A dream home has become a nightmare for a Florida based couple after it was discovered that allegedly poisonous imported drywall was used in the construction phase of the renovation in 2005.
Nancy and Michael Dravis of Tampa, Florida didn’t know anything was wrong until they began having health problems a little while after moving back into their five bedroom family home in the city.
“Michael began suffering from asthma like symptoms and his nose kept bleeding,” Nancy said. “I kept getting headaches and my eyes were almost continually irritated. So much so that I had a series of tests with my optician then doctor as I thought my eyes were failing. Then we heard about other people having similar problems a little while after having homes built or renovated. A little research showed us that some construction contractors were using imported drywall because it was cheaper. People thought that it was giving off gas that smelled like rotten eggs, which is what we had in our home.”
Companies like Chinese Drywall Experts and Chinese Drywall Inc. have sprouted up to fill the void left by the poor quality of Chinese Drywall. They will, for a hefty price, come to your home and repair and replace all tainted drywall in your home.
The rotten egg smell is the result of hydrogen sulfide, carbonyl sulfide and carbon disulfide gases which have been found to be emitted from the drywall. When these gases mix with oxygen, particularly in warm, humid air they produce the smell of rotten eggs. This is often the first real indicator that there is a problem with the construction materials.
The situation has left many homeowners with an uninhabitable home, builders with multiple lawsuits being filed against them, while others go into bankruptcy. All this on top of the economic situation has created a life and death situation for many construction companies in Florida. As if the construction industry wasn’t having a hard enough time as it is.
Another Tampa resident Martha Kemp is in an even worse situation than the Dravis family.
“My brand new dream house is just gone. I can’t live in it, my family can’t live in it. The dream has been shattered. I feel like just breaking down and crying. My builder has gone bankrupt, the government doesn’t seem to want to know and my lender doesn’t care, they just want the money each month. I just don’t know what to do, “ sobbed Martha.
This is a scene that is being repeated right across Florida. It is estimated that between 2004 and 2007 over thirty seven million pounds of imported drywall went through Florida docks. This material could have made its way into up to one hundred thousand homes in this state alone. Massive shipments also went to New Orleans to help with the clearing up after Katrina. There are also reports of the drywall being used in various places in Alabama. Investigations are underway in both states to attempt to discover the extent of the problem.
The full scale of this problem has yet to be determined. The Florida Health Department alone has over one hundred and fifty complaints on file at this time. This number is expected to rise as news travels and more people can identify the cause of the bad smell and any health issues it causes.