Toxic Chinese Drywall? It’s True!

When someone told me that there are homes built with toxic Chinese drywall, I thought… ok… yah right. This is just a spinoff scare from the lead based paint on toys issue, but it’s not and it’s true! 

Ok… so this issue has been spoke about for the greater part of a year and I thought to bring it back up because the deadline to submit your claims is rapidly approaching. December 2nd actually. There are not many cases in Charlotte, NC, but 18.8 Million pounds of it were inported to Charlston, SC.   

So how do you know if you have it? Well… homes built after 2002 to 2006, have markings like these on the drywall and have a rotten egg or sulfur smell…. It’s also grey in color and has a different texture than regular drywall. 

A great home inspector from middle TN writes a great post about this product, so rather re-write history, here’s his blog which can be found on Active Rain: 

“Is Toxic Chinese Drywall in your home? 

Over the past few months, owners of newer homes nationwide have been complaining of drywall that smells like rotten eggs. In several cases, they have had to leave their home because the smell was so bad. In addition to the putrid smell, many homeowners have reported problems with air conditioning and other systems that are likely related to the defective Chinese drywall.  This is being called the next EIFS like disaster in the real estate market! 

Many have spent hundreds and even thousands of dollars – to have air conditioning, pipes and wiring repaired. Usually, drywall is manufactured in the United States, but a shortage between 2001 and 2007 prompted many builders to buy drywall from China. 

Most of the reported problems stem from drywall imported from China during the construction boom years of 2002-2006. Florida and the Gulf Coast states have been the first to report and have issue with this drywall showing up but it also showing up in non-coastal areas. 

Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin Co. Ltd. of China, a subsidiary of German-based manufacturer Knauf, is the company at the focus of these drywall problems. If your newer home smells like sulfur or rotten eggs, you may have defective Chinese drywall. The problem is coming from coal ash that was mixed into the gypsum drywall compound. One source of tainted materials appears that China was attempting to get rid of their coal ash problems by mixing it with the drywall compound. When the drywall is exposed to moisture, such as high humidity a chemical reaction starts. The result of this reaction is the production of Hydrogen Sulfide and Sulfuric acid gas. This is the rotten egg smell that is present with the drywall. 

The difficulty for inspectors is that walls may have been built with drywall from as many as four sources — so simply pulling one clean sample is no guarantee of safety. Many times the supplies can be tracked where they were used by licensed builders. At this time it is possible although not likely that the builders insurance may pay for the damages. 

This drywall is responsible for the destruction of the copper coils in HVAC units in the homes that it has been installed in. The corrosive off gassing is also responsible for damaging many other components in the homes from the copper electrical to the nails and screws that are holding everything together in the home. 

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said it was investigating complaints about the Chinese-made drywall. All houses affected have shown a common symptom — blackened, scorched wiring behind switch plates, damaged A/C coils and damaged wall plugs — along with homeowner health symptoms, that’s allowed research to proceed, 

If you think that you might have Chinese Drywall, you should contact a reputable home inspector who is familiar with this problem. As this problem is just starting to rear its ugly head, many are not aware of this problem.” 

  

Thanks Scott!!! For those who are interested or live near Spring Hill TN, which is only a few miles south of Nashville, here’s his website where you can reach him for all your inspection needs. Trace Inspections 

 

 

 

The Purple Wall – updated

Some of you may have read about the appointment I had at the home with the purple wall and what we did to resolve a what could have been major issue for some buyers.

What you may not know is the editor of At Home Magazine had asked me to contribute that same post for the magazine.It was published in the October 2009 edition.

 What compelled me to update “Get rid of that purple wall” was an article I found in the Charlotte Urban Home Magazine in this falls edition. Here’s the link to the PDF  of the article. With the color purple not just a fad from last fall, this article speaks of the various ways to use purple in your home…properly. (wink) And a great follow-through article is from the Best of Charlotte Resource guide 2009 – COLOR BUZZ: The 2009 Color forecast. Yes, I know 2009 is almost over, but check out the article anyway and see if their predictions are spot on or way out in left field. It’s good reading.

Enjoy! 

Going GREEN

Ever since I finished my classes to achieve my GREEN designation early this past October, I have been asked by several other Realtors what the big deal is about the designation. Well….first I wanted to know what I can do to live a little greener and help show others how they can reap the rewards of living a little greener as well.

Fate so has it that I am working for a builder that is also thinking along the very same lines as I am. The builders name is HILCO Construction, and he’s a Certified Green Professional which is a designation awarded by the National Home Builders Association. He is the exclusive builder of Sills Creek Estates in Mooresville off rt 152 just past the Mooresville Dragway. He’s building homes as I remember them being built when I was a child. Keeping the trees and natural landscaping and removing only what needs to be removed, recycling materials, using energy-efficient designs and building a neighborhood with the look and feel of, what seems like so long ago, a NEIGHBORHOOD. Not the street lined track homes that are so easily “knocked out” these days.

