@Al Swearengen: Correct. Then, when the insurance company gets a whiff of Chinese drywall in the house, they deny their renewal of coverage. Since having homeowner's insurance is a requirement to a mortgage, these people can be foreclosed on and kicked out of their homes.
This is going to get real ugly real fast.
If you've got some, don't let your insurance company know about it!

@sevenwhitehorses: Took them two years to figure out there was formaldehyde gassing in Katrina trailers. Working at the speed of government!

Give me 3.5 million and I'll buy testing equipment, hire temp people to do the testing, do the research, and have a definitive scientific answer in two months.

The insurance companies have been denying these drywall claims because they are "construction defects" not damage to the home. So, homeowners must go after the builders for shoddy construction, but a lot of homebuilders have gone under, so the homeowners are not going to have recourse against anyone, and will need to fix the problem out of their own pockets.

How come every time I eat Chinese drywall, in a half hour I'm hungry again?

@DoubleEcho: Exactly more time and more money...and that is exactly what was being proposed in the reports that were released. When you are talking about $25 billion dollars to fix the problem, spending a few million to research the issue thoroughly is reasonable.

@donssword: A cople points of clarification. The CPSIA was drafted by Congress, NOT The CPSC (infact, the CPSC opposed many of the requirements that are now in the CPSIA because they knew the CPSIA was too broad and generic). Many of the burdensome requirements were added as a result of lobying by groups like US PIRG, Public Citizen and Consumers Union.

Also, the firewalled laboratories are not an exemption from conformity. Mattel is still required to comply with the Federal safety standards, the only thing is that they can use their own internal accredited testing laboratories to conduct the test, rather than paying a 3rd party testing lab to conduct the testing for them. Mattel's laboratories are audited and reviewed by the same organizations that review 3rd party laboratories, so they had to demonstrate the same level of competence as any other lab did.

If you want to complain to anyone about the CPSIA, complain to your congress person.

Lead in toys, sulfur in drywall, melamine in pet food -- all of this is because companies found that it's cheaper not to be regulated, in a country that doesn't know how to do this yet, and is growing up faster than it can handle.

So blame it on the companies that were out to increase profits by outsourcing like this to dodge consumer protections. And blame it on American consumers who want cheap stuff, no matter where it's produced. Don't blame it on the Chinese -- they got even worse products in their own markets, and worse effects on their people, because of America's hunger for the cheap and quick.

It comes to bite you in the end.

@Kogenta and Rachacha I can see both of your points - to me though, it's pretty clear it's the catalyst. You'd just need more time and money, unfortunately, to absolutely prove it.

@DoubleEcho: And informal surveys of IV drug users indicates that a majority of these people drank milk as a child which suggests that drinking mile may be a contributing factor to IV drug use. (OK, perhaps that is going a bit far).

I don't disagree with you that all of the information that we have suggests that the problems stem from the Chinese drywall, but when you are the US Government and there is outlying data, and you are dealing with a major trading partner, and when you come out pointing the finger at China it will likely cause a political firestorm, you need to cover all your bases and try to find a reason to explain the outlying data. In looking at the reports, they indicate that they found traces of certain chemicals that can come from multiple sources, so they are going to gather a greater number of samples to compare samples from both data sets to see if the sample that may have been contaminated from an outside source has higher levels of a chemical than the non contaminated sample.

@Rachacha: That report was talking about formaldehyde outgassing, and also said that it wasn't at unusual levels. The difference is that the Chinese drywall had elemental sulfur and the non-Chinese DID NOT. Why are you defending this shitty drywall so much?

@bobloblawsblog: Labor time is money in the building industry. Otherwise everyone would still be using the lathe and plaster technique for walls.

Techniques change in even decades to save time and money. It is funny reading the original "This Old House" documentary book and how the drywallers/plasterers set up boards across buckets to walk over for working the ceilings. Now everyone has stilts...

@Rachacha: OK, I have taken a very quick look at the data and as I suspected, there is some outlying data that does not make the Chinese Drywall the primary cause (at least not definitively at this point). As with anything the Government does, they want to make sure that they have covered all of the bases, and thus, they are conducting additional testing to support what they believe to be true.

