When we get in our cars and turn the key, we expect the engine to start and if there is a problem, we’re likely to hear it. We can  decide to fix it now or wait for the next scheduled maintenance check. Houses have problems too but rarely can we can hear the problem, and there is no manufacturer telling you how often to inspect your home. Few home owners have the skills to thoroughly inspect their home, so they rely on home inspections typical when selling and/or buying a house.

Can You Tell How Safe Your Home Is?

The following story might be extreme. It shows how easily silent problems in our homes can lurk for months, and often years, before they become visible in some way that can’t be ignored. Probably the only good news here are there were odors home owners could smell, and the corrosion to appliances caused them to fail quickly.

The China drywall problems surfaced in 2009, due to large amounts of defective drywall imported into the US following Katrina and due to the housing boom. The faulty drywall was found to give off a “rotten egg odor” and cause the wiring, plumbing and appliances in a house to be ruined.

Drywall isn’t something that home owners think about until it needs to be repaired or replaced. Drywall is a key component of most homes, used to construct ceilings and walls throughout a house. Drywall is made of gypsum plaster pressed between 2 sheets of paper and kiln dried. As the paper is a food source for mold growth (think plumbing and roof leaks, along with flooding), newer products are being introduced which use fiberglass instead of paper.

The China drywall problem illustrate the complexity of home contruction. Hopefully we can all learn from this problem, and take steps in the future to find and resolve problems with our homes  quickly, so costs don’t escalate.

• Accountability – begins with the manufacturers who are in China and it appears with a few judgements against them, they are starting to settle pending lawsuits. There are many players involved beyond the product manufacturers including one/multiple companies in the supply chain, the builders who bought the defective drywall/sheetrock, any sub-contractors involved in the installation, and others like the insurance companies. Quoted by the Wall Street Journal, Justice Near for the Prisoners of Chinese Drywall?, the judge involved in settling at least one lawsuit, wrote “… they will be held responsible for total repairs caused by this horrendously inferior product.”

• Repair Costs – The size of these repairs is significant because of the amount of drywall. Can you imagine dealing with …
  • Moving all the furniture out.
  • Removing the trim around doors, windows and baseboard.
  • Ripping out all the ceilings and walls.
  • Repairing /replacing anything behind the walls, i.e. wiring and plumbing, that was damaged.
  • Hanging the new sheetrock, taping and 3 coasts of mud.
  • Priming and painting the ceilings and walls.
  • Re-installing the trim that was removed.
  • Cleaning and moving the furniture back.
• Temporary Relocation and Housing – Consider how long it takes to build a house, and you realize this isn’t a project that will be done in 1 to 2 weeks. Occupants of these homes in some cases, have already left for health reasons and during renovations, there are costs associated with relocating families which can get costly when you consider staying near the home so children can remain in their local schools.

The cost of just repairs starts at $80,000 according to the Wall Street Journal, and then you have to add the costs of relocating the families. The article also touches on the costs if the home owner pays retail versus settlements being made to the builders at wholesale costs.

Hopefully this one story shows how important it is to monitor the safety of your home. While the government is continually  upgrading building codes to improve safety, home owners play an important role. We’re used to smoke alarms but they don’t help if you don’t replace the batteries. There are carbon dioxide alarms, and sprinkler systems are coming. The EPA’s new Renovate, Repair and Paint rule for homes built prior to 1978, is meant to eradicate lead poisoning which is another silent problem. By learning more about your home (subscribe to our newsletter), you can

Keep Your Homes and Families Safe

Author: tinagleisner: Tina Gleisner is passionate about helping women home owners LEARN about their homes, CONNECT with home professionals committed to delivering quality home products, and CREATE homes that support their lifestyle. Leveraging her experience as the owner of a handyman business, Tina created the Assn of Women Home Owners at www.HomeTips4Women.com.