So whats the big deal with “Going GREEN”? Well there’s numerous reasons for going green and your probably already living a little greener already and don’t even know it. If you have Energy Star appliances, that’s a start. If you purchased those long life spiral shaped light bulbs, thats another… my mother and her friends were into cleaning with citrus at one point as well as using Simple Green, and almost everyone I know recycles, so you see, living green is really easy, and this is the simple stuff.

If you want to REALLY go GREEN, then you can look into one of HILCO’s homes. He’s building homes that aren’t just good for the environment, they’re good for you. He’s using designs that are sustainable and installing today’s technology to enhance the overall quality of life for the homeowner. Air quality will be improved, water filtration systems will be used as well as rain water collection barrels to help with irrigation. When the US Green Building Council reports that buildings are consuming 14% of potable water (thats 15 trillion gallons of water that we can drink), 40% of raw materials (3 billion tons) and 39% of the energy in the US alone…. we have GOT to do something to cut back, and why not? Cut back on your energy usage is just the same as putting money back in your pockets so you don’t have to cut back on the activities you love because your paying those high energy bills. Seems pretty much like a no brainer to me.

So when you’re raking the leaves…again…that have fallen from your maple tree in the front lawn this fall, be thankful for it has probably shaded your home during the hot summer months aiding in the reduction of your overall home cooling bill.

Regular Carpet and Promotional Grade Carpet. What’s the Difference?

The other day, I was asked by a past client what type of carpeting she should have installed in her home…. as you can presume by this question we are pretty good friends even after she purchased her home over a year and a half ago.

She said she heard on the radio a great deal on Promotional Grade Carpet and wanted my opinion.

There are 3 grades of carpeting that I am aware of. Promotional Grade, Residential Grade and Commercial Grade. So here’s the skinny on promotional grade carpeting. No, it’s NOT some new product the company is testing and using it as a promotional piece before it goes into full production. it’s quite the opposite.

Promotional Grade carpeting is usually priced extremely low and for good reason. Let the buyer beware when purchasing this type of carpeting. If you’re going to put it in the basement, a childs room or any other area where you really don’t mind the overall look of the carpet, or if  it’s temporary, this is a great choice. I have seen promotional grade carpeting installed in a garage with only the portion under the car having exposed concrete…. odd, but they liked it.

You can guess that this type of carpeting will have “issues”. Some may be:

• Side Match: This is when a swatch is cut from either side of the carpet after it’s dye’d to ensure perfect color all the way across. If it doesn’t match…. It’s called a Side Match. If you must have a seamless look, then this won’t do.
• Streaks: Oh my! you unroll your wonderful budget carpeting and there’s a large streak right in the middle where the threads were cut improperly creating a raised or embossed area or by one pesky strand of yarn wanting to not conform to the rest of the carpet.. It varies in severity and is usually called “Seconds”
• Dye Spots: This is the best if you plan to expect lots of minor stains because this carpet already has them. Usually they are pretty small by our standards, but Manufacturers are perfectionists and a spot in the dye simply won’t do.
• Off Shade: Like a Side Match, this is when the color of the carpet does not match the swatch. Ever have this happen to you? You pick up a paint chip, LOVE the color and when it’s on the wall and dry it really doesn’t quite look like the paint chip? These types of Promotional Grade carpet is the best deal to get because you and I don’t know what the original swatch looked like.
• Dropped Style: Oh my! You measured wrong and you need another 200 square feet…. nope! ‘Taint gonna’ happen. This means exactly what it is labeled…. They dropped the style and you got the last of it.

I’m not telling you NOT to look for this stuff, but they can be real deals if your on a budget and want something quick. My guess is that if your replacing your carpet, your old one looks pretty worn out by now and anything new will look better than what you now have.

So call the manufacturers and see what they have for Promotional grade carpeting and you may save hundreds on your new carpet if you can deal with the minor imperfections, oh and thanks to CarpetExpress.com for helping me ensure I had my terms correct.

Get Rid of that Purple Wall!

“Oh MY… Hmmm…”

This was my first reaction when I saw it…

I was on a pre-listing tour of a beautiful home in south Charlotte, North Carolina and when the proud homeowners showed me their living room… There it was… a floor to ceiling purple wall amongst an otherwise sterile environment. The photo is not the home I toured, but it a very good representation of what it looked like….Wow.

Ok, before anyone gets worked up, I like the color purple. I like grapes and grape juice, I like plums, violets and purple lilacs, but never in a formal living room without some type of accent piece or Renaissance period theme.

I will give credit where credit is due…the homeowners were BRAVE! “We just didn’t know what to do with it. (the wall) We like the color and hate to paint over it.” they said.  I did ask if we could paint it and promptly received “the look”. You all know what I mean. How was I going to list this home with the purple tower?

What we did was this:

The homeowners had beautiful overstuffed pieces of furniture with a saddle color fabric. We painted the adjoining wall the same color purple and accented the window with Ivory window coverings using black matte hardware, then found some really cool gold tone throw pillows to complete the look. This photo was our inspiration.

The effect was fantastic! Sadly for me, the homeowners decided to stay in the home and enjoy the new room.

 

Realtor…. Adviser….Friend…. Home Designer… Those were the hats I wore that weekend, and I’ll be happy to do it again.