I encourage you to take a look at the data. In some cases, the Chinese drywall outgasses more, and in other cases the non-Chinese drywall outgasses more.

Also at issue is not just corroding electrical wiring, but the ill feeling that some people reported. [www.cpsc.gov]

@Snarkysnake: Everything from China is cheaper than the US.

Over 10 years ago I worked in a manufacturer where the machine shop bought a new polished granite surface plate for measuring parts. The cost of a Chinese quarried, precision polished, and shipped to the US chunk of rock was less than 1/2 the cost of of a US sourced plate. The machinists could not believe that, even with the shipping, a huge chunk of granite was less to buy from China...

[en.wikipedia.org]

And, CPSC has given Mattel exemption from conformity to the new laws. Quote:

"the CPSC approved seven Mattel labs, located in Mexico, China, Malaysia, Indonesia and California as "firewalled third party laboratories" - the first to get that designation under the CPSIA. "Firewalled" means they are deemed to be "insulated from undue corporate influence." According to federal records, Mattel spent more than $1 million in 2008 on lobbying. It was instrumental in getting the "firewall" exception added to the law."

See:
[www.handmadetoyalliance.org]

[jahangiri.us]

@bobloblawsblog: I hear ya on that one - my house is hybrid plaster and drywall because it's 100 years old and has had some renovations. The original walls are solid, and solid walls give your house further stability too.

@Rachacha: Well, I don't recall seeing my outlet wiring turn black in my house, especially my renovated attic, which has newer non-chinese drywall. My brother-in-law, who is in construction, also doesn't recall this for all the years he's been building houses.

Yes, domestic drywall emits sulfur, acetaldehyde and formaldehyde at lower levels than Chinese drywall. I also emit carbon dioxide at a lower rate than a dump truck - does this mean I emit CO2 at levels on par with a dump truck? I mean, come on man, you're really cherry picking with this data.

I'm currently designing our new home, which we will build this spring. it will be more expensive per sq ft, but will last forever. well, till our kids die at least. i should also note it will only be 1200 sq ft -

@DoubleEcho: Yes but: "Chamber studies, which found that Chinese drywall emits volatile sulfur compounds at a higher rate than non-Chinese drywall" and "The compounds (acetaldehyde and formaldehyde) were found in tests conducted in 10 homes in Florida and Louisiana, and in Chinese and non-Chinese drywall" indicates that non-Chinese drywall also emits sulfur, acetaldehyde and formaldehyde gas.

What is not clear, at least from the summary, is how much more outgassing the Chinese drywall presented over the non-Chinese drywall. It could have been within the acceptable measurement tolerances for the instrumentation they were using, or they could have seen where Chinese Drywall ranged from 5-10 (of some outgassing measurment unit), but non Chinese drywall ranged from 7-8. These types of results would be inconclusive.

this is an awful problem where I live, which is Port Saint Lucie, FL. A majority of homes here have this drywall. People ARE getting sick from this...nose bleeds, headaches, respitory problems, etc.

It's hard to watch families go through this. Most cannot afford to move out and lots of insurance companies are dropping these homeowners. I mean insurance companies aren't covering any costs to fix the problem in the first place, but now they are completely turning their backs on these homeowners. Now these people will not be able to find homeowners insurance else where. Home owners insurance is required with your mortgage...now we have the people running into that problem...foreclosure.

@mwc5446: That would be assuming that each builder was using the exact same materials in all houses affected in all states this was used in (Florida, Louisiana and Alabama). This drywall was estimated to have been used in 100,000 homes.

Like I keep saying - this drywall was found to have elemental sulfur in it, obviously high levels too if it's corroding wiring and causing a rotten egg smell. If it wasn't such a high level I'm sure the paint would have covered up the smell. I don't see why it's so hard to believe.

@Snarkysnake: It was not a cost issue, it was a supply issue.

