A couple of things related to your comments above:
To Morgan’s comment - you are correct if the buyer is looking at a house with Chinese drywall then they need to be advised that there is currently no accepted remediation protocol although there are private enterprises working on it. There are people actively looking for these properties now and plan to sit on them.
The advice I mentioned has been given by inspectors to people actually living in houses and that could be a liability issue down the road if a reasonable fix is found and the homeowner has already moved out.
Also, when someone has gone to the time and trouble to find a house and are now at the point of inspections, they are likely to be very upset if they hear it is problematic. The seller will be also. You really need to know what you are looking for, especially in the houses that only have a couple of sheets of drywall that are bad.
To Gary’s comment – we are starting to see remediation. However, since we still do not know what is causing the off gassing, smart companies are doing what we call the “belt and suspenders” method of trying to cover for not only continued off gassing by particulate dust but also the possibility of bacterial presence. As you can imagine, this can get quite costly. Hopefully once the scientists make a “break through” and we have a better idea of what is causing the off gassing, remediation costs will come down as you will be able to treat or remediate more specifically.
Also, just because a sheet of drywall has elevated levels of strontium and sulfur does not mean it is off gassing. So even if you detect it in a house through the use of an XRF gun, that simply means it has strontium and sulfur. The best means of detecting the presence of corrosive drywall remains visual based on the impact to the mechanical and electrical components in the house. Smell is not always present either.
Joseph’s comment about FEMA – yes, FEMA has stated back to the State of Florida that they do not see this as an emergency based on a natural occurrence (hurricane, etc.). However some homeowners disagree with this position and I am sure there will be additional discussion.
Steven – on the ASTM comment, there are over 35 different brands of drywall mentioned through the Multi District Litigation courts and some of the markings are extremely creative. A couple of them do say ASTM. I believe one even says ASTM approved on the edge tape. My business partner knows a lot about this due to his work and I will ask him about it.
Joe – I liked your comment about “Karen Scott” said. Never worked with my kids either. Since I am new to the forum I was hesitant to post my information because I was not sure what policy was. I have subsequently noticed that you all do.
So here is a little about me – I am a commercial construction and development consultant with over 30 years of experience in commercial real estate marketing, management, operations and construction.
Karen M. Scott, CDP, SCMD
www.AssetAdvisorsandManagers.com