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American-made drywall

At a home inspection yesterday on a brand-new house, my client was buying a home built by one of the companies that has installed Chinese drywall in the past.

They are having obvious problems because of that installation.

My client wanted assurance that there was no Chinese drywall in this house.

I was able to find a spot where the stamps were visible to show that this drywall, in fact, was American made!

While I cannot guarantee that there is no Chinese drywall in the house, it is a pretty good bet that there is none! This builder likely wouldn't open that can of worms again, a scant couple of years later. Especially since it's in the news.

Although Chinese drywall is showing up in more and more states and locations, it is apparently not in this neighborhood in Northern Virginia.

My recommendation: if you have concerns when selling a house built any time from 2004 on that there may be Chinese-made drywall, have your inspector try to find the stamps on the backside that demonstrate where it had been manufactured. Peace of mind is worth a million bucks... and a picture says a thousand words.

Posted by Jay Markanich on 11/12/2009 05:52 PM

Comments (6)

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6 Comments on American-made drywall

NOV

Jay---did you see the CPSC has released their first repsonse this issue?

I don't think that i a concern here. But you never know. I hope they get this issue under control soon.

I am so glad Mike didn't get any of that Chinese drywall installed on any of his job. What a nightmare for both the homeowner and the contractor. I've heard stories about insurance companies even canceling policies after a homeowner tried to get help from them to replace the drywall. Can you imagine? So much for the American Dream.

NOV

Charlie - yes. I got it from my insurance agent a couple of weeks ago. It was pretty vague. We'll see where they go from here, but the barn door is open and they are, as they can only be, late to the party.

Robert - I have heard nothing of it being in Michigan... yet.

Sue - the insurers have a big dilemma. Their position is that you would not go to your auto insurer if your tires were recalled. And if you don't have a flood rider, you don't have coverage and if your house floods they have an uninsurable asset and drop your policy (see Katrina). If you have this drywall you have an uninsurable asset (or liability) and of course your policy would be dropped. But there is not enough cost history on this stuff to be able to develop the tables necessary so they cannot offer riders yet. When some enterprising insurance company does come up with riders, just like with flood insurance, the premiums will be very high and they will expect guarantees from the builder (like papers and my photo) that this drywall is not being used.

In the insurance world, this drywall problem is not high dollar. What is? FRAUD

NOV

Jay,

I do not know that I have ever been lucky enough to see inside a wall, unless maybe somebody had trashed it.

Steve - I saw this in the basement under the stairs. You could possibly see the stamps under insulation in the attic but I don't know many places the stamps would be available. On a lot of foreclosures, I see the walls trashed all the time!

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