You had a housing boom which put most US manufacturers near capacity, you then had the Huricane summer in Florida where there were multiple back to back huricanes. I believe that Huricane Katrina also played a part as well (I am too lazy to look at the timelines for all of this) There was a sudden surge in drywall sales for people who wanted to repair/rebuild their homes, and US manufacturers could not meet the demand, so large users of drywall (new home "cookie currer" builders) sought out alternate supplies to ensure that they would not be without drywall, and they bought it from China who could provide the products in the quantities they were looking for.

@Snarkysnake:

Business men cut costs wherever they can. A penny saved is a penny earned.

Now. Drywall is heavy. Real heavy and bulky and it needs special handling because it can crack and break and that ruins it. It has to be kept indoors. So it's a hassle.

My question is: If this stuff is only about 23 cents a square foot , ($7.57 Divided by 32 square feet) , how much money did the sellers expect to save themselves after having it manufactured , shipped ,loaded ,shipped ( again) ,stored and distributed ? I mean , there's not a lot of room to move when the stuff is selling for only about a quarter a square foot.How could it have possibly been profitable to import this stuff ? Further , how much did the shoddy ,asshole builders "save" by buying this inferior quality material ?

I would really like to know if anyone has any insight on this...

I'm with DoubleEcho: While the full ramifications of this defective Chinese drywall could potentially take years and mountains of money to determine, it seems a laughably easy task to determine if it is the Chinese drywall that is the root cause of the issues. So far it is the only link that has been suggested by any legitimate party.

@Rachacha: "One has to wonder why homes who don't have Chinese drywall are not having the same problems."

What?

Perhaps because non-Chinese drywall doesn't have the sulfur concentration of Chinese Drywall?

"Elemental and chemical testing, which showed the presence of elemental sulfur in Chinese but not non-Chinese drywall."

Outgassed Sulfur corrodes copper wiring.

@DoubleEcho: The circumstantial evidence is there, but there has yet to bee a definitive link to the drywall. The data suggests that these chemicals that were originally thought to be the cause of the problem exist in Chinese and non-Chinese drywall, so one has to wonder why homes who don't have Chinese drywall are not having the same problems. What is different about these particular homes

You have to remember that in a situation like this, there are no established procedures or standards that the government agencies can utilize so how do you look at all possible combinations while eliminating all of the variables. This would have been an easier case had the non-Chinese drywall not been out gassing sulfur compounds. What you have now is Chinese drywall suspected of causing rapid corrosion and illnesses in a home because of out gassing. You now have evidence that suggests that Chinese and non-Chinese drywall both outgas and have detectable concentrations of acetaldehyde and formaldehyde. These results are inconclusive at pointing at the Chinese drywall as the Primary source of the problem. As for cost, I suspect that a good portion of that was for travel to some of the affected home sites, tagging and transportation of samples (ensuring that the samples were tracked to maintain a custody chain from the home sites in Florida to the CPSC labs in Gaithersburg, MD, as well as for the purchase and acquisition of equipment to measure the outgassing.

I still don't understand how they spent all that time and money, and can't link the corroded wiring to the drywall. Well, let's see - The homes that had this drywall installed had corroded copper wiring. They weren't all built by the same damn builders, so I'd say it's a pretty safe bet that the drywall was the cause.

There, you may now pay me $1.75m, as I'm a nice guy and I only charge half.

Amongst the producers, builders, and distributors, it is hard to know who is responsible, because there may have been mis-representations up and down the chain. All three should have to make sure their product meets quality standards, but, for example, if the distributors certified to the builders that standards had been met, the builders may be less culpable. The same is true if the producers hoodwinked the distributors.

China -- the country? Doubt it.

Home builders -- maybe the ones that are still in business

distributors -- will probably get stuck with some of the bill. I suppose that is fair, if they don't have their own quality protocols of some type. Many are very small, though, and would be sued out of business.

insurers -- nope, builder defect

U.S. government -- Ding ding ding!!!

That seems perfectly on par with government studies. Once the Chinese-funded "study" concludes there is no danger, and those stupid, fat, lazy, Capitalist dogs are only imagining it, then everything will be fine. The stench was from the hippos' own stink, and the electrical fires were caused by shoddy wiring. Case closed.

And how DARE you smelly pigs insult the great, quality products of China!