Chinese Drywall Corrodes Pipes and Blackens Jewelry, Sickens Families
The housing boom created a need for more drywall, so suppliers went to China to get it. This may have been a huge mistake:
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. via msnbc.com.
While no one is certain yet what is causing the problem, if you start smelling the rotten egg odor, contact your local building commission and the EPA.
The health aspects of this are not fully known yet, but it is not something that one should let linger. According to experts, “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.”
Video of the Chinese Drywall Issue
Builder guts homes with Chinese drywall
Tainted drywall from China is driving owners from their homes
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Comment by ironman on 14 April 2009:
i would say it is the fault of the authorities who allowed the import of such material, why did thy not do their complete homework, don’t blame it on the chinese, this shows that we have lots of loop holes in the system.
Comment by Ajijic Real Estate on 14 April 2009:
I live in a small town called Ajijic Mexico. For years, we have had eggy smelling water high in the mountains where the water is supposed to be natural and fresh. What do you suppose the cause of this could be?
Comment by Portland Real Estate on 14 April 2009:
Wow. This just goes to show that we cannot buy cheap shoddy quality materials from China. Buy sustainable products from your local area, stimulate the economy locally first.
Comment by San Mateo Real Estate | Brendan Aiello on 14 April 2009:
If it is “eggy” smelling I would get sulfer…?
Anywho, any knowlege of this dryall being sold in Home Depots, Lowe’s or other home improvement stores?
-Brendan Aiello
Comment by Manassas VA Homes on 17 April 2009:
It begs us to ask the question since we have the largest government in history…”How come no one did not see this before it occured?”
Pingback by How Are Builders Dealing With Chinese Drywall Problems : The Real Estate Bloggers on 13 July 2009:
[...] out the drywall that it was built with. As we have reported before, there have been some serious problems with Chinese drywall that are making families [...]
Comment by mbmd1 on 17 July 2009:
I had no idea what Chinese drywall was until now. Me and my partner are first time home buyers and trying to find the right house and it states on a house we are interested in the following “ Must sacrifice due to possible Chinese drywall usage”. I think this is outrageous that the house is still being sold to others knowing. I thought the government is responsible for providing homes that are suitable for home owners to live in but if houses are still being sold in this condition it shows us how our system works… Unlike the suppliers when they purchased the material from china me and my partners looked it up and have been researching before making our purchase. The problem here isn’t china it’s the fault of the authorities who allowed the import of such material.
“No one is certain yet what is causing the problem. The health aspects of this are not fully known yet”, this quote also proves that no one knows yet what the problem really is but of course we put fault towards the Chinese. Great to blame but not realize it’s a mistake that could have been stopped from happening by just researching the supply.
Comment by Bill Summers on 18 August 2009:
Being in the building industry we’ve noticed this problem for awhile. We’ve been following this closely since we sell plumbing piping and fixtures in the Florida area and this sulfur corrodes everything. Unbelieveable. Never seen anything like it. Year old plumbing looks like it’s been outdoors for 40 or 50 years. We’ve also been following this online at http://www.Chinese-drywall-answers.com