Insurers dropping policies on houses that have Chinese made drywall

[Jhhnn]

Wake up, Citrix. It was the deregulate, cut rates, cut red tape, force Fannie and Freddie to buy anything mentality from the Bush leadership and their congressional cronies that created the fevered runup to the speculative peak in housing. If it hadn't been for that, American manufacturers could have met the demand for drywall, and the Chinese stuff would have never arrived here...

Nobody has offered any evidence that it was actually cheaper, but it was available when domestic producers couldn't meet demand...

 

[shira]

Originally posted by: Citrix
ok i cant read the OP its killing my eyes (3 glasses of Chianti with dinner doesn't help either). how does one know when buying a house it has Chinese drywall?

You don't. And back when these homes were build, I doubt that anyone even knew that Chinese drywall was a problem. So even if home buyers knew for sure that the drywall was Chinese made, why would that have caused anyone to reject the material?

There are probably many, many other building materials out there that will cause problems in the coming years, but no one knows yet what those may be. I have TWO personal experiences of just this type: (1) polybutylene plumbing, which was replaced under the terms of the settlement of the class action lawsuit mentioned by heyheyboo boo a few posts up, and (2) FRT (fire retardant) plywood used on the roofs of many homes (the FRT chemicals caused the plywood to decompose after about 5 to 10 years, and I had to pay for a new roof myself - the plywood maker had gone belly-up, and there was no deep pocket to sue).

That's why situations like these are so unfair: Builders use what they think are cheap but acceptable materials, which holds down the price of construction. Home buyers have no basis to question the materials used. Then, years later, some of the chickens come home to roost and the home owners can be royally fvcked, such as in the current situation.

 

[Wheezer]

TextOriginally posted by: Citrix
ok i cant read the OP its killing my eyes (3 glasses of Chianti with dinner doesn't help either). how does one know when buying a house it has Chinese drywall?

simple...don't buy a home made in the last 5-10 years.

 

[BoberFett]

Originally posted by: Jhhnn
Wake up, Citrix. It was the deregulate, cut rates, cut red tape, force Fannie and Freddie to buy anything mentality from the Bush leadership and their congressional cronies that created the fevered runup to the speculative peak in housing. If it hadn't been for that, American manufacturers could have met the demand for drywall, and the Chinese stuff would have never arrived here...

Nobody has offered any evidence that it was actually cheaper, but it was available when domestic producers couldn't meet demand...

Actually, from what I understand the drywall shortage was because of repairing/rebuilding due to hurricane damage. As I've heard it explained, American production was meeting new construction needs, but the added stress on supply due to damage forced builders to buy from China, which is why a lot of the problematic drywall is found in the southeastern US.

 

[Jhhnn]

Hurricanes are part of the normal demand situation, BobberFett. The wild peak in housing starts isn't-

http://www.nahb.org/generic.aspx?genericContentID=45409

There was a similar peak in multifamily and commercial construction, as well.

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: Jhhnn
Wake up, Citrix. It was the deregulate, cut rates, cut red tape, force Fannie and Freddie to buy anything mentality from the Bush leadership and their congressional cronies that created the fevered runup to the speculative peak in housing. If it hadn't been for that, American manufacturers could have met the demand for drywall, and the Chinese stuff would have never arrived here...

Nobody has offered any evidence that it was actually cheaper, but it was available when domestic producers couldn't meet demand...

This is not a Bush matter anymore than chinese garbage imported now is an Obama issue. Plenty of democrats were involved in the housing bubble, too.

 

[rudder]

Originally posted by: shira

Originally posted by: Fear No Evil
I can't say I entirely disagree with the insurance companies though. Why should THEY be held responsible for the screwup of the builders/developers etc?

How would the builders and developers know that the Chinese manufacturers were making their drywall this way? The drywall is defective, and the Chinese are ultimately responsible.

Sure the Chinese are ultimately responsible... but do you think that it is easy as filing a lawsuit against the Chinese manufacturer and getting a settlement? I think it is highly unlikely. If the homebuilder is still in business... they would be the ones to go after and at the least they pay for replacement.

 

[tk149]

Originally posted by: Modelworks
Home inspectors don't remove drywall but the ones that are very thorough do test like air quality and mold test. They can detect the chinese drywall problems just by doing air samples.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I've read, there is no "simple" test to detect the problems. Do you just make this stuff up, or do you have actual information?

http://www.cpsc.gov/info/drywall/how.html

If the insurance policy doesn't cover defects in building materials, then the insurers shouldn't have to cover the replacement costs. However, how many homeowners know what's in their insurance policies? I don't.

The homeowners can sue the manufacturers/contractors, but some of those firms have probably already gone bankrupt/disappeared. For those that are left, I'd expect a long legal battle, which would eventually result in these businesses going BK. Meanwhile the homeowners are screwed.

The contractors are screwed because their purchasing agreements with the Chinese companies probably didn't say "NO SULFUR." The problems didn't become evident for years after the drywall was installed. Good luck getting a Chinese court to side with U.S. contractors.

For those blaming the Republicans -- why didn't the Democrats even mention banning drywall imports? Because no one knew at the time...

 

[shira]

Originally posted by: tk149

Originally posted by: Modelworks
Home inspectors don't remove drywall but the ones that are very thorough do test like air quality and mold test. They can detect the chinese drywall problems just by doing air samples.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I've read, there is no "simple" test to detect the problems. Do you just make this stuff up, or do you have actual information?

http://www.cpsc.gov/info/drywall/how.html

If the insurance policy doesn't cover defects in building materials, then the insurers shouldn't have to cover the replacement costs. However, how many homeowners know what's in their insurance policies? I don't.

The homeowners can sue the manufacturers/contractors, but some of those firms have probably already gone bankrupt/disappeared. For those that are left, I'd expect a long legal battle, which would eventually result in these businesses going BK. Meanwhile the homeowners are screwed.

The contractors are screwed because their purchasing agreements with the Chinese companies probably didn't say "NO SULFUR." The problems didn't become evident for years after the drywall was installed. Good luck getting a Chinese court to side with U.S. contractors.

For those blaming the Republicans -- why didn't the Democrats even mention banning drywall imports? Because no one knew at the time...

I wonder if riders on homeowners policies are available where even defective materials are covered. If the added cost of the premium wasn't outrageous, I'd certainly pay for this type of coverage on a new or recently-constructed house.