Chinese Drywall Problems

The Chinese drywall problem officially began with a few complaints lodged in Florida in December 2008.   Homeowners reported foul odors in their newly built or remodeled homes, minor respiratory problems and corrosion problems with air conditioning system coils and tubing, bathroom fixtures and electrical outlets.  Some homeowners reported leaving their homes due to the pervasive rotten egg smell.

However, complaints had been trickling in to Florida’s Department of Health since June 2008 of “rotten egg” odors in homes and it is now known that a few builders had quietly replaced corroding metal systems in some homes before the first public complaints were lodged.

By January 2009 the focus was on drywall installed between 2006 and 2008 and problems seemed to originate with unusually large shipments of drywall imported from China during 2004-2006.  A boom in construction of new homes in Florida led to shortages of domestically produced drywall and a corresponding increase in the price of dwindling U.S. supplies.   The problem was exacerbated in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the Mississippi Coast quickly followed by Hurricane Rita’s extensive damage in Louisiana and Texas.

In 2005 two million pounds of Chinese manufactured drywall was imported into the U.S.   By 2006 imports had grown to 500 million pounds and the product had been shipped to more than fifteen cities in the U.S.  The Chinese drywall problem in Florida led to class action lawsuits filed in March against the manufacturers on behalf homeowners and to suits filed against builders who then filed against installers.

Forensic investigations in January 2009 discovered the sulphur contained in drywall imported from China was 20 times the amount present in domestically produced sheetrock.  Complaints from homeowners in Florida were growing in number and were also rising rapidly from New Orleans and the Gulf Coast where many homes rebuilt following Hurricane Katrina were found to have used defective imported drywall.  In March, media reports of the growing problem focused national attention on the problem.

Inspections of homes in Florida in March 2009 led to a cooperative effort of the CPSC, EPA and CDC who held a joint meeting on April 14, 2009 to design a federal action plan to compare the substances contained in domestically produced drywall as compared to contaminants potentially leading to a problem with Chinese drywall imports.  Requests were sent to China for information about the mines where gypsum was produced.  In addition, builders were asked to provide samples of damaged materials they had replaced in affected homes with a deadline for submission of September 30, 2009.

With reports of problems rising monthly, on June 15, 2009 the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation ruled that cases involving contaminated drywall would be sent to the Eastern District of Louisiana with Judge Eldon E. Fallon presiding.

By July 2009, 608 reports of Chinese drywall problems had been received from a total of 21 states.  Florida, Louisiana and Virginia reported the highest number of complaints.  By mid-September the number of complaints had jumped to 1174.   Only a portion of the imported sheetrock was contaminated but the high tonnage received in 2006 is expected to yield increased reports of Chinese drywall problems for some time.

Tagged as: Chinese Drywall, Chinese Drywall Attorney, Chinese Drywall Lawsuits, Chinese Drywall Problems, Chinese sheetrock, Toxic Chinese Drywall

{ Comments on this entry are closed }