My New Blog

On Friday, April 2, 2010, HUD and the CPSC issued interim remediation guidance to help homeowners struggling to rid their properties of defective drywall.  See Interim Remediation Guidance 04022010.pdf. 

This interim guidance does follow the same "common sense" approach to remediation that I have always directed consumers to follow.  Basically, the guidance suggests removing the source of the problem (the defecive drywall) and replace the affected components.  

In the past 12 months, my Inspectors and I have witnessed over 100 properties being remediated for Chinese Drywall.  Unfortunately, after our final inspection of those properties, only 34 of them were completely symptom free.  Many of the contractors were observed to be taking shortcuts (leaving some drywall behind and not replacing some affected components). 

We caution consumers to thoroughly investigate any contractor that offers to remediate a home found to have defective drywall.  Follow these simple guidelines:

• Never allow a company to remediate that also offers Inspection services.  This is an obvious conflict of interest.
• Make sure the contractor is properly licensed by visiting www.myfloridalicense.com
• Only hire the contractor if they can offer a warranty or guarantee that specifically states coverage for Chinese Drywall.  (Ask for a copy of a sample policy.)
• Hire a third party Inspection firm (not affiliated with the contractor) to document the entire process from beginning to end (including confirming the home actually does have defective drywall). 
• If it sounds too good to be true, it most likely is.  Call us for a second opinion. 

Please be very careful.  If you need a free phone consultation, please call our Chinese Drywall Hotline at (877) 496-4662.  We are the largest Home Inspection Firm in Florida and the first in the country to offer Chinese Drywall Inspections.  It is in our best interest to protect consumers from predatory contractors that may take advantage of them in situations like these.