywall is also made from the less-refined fly ash.
But Michael Gardner, executive director of the U.S. Gypsum Association, said American manufacturers gather the gypsum from the smokestacks after the scrubbing, which produces a cleaner product.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has dispatched teams of toxicologists, electrical engineers and other experts to Florida to study the phenomenon. The commission is also working with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to determine whether there is a health hazard.
A Florida Department of Health analysis found the Chinese drywall emits "volatile sulfur compounds," and contains traces of strontium sulfide, which can produce the rotten-egg odor and reacts with air to corrode metals and wires.
But the agency says on its Web site that it "has not identified data suggesting an imminent or chronic health hazard at this time."
"We're continuing to test," said Susan Smith, a spokeswoman for the department, which has logged 230 complaints from homeowners.
Dr. Patricia Williams, a University of New Orleans toxicologist hired by a Louisiana law firm that represents plaintiffs in some of the cases, said she has identified highly toxic compounds in the drywall, including hydrogen sulfide, sulfuric acid, sulfur dioxide and carbon disulfide.
Prolonged exposure to the compounds, especially high levels of carbon disulfide, can cause breathing problems, chest pains and even death; and can affect the nervous system, according to the CDC.
"It is absolutely shocking what is happening," Williams said.
Dr. Phillip Goad, a toxicologist hired by Knaupf Plasterboard Tianjin, sampled drywall from 25 homes, some that contained the company's wallboard and some that did not.
"The studies we have performed to date have identified very low levels of naturally occurring compounds," Goad said. "The levels we have detected do not present a public health concern. The chemicals are naturally occurring. They're produced in ocean water, in salt marsh air, in estuaries."
But those who are living with it are convinced that something is making them sick, including dozens of homeowners in a single subdivision in Parkland, about 50 miles north of Miami. They are now faced with a daunting choice: Tear down and rebuild, or move out and be stuck with a mortgage and a home they cannot sell.
"We are particularly concerned about the safety and well-being of our children," said Holly Krulik, who lives down the street from Mary Ann Schultheis.
She and her husband, Doug, are suffering sinus problems and respiratory ailments, and their young daughter has repeated nose bleeds.
"If a shiny copper coil can turn absolutely black within a matter of months, it certainly can't be good for human beings," Krulik said.
Neighbor John Willis is moving out, even though he can hardly afford to walk away from a house he's owned for just three years. He cries as he speaks of his 3-year-old son's respiratory infection, which eventually required surgery.
"They basically took out a substance that looked like rubber cement out of my 3-year-old son's sinuses," he said. "My wife and I are now faced with the choice between our children's health and our financial health. My children are always going to win on that."
The subdivision's builder, WCI Communities, is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring and can do little more than log complaints, said spokeswoman Connie Boyd.
The federal government does not regulate the chemical ingredients of imported drywall.
Plasterboard Tianjin said it has been making drywall for 10 years in accordance with U.S. and international standards.
Another Chinese company facing lawsuits, Taishan Gypsum Ltd., also insists that it meets all U.S. standards.
Determining what is causing the problems could take months. Researchers will try to recreate in a lab the conditions that caused the sulfur compounds normally found in drywall to give off noxious gases.
Meanwhile, people like Lisa Sich, 43, are left with more questions than answers. Sich has not felt well since moving into the Henderson, Nev., apartment she rents less than a year ago, and her silverware quickly tarnished.
"I can hear myself wheezing," said Sich, who is having environmental experts test the apartment, built in 2007. "My eyes are constantly itchy, extreme fatigue."
And while Sich is not even certain she's got the bad wallboard, she has not felt like herself in months. She's missed five weeks of work just since Thanksgiving.
"I'm just tired all the time," she said. "It doesn't make sense."
___ Associated Press Writer Joe McDonald in Beijing contributed to this report. Burdeau reported from New Orleans.

Whitey97

Can someone send me the cliff notes?

Darren@Partners

Another rumor floating is that USG may have sent tabs to China to relabel the product and sold some as well.....

A+ Texture LLC

For their sake lets hope thats not true. But with all the places affected you would think this information would be all over the place, as to who used what brand of rock when the home was done. You would think there would be some serious finger pointing going on.

