What is Chinese Drywall: Often called Defective, Tainted, Toxic, Reactive or Bad Drywall, which has been shown to produce toxic gasses that deteriorate copper and silver in the electronics, wiring, plumbing and appliances of a home and may also cause short or long term illness or health concerns. 

Recognizing CDW in your home: Repeated AC coil failures, significant darkening of copper and silver, pitting in plumbing and electrical fixtures, strong sulfur odor often compared to striking a match.  A professional inspection is the best way to confirm the presence of CDW.  National requires XRF (x-ray florescence) testing to sample drywall in the home.

Amount In Homes: Some homes have mostly Chinese drywall while others have a only a few boards. Most, but not all ceiling drywall is 5/8” thick. Chinese drywall is commonly 1/2” thick and is primarily used on walls. It has been suggested that as few as four bad boards in a home are enough to create off-gassing problems, but even one board can stigmatize a home's marketability.
 

Homes Affected: Any home, condo, apartment, office building, hotel, or any structure built at any time, may potentially contain Chinese drywall. It was used for new construction, remodeling, additions, storm damage, and all types of repairs. So it can be in literally any structure that contains drywall.

Location: From 2000 to 2008, over seven million bad drywall boards were shipped from China and are now located throughout the U.S. The CPSC (Consumer Products Safety Council) has received reports from residents in 37 states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, and Puerto Rico. Moderate to high concentrations are found throughout the Eastern seaboard with heavy concentrations in Florida, Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas.

Damage: A Federal Interagency Task Force has performed extensive testing of drywall and homes, and found a strong association between the problem drywall, the hydrogen sulfide levels in homes with that drywall, and corrosion in those homes.  Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) is the primary gas emitted by defective drywall. H2S damages copper wiring, plumbing, electrical components, air-conditioning systems, appliances, and other items containing copper or silver.

Health Effects: Respiratory stress, nosebleeds, irritated eyes, headaches and skin rashes are among the most common health concerns reported. Many also report a lessening of symptoms when away from the drywall.

Remediation Procedures: Current government recommendations include the complete removal of all drywall, electrical wiring, smoke detectors, gas lines and sprinkler systems. Many protocols also include HVAC components and copper plumbing.

Repair Costs: Estimates range from $40 to $75 per square foot of living space. For an average 2,200 sq. ft. home, this equals $88,000 to $165,000.

Inspecting: There is currently no 100% accurate inspection for locating all of the Chinese drywall in a home. Copper corrosion of wiring and HVAC components is an indicator of Chinese drywall. However, some homes show no signs of copper corrosion due to temperature and humidity variations, or the limited amount of bad drywall. X-ray florescence testing is the most accurate on-site testing method, but can easily miss some of the bad board and MUST be conducted by a well-trained inspector familiar with all of the anomalies that can occur when testing for CDW.

Other Interesting Facts:

· Most, but not all CDW off-gasses hydrogen sulfide gas.

· Not all CDW has a label or stamp to identify it.

· High humidity and temperature increases off-gassing in CDW.

· Some homes won’t show signs of having CDW for years.

· Chinese drywall typically looks “grayer”. U.S. board is white.

· Bad drywall typically contains much higher concentrations of organic elements, including elemental sulfur.

· The vast majority of the known CDW was shipped to the U.S. in 2006 during the building boom and following the disastrous 2005 hurricane season that included Hurricane Katrina.

· Homes damaged during Hurricanes Katrina, Wilma, and Rita were repaired while the majority of the bad drywall was being widely distributed into these damaged areas of the country.

· U.S. drywall manufacturers claim that their products do not contain the high levels of elemental sulfur or other impurities common to Chinese drywall.  Isolated problems with U.S. drywall have been found, but are not believed to widespread.

· A National Warranty can substantially improve the resale value of a home. Similar warranties have been successfully used in national class-action settlements related to construction defects.