The Virginian-Pilot
©
CHESAPEAKE
Sen. Mark Warner and the nation's top consumer safety official toured homes built with Chinese-made drywall Monday and learned at least one thing about residences that have had problems: It's going to be expensive to fix.
One local home builder told the visitors that her company will spend more than $5 million to repair condos made with the product.
Helen Dragas, president and chief executive of The Dragas Cos., told the lawmakers her company is spending about $70,000 on each of its 73 condos in Chesapeake and Virginia Beach built with tainted drywall.
Homeowners have complained that the drywall corrodes electrical systems and makes people ill. The Consumer Product Safety Commission is investigating the complaints and air-quality issues related to the drywall and hopes to release its findings in coming weeks, said Inez Tenenbaum, the commission's head.
Tenenbaum joined Warner and U.S. Reps. Bobby Scott and Glenn Nye as they toured three homes at The Hampshires at Greenbrier in Chesapeake constructed by Dragas.
Warner had urged Tenenbaum to make the trip to Virginia after she toured affected homes in Florida, too.
The first home officials toured Monday at The Hampshires had been vacated by the homeowner but still had the original drywall remaining. A second home had all of its drywall ripped out, exposing wooden studs. A third home toured was completely restored and owner occupied.
Inside the second home, Tenenbaum leaned in close to smell the exposed wooden studs. "The first home we went into had a definite strong smell in it," she said. "These, you do not have the strong smell."
The commission's report will include an analysis of the elements and compounds found in the drywall, as well as results from air-quality tests.
Tenenbaum said the commission, which is spending $3 million to investigate Chinese drywall, will advise Congress on how to handle the issue.
"None of the agencies have the resources to go out and remediate," she said. "So it's going to have to be something passed by Congress."
She said Congress will have to authorize funds and work with federal agencies to devise a national plan to help restore homes built with the drywall.
Tenenbaum commended Dragas for undertaking the process of fixing its homes built with the drywall but stopped short of endorsing the builder's remediation effort. "I'm not going to make any presumptions just on a tour," she said. "We're waiting for the science to inform us of what the issues are."
Dragas is in a dispute in federal court with its insurance company, Builders Mutual Insurance Co., over which company is responsible for paying for the remediation.
The lawmakers also visited a home in Virginia Beach with the drywall and visited with homeowners from across the region who gathered for the tour.
Outside the Virginia Beach home, the lawmakers called on banks and lenders to assist homeowners whose homes were built with the drywall while the product safety commission finishes its tests.
"What we're going to be doing in the meantime is seeing if we can get some forbearance from the mortgage payments being made because these families are having to continue to pay mortgages on homes that are uninhabitable," Warner said. "Some of the families... are going to have to declare bankruptcy."
At least 150,000 sheets of Chinese-made drywall were imported by a local construction supplier. That's enough to build more than 300 homes. The drywall since has been found in housing developments in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Newport News, Chesapeake, Williamsburg and northeastern North Carolina.
Josh Brown, (757) 446-2318, josh.brown@pilotonline.com
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If you think or know that
If you think or know that you have chinese drywall contact our group at chinesedrywall_1@yahoo.com. We all need to be fighting this together.
Is cheep drywall really worth the price?
What I fail to understand is why we are going to China for drywall when there is a gypsum plant right down the street? What we really need to is lower the cost locally, IF that is why companies are going to China AND we need to better regulate what comes into our country. Now it will cost millions for repair.
Chinese Drywall
The sad fact is that these folks bought a new house in good faith that it was constructed with quality products - Why can't they come back on the HOW warranty or back on the builder who cut corners on building materials - the buyer is not at fault and should not have to suffer for what really amounts to a scam artist at work - go back against the builders and contractors - that will teach them a lesson right in their pockets -
Who needs an Architect?
A little unknown tid bit. Inspectors have the ability to tell you what’s in a home, but they do not help with quality control.
Architects/Engineers don’t just draw pretty pictures or design bridges; they are a regulated group of professionals there to prevent Joe public from getting an inferior product. Since they are regulated by the state, it is their duty to look out for your well being (no matter who they work for). If they fail in that duty they can lose the license that took them a minimum of 8 years to get.
The catch is - you have to actually hire them to manage your construction project.
Beach Development
These builders were not so concerned last year when they bought single family homes and built 5 cracker box houses on a 3/4 acre lot ! Using the cheapest of materials and lowering our property value! It is a shame this is a health issue because The home owners in the neighborhoods that were destroyed by these builders, cutting all of the trees and slashing the lot sizes not to mention eliminating the wild life, do not wish any harm but think it ironic after fighting to maintain our established green neighborhoods and losing to the City's greed in allowing "progress"
by permitting these builders to rape the population by overpricing these boxes! Are now looking to the State Taxpayers for help??? What happened to Quality Control?
Only take a few hundred!
In DC to enforce the same rules on imported goods that US Manufacturers have to follow.
Oh I forgot they are on the corporations payroll not ours like we all thought!
The US Congress sleep at the switch...again!
The US Congress by the Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3 of the US Constitution has the power to regulate commerce between the states and foreign nations (the Indians too). While the Chinese were selling Americans poison the US Congress was more interested in baseball and steroids. Baseball is a game! Cheating in a game is not unusual; whereas, buying unrestricted goods from an enemeny nation isn't a game. Seems to me, once again the Congress has been sleep at the switch…or they have an knack of being wrong 90% of the time.
Still no evidence?
Why do they keep doing these PR stunts rather than waiting for actual scientific support? It's like they're trying to convince people of something by repetition even if the testing shows nothing.
Sue the manufacturer not the tax payers.
Why should tax payers have to foot the bill to repair private property? You bought it. You should have inspected 100 percent of the house and materials during the building process. You should have visited the site every day and been present when the building inspector was on site. Hold the builder and the dry wall manufacture responsible. Sue them not the tax payers. The last house I helped build, every product was researched for safety and durability prior to purchasing and installation. Before buying a house you need to have the house thoroughly inspected. When I purchased my last house I had to hire two inspectors because the first one missed things that I noted during my walkthrough. At the height of the housing boom many people purchased homes without conducting an inspection. Stupid! You get what you deserve. A new house still needs to be inspected. When building a new house you can not rely on the builders to do the right thing or the city building inspectors to properly inspect every step during the building process. Look at the number of buildings built in the area against the limited number of building inspectors. A drive by inspection or send me the pictures is a common
DRYWALL
Do you know anything about the subject before you comment or was it fly by night info like everyone else and just heard about it in the news without doing research before commenting. Reputable (?) company gets drywall that is installed in a house. Did anyone know the consequences then, dont think so. Sue, you must be new! Have you heard arbitration clause, read it, become educated. Deserve? Deserve and inhabitable house, that was not delivered, get it!! Would you, calling us "stupid", have ripped it out not knowing what it does now. Although it has an American supplier on it. Doubt it. Because, you wouldn't know either, good for you on your inspections (my hero), has no bearing here since they are all supposedly "professionals". The comment made is not substantiated nor does it warrant any merit. You or a loved one live in a house that has it and see, maybe you'Il have a different opinion. I only comment due to commentees ignorance, as well as others with this viewpoint.