Custom Drywall Svc.

crap.

i have barely even 'cared' for this issue thinking i wasnt affected, but im just now starting to get a lot of customers calling me about this.

does anyone have anymore information?

my vendors all say i have nothing to worry about. but im going to assume its easier lying to me than telling me and other companies the truth.

i mostly use USG and PABCO drywall.

i strongly feel i am NOT affected by all this......but how do i know for sure, 100%???

Darren@Partners

I think the rumor stems mostly from Usg's vehement and imediate denial of any involvement with the Chinese product. Am certain the midwest markets are free of any exposure due to shipping costs and proximity to mills. We need get a little Mexican board a few years back, but that didn't last too long. But jeez who really knows?

Frankawitz

I posted what I could find, over on Walls & Ceilings they are now just talking about it, I posted over there when I first read the story to see if some of those guys knew anything well I'm not liked over there so I got no info, now someone posted about it and they are all talking I will see what I can find out. I was looking at this as more work coming in for guys in these areas, sounds like it should be Insurance work on the Home Owners side, I would think the Insurance companys would be checking this out,

Custom Drywall Svc.

exactly -- WHO really knows????


sigh....this is not a great position to be in, as a drywall subcontractor. sure all you guys agree.

last thing we need.

imagine ripping off drywall in 100% of a building or house. I had one customer call me 2 days ago, asking if that was necessary.........could u just imagine guys????

...this is not good.

Darren@Partners

I don't think a Drywall Contractor could be held responsible, it'd have to fall on the manufacturer or supplier(if they had knowledge of origin). But mostly it'd be on the manufacturer. How could we be held responsible? There could be no reasonable expectation that a DC could possibly know about this danger. The manufacturer is supposed get UL ratings and the like, not us. It would have to be proven beyond a doubt that the DC knew a problem existed and used the defective product without regard for the result. I'd say as the builders file 11 & 7, the cost will ultimately fall on the insurance companies and banks holding the mortgage. Can you say "class action"?

A+ Texture LLC

When it comes to lawsuits.... If I did a job for a custom builder they certainly will point their chubby fingers at me. I, in turn will blame my supplier, but if they think Fu#* it I'll file bankruptcy, I'm left holdin the bag. This crap is scary. I'm not a lawyer but I'd still be worried even if I didn't feel like I was to blame. Theres no way a supplier is gonna pay for a ****load of houses to be redone, they would go out of buis. on that alone.

Darren@Partners

Point is, lawyers will go for the deep pockets. Obviously that ain't us. They be going after Kaupf like gang-busters. We're all just small taters in this. Relax and wait to be called for the re-do's. Nobody is gonna sue the smallest fish.

Frankawitz

I would say that the Insurance companys are going to take the hit, then in turn we will see our Insurance rates go up like they did after 9/11. my Home Owners Policy went from $575.00 a year up to $1,575.00 a year, so I would figure this is how they will handle it, just like Big Business does it, pass the cost on to the consumer so the shareholders don't see their dividens go down. and the company still turns a profit. I just figure that when it comes time to tear these houses apart there is going to be a lot of work in those areas. so if I was in any of these areas, I would go and find out who the suppliers were then track down the builders and then the houses this stuff was used in and then print up fliers and then go door to door passing out the fliers, On these fliers I would copy as many stories as I could find about the chinese drywall, then I would state that my company is going to be giving quotes to repair their houses, so they can file with their Insurance company, who knows the contractors who get out there and spread the word to homeowners may put a fire under someones butt who will take action. all it takes is a spark, and this could turn into a blaze
I hope the guys who are in these areas can pick up some work, Good luck


www.frankawitz.net

A+ Texture LLC

Well thats a good idea. I don't think that poop rock made it to southern AZ though.

Custom Drywall Svc.

yea, insurance companies will take the hit.

however, im sure all of you will agree that on the 'ride' there, ALL of us will get a bad name....drywall contractors and all.

of course its not our fault.......but A+ is right,....it will fall on us no matter what. and yes, we will turn to the manufacturers.