Personal Injury Law

Defective Drywall: More Than a Rotten Smell

By Matthew Leeth

Many South Florida homeowners thought the damage done to their home was over when Hurricane Charlie left the area. Unfortunately, that's not the case.

Hurricane Charlie made landfall in August 2004 in Punta Gorda, FL as a stage 4 hurricane. This was the most powerful hurricane to hit the sunshine state since Hurricane Andrew in 1992. In the worse hit areas, homes were leveled and businesses destroyed. In other areas of the state, homes were severely damaged by wind and flooding. In most cases, homeowners rebuilt their homes or made the substantial repairs necessary to live in their home once again.

The large spike in home building and repair created a shortage of drywall. Drywall had to be purchased from distributers from around the globe in order to meet demand. Many manufacturers, some now bankrupt, utilized Knauf Plasterboard to meet their drywall needs. Knauf Plasterboard shipped the home builders drywall produced in China. With little or no regulation in the drywall industry, the drywall was installed into thousands of homes without any oversight.

It turns out the drywall used an unusually high level of organic material, which produced sulfur that became trapped inside the drywall. Florida's humidity caused the gases to escape the drywall, and has caused respiratory problems as well as corrosion of the electrical wiring and fixtures.

Fast forward nearly five years. According to the Florida Department of Health over 150 complaints have been received by homeowners complaining of a rotten egg smell (the common association with sulfur gas), corroded copper fixtures and the repeated failure of their home's air conditioning system. For those affected, the only cure is to completely remove the drywall from their home, replace all the wiring and fixtures affected, and install new, safe drywall.

For many of those affected by Hurricane Charlie, the nightmare is far from over. What's worse, Hurricane Katrina victims are expected to face similar problems in the coming years as the gases escape. Some homeowners who were not even directly affected by either hurricane - those who simply had their home built during the time of spiked demand - are likely affected as well. Nationwide it is estimated that upwards of 100,000 homes are affected. This leads to the question - Why was there no independent testing done prior to the installation?

Governor Crist is stepping in, asking the federal government to assist in the matter. Senator Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) has introduced legislation to institute testing of all drywall imported between 2004 and 2007. The bill also bans the types of drywall responsible for this disaster. This may be effective in the identifying drywall with high toxicity imported between 2004 and 2007, but will it be enough to prevent another massive defect of another kind from occurring? Perhaps this bill should go one step farther and institute a cost-effective testing procedure for all imported drywall, in order to ensure an economic and hazardous disaster like this does not occur again.

Concrete, steel, and other structural components are tested in order to ensure buildings don't collapse. Pipes are tested to ensure they don't leak. Why isn't drywall tested, if only sporradically, to ensure minimal toxicity?

Full post as published by Tampa Bay Personal Injury Law on April 06, 2009 (boomark / email).