Feds: All Chinese drywall must go

WASHINGTON — The federal government is recommending that homeowners with corroded Chinese drywall remove all of the material from their homes — along with electrical components, sprinklers and gas lines — to eliminate safety problems.

Guidelines issued Friday by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recommend that consumers replace “all possible problem drywall,” all electrical components and wiring including outlets, switches and circuit breakers, all gas service piping, fire suppression sprinkler systems and smoke and carbon monoxide alarms.

“Based on the scientific work to date, removing the problem drywall is the best solution currently available to homeowners,” said CPSC Chairman Inez Tenenbaum, adding that the interim recommendations are being released before scientific studies on problem drywall are completed “so that homeowners can begin remediating their homes.”

She said that the agency has found that certain Chinese drywall has emission rates of hydrogen sulfide 100 times greater than non-Chinese drywall. Homeowners with the suspect material have complained of breathing problems, headaches and corroded wiring and air conditioning units.

But Florida Sen. Bill Nelson, who first called for an investigation into the cases of toxic drywall and traveled to China to press its government to help consumers, said he’s troubled there’s little help for homeowners who may have to shoulder the potentially exorbitant cost of removing the drywall. The cost of removing and replacing just the drywall for a 2,000 square foot home is estimated at about $100,000.

“The studies find that the drywall is bad enough to require the stuff to be removed from houses,” Nelson said, “Now the question is: Who pays for it? The way I see it, homeowners didn’t cause this. The manufacturers in China did. That’s why we’ve got to go after the Chinese government now.”

Nelson’s office says there are now more than 3,000 reported cases of toxic drywall in the United States, nearly 1,800 of them in Florida. Many homeowners in Florida who have sought help from their insurance companies to deal with the damage say the companies not only deny the claims, but drop their policies.

A Louisiana judge ruled in March that the policy exclusions that property-insurance companies are using to deny claims don’t apply, but the insurance company in the case has said it plans to appeal the ruling.

Still, Darren Inverso, an attorney who represented former Bradenton resident Kristin Culliton, one of the first Floridians to come forward with a complaint about tainted Chinese drywall, said he agrees with the federal recommendations.

“I haven’t read anything to convince me that drywall can be treated or not need to come out of the house,” he said. “From the perspective of the person living in the house, you need to side with caution.”