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12/28/2009:  As the new year approaches, much more information is surfacing regarding the Chinese Drywall problems now found in many states accross the USA.  This has brought forth hesitation from home buyers when in markets that are reportedly hit hard with Chinese Drywall. 

The Florida Department of Health issued an updated case definition on 12/18/2009.  You may go to the Florida Department of Health's web site and view the new case definition HERE.  Although this case definition is a good guideline to use when viewing homes, most of the procedures should be performed by a trained and qualified Inspector.  We also caution consumers that some of the symptoms described in the case study look very similar to symptoms displayed by other very common conditions found in homes.  A trained and experienced eye is often needed to prevent a home from being misdiagnosed as having Chinese Drywall. 

On another note, the federal class action law suit in which the drywall manufacturer "Knauf" has agreed to accept service is moving forward very quickly.  Kross Inspectors was selected by law firms representing plaintiffs to confirm the presence of defective drywall homes all over Florida.  This opportunity has allowed us to expand our coverage area to better assist home owners and home buyers in making informed decisions regarding Chinese Drywall.  Our participation in the federal class action law suit has required that we add some voluntary invasive techniques to our inspection protocol.  Although our proprietary inspection protocol is "non destructive", to positively identify the manufacturer of defective drywall in some homes does require "destructive" techniques.  We have specially trained our Inspectors in how to be minimally destructive, yet be very proficient in covering a large area of a home's installed drywall to identify manufacturers.  We only add these destructive techniques with the homeowner's authorization and ONLY if the homeowner is using our report as evidence in a court of law.  Rest assured that our original drywall inspection protocol is sufficient in determining the presence or non presence of defective drywall, even if we are unable to identify the manufacturer.