Contaminated Sheetrock

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ceb58

Senior Member
Location
Raeford, NC
I was reading about the contaminated sheet rock that came from China in 2005 and was installed in homes. They said that the sheet rock had sulfur in it which gave off a rotten egg smell and was corroding electrical wireing, copper plumbing and causing a/c unit coils to fail. The story also told of electronic devises in the homes failing due to corrosion. They said the sheet rock could be in as many as 60,000 home with about half being in Fla. Has any one ran into this yet?
 

Dennis Alwon

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Chapel Hill, NC
Occupation
Retired Electrical Contractor
I was reading about the contaminated sheet rock that came from China in 2005 and was installed in homes. They said that the sheet rock had sulfur in it which gave off a rotten egg smell and was corroding electrical wireing, copper plumbing and causing a/c unit coils to fail. The story also told of electronic devises in the homes failing due to corrosion. They said the sheet rock could be in as many as 60,000 home with about half being in Fla. Has any one ran into this yet?

A friend of ours came over this evening and told us this story. This is the first I heard of it. Chris Kennedy may need some workers to help him in Florida-Al can only use a shovel.
 

iwire

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Massachusetts
I guess we should try to stick with the electrical aspect of this.

Has anyone had any first hand experience with this issue?
 

iaov

Senior Member
Location
Rhinelander WI
I have no experience with the sheet rock but saw that they were selling little bags of rocks from China in the dollar store!:-?
 

Fulthrotl

~Autocorrect is My Worst Enema.~
I hear ya, next thing will be asphalt for roads. :roll:

ok... i'm slow.... but sheetrock? you're gonna load it in a container,
and ship it halfway around the world? and sell it for $6 a sheet?
retail? at a profit?

sheetrock?

next, it'll be potting soil...... :mad:

that'll end quick. LEED local origin credit requires it to be manufactured
within 500 miles of the project.

maybe we'll still be allowed to make dirt here.
 

iaov

Senior Member
Location
Rhinelander WI
At this point I find the whole sulpher thing a little hard to believe. I would think to damage wire you would need moisture and either sulpher dioxide or hydregen sulphide to produce sulpheric acid to damage the wiring. If hydrogen sulphide was involved you would definately smell it and it is a very dangerous compound on its own. I'ld like to see some pictures too.
 

Fulthrotl

~Autocorrect is My Worst Enema.~
At this point I find the whole sulpher thing a little hard to believe. I would think to damage wire you would need moisture and either sulpher dioxide or hydregen sulphide to produce sulpheric acid to damage the wiring. If hydrogen sulphide was involved you would definately smell it and it is a very dangerous compound on its own. I'ld like to see some pictures too.

220/221 might see some of this as well.. here's something off a quick google
search.....

Group believes buildings built with tainted drywall
February 20th, 2009 @ 5:10pm
by Bob McClay/KTAR
A watchdog group claims that homes all over the country, including thousands in Phoenix and Tucson, may have been built with tainted drywall.

"America's Watchdog" says the drywall may contain gypsum mined near Chinese toxic waste dumps.

"We think the drywall is made of gypsum, which is a naturally occurring product mined in China," said Thomas Martin with the group. "But unlike U.S. manufacturers, the Chinese never cleanse the gypsum."

Martin says the contamination isn't limited to only residential homes. Most of the houses were built after 2001.

"Some of the mid to high-rise buildings that have been built during the real estate boom I think we're discovering now also have this very problematic dry wall in it," said Martin.

There are three signs that indicate a property might have used the tainted drywall: A rotten egg (or sulfuric) smell, degraded air conditioner coils and electrical wires that have turned black or corroded.

Air conditioner coils generally last 15 to 20 years, but in the case of contaminated buildings, they can go bad within six months.

People living in homes in Florida and other states have complained of nosebleeds and upper respiratory conditions.

The group will be sending environmental teams to Phoenix next week after it received similar complaints from homeowners.

Martin believes the homes will need to be bulldozed.

"It's going to rip apart people's lives, cost billions and billions and billions of dollars to fix, and our biggest concern right now are the health issues."

The Central Arizona Homebuilders Association and the Arizona Health Department have not returned calls for comment. Two weeks ago, the health department said they'd not heard of any cases here.
 

iaov

Senior Member
Location
Rhinelander WI
I didn't find alot on google about it but what is there is fairly recent. Perhaps problems are just starting to manifest themselves. I remain skeptical but if I'm wrong it won't be the first or last time.:smile:The stuff I read said the dry wall was manufactured with coal ash.
 

LawnGuyLandSparky

Senior Member
ok... i'm slow.... but sheetrock? you're gonna load it in a container,
and ship it halfway around the world? and sell it for $6 a sheet?
retail? at a profit?

sheetrock?

next, it'll be potting soil...... :mad:

that'll end quick. LEED local origin credit requires it to be manufactured
within 500 miles of the project.

maybe we'll still be allowed to make dirt here.

Yes and no.
A lot of offshore manufacturing occurs on barges in international waters. Not too far off America's shores.
 

LarryFine

Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
Location
Henrico County, VA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
I was reading about the contaminated sheet rock that came from China in 2005 and was installed in homes. They said that the sheet rock had sulfur in it which gave off a rotten egg smell and was corroding electrical wireing, copper plumbing and causing a/c unit coils to fail. The story also told of electronic devises in the homes failing due to corrosion. They said the sheet rock could be in as many as 60,000 home with about half being in Fla. Has any one ran into this yet?
Did you read that today? Was the author's name I. Lirpa?
 

LarryFine

Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
Location
Henrico County, VA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
A watchdog group claims that homes all over the country, including thousands in Phoenix and Tucson, may have been built with tainted drywall.
Why do they have to mention those two states in addition, as if they're not normally considered part of the country?

It's kinda like Domino's not including bacon on an all-the-meats pizza unless you specifically ask for it. :rolleyes:

Added: Now, if they had said "including in Alaska and Hawaii," I would have understood.
 

B4T

Senior Member
Why do they have to mention those two states in addition, as if they're not normally considered part of the country?

It's kinda like Domino's not including bacon on an all-the-meats pizza unless you specifically ask for it. :rolleyes:

Added: Now, if they had said "including in Alaska and Hawaii," I would have understood.


I take that as meaning Phoenix and Tucson have the most tainted homes from the fastest growing housing market
 

Cavie

Senior Member
Location
SW Florida
It is for real. SW Florida has many homes effected. It is all over the local news. Dateline and 60 min. Houses do not nee to be bulldosed. They are infact being srtipped back to the studs. All copper wireing, A/C copper and plumbing copper is being replaced. The drywall is identifyiable by the printing on the back. It is all over the country, not just in florida. Depends on who the drywall wholesaler bought the drywall from. The lawsuits are flying.
 
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