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All good points BH but the percentages of homes built prior to 2003 still fall with in the logic that it will be CDW free. I know when I drop a few hundred thousand I do my homework, as I am sure you do. Lots of problems or potential problems to look for when buying a property. Some of the problems we can live with and fix and in this case with CDW run Forest run. You don't want to deal with it.
The logic part of me coming out is the engineer / mathematician.
So If your buying a home that was #1 built or #2 had repair #3 had major upgrades #4 renovations from 2003 - 2008 no matter what the age of the home have it check for CDW.
Exactlieeee! And then, sit down, do nothing, mull it over, have a beer, weigh you options, see if she wants to have dinner with you {{{wait ...wrong train of thought - I was on my main train of throught . . . .}} OK, weigh your options, and then decide if and way you want to do, what action you want to take, maybe make an offer {{oh darn, switched over to the wrong train of thought huh-gain!}}. LOL
Personally, even though I have plenty of construction experience, I wouldn't buy or lease any home in any of the Southern states regardless of age, without a CDW inspection by a qualified inspector. At around $250 how could you afford not to?
Wow, when I looked at the picture you posted it first looked like a hand coming through a wall. (no, I'm not on drugs!)
Anyway, I agree with you about the inspection because someone could have used CDW during renovation. Sure the homes built 2005 and later are more likely to have it, but I've known people drywall installers and they often worked in older homes. People knock down walls and put up new ones all the time. I don't know the effect a small amount of CDW would have on a home, however. I think I asked this already, but aren't inspectors limited to the amount of electrical inspection they can do, i.e., removing a ceiling fan or looking behind a wall socket? If you pay $250-$300 for a home inspection and then pay an electrician to checkout the wiring, would that be overkill? I just don't see why spending an extra $150 to $200 on a lifetime investment is ever a bad idea.
Yeah Nancy, I guess I didn't have to blow it up that big. I was trying to show that the metal conducting part was exposed. While I've read plenty of stuff about smoke detectors and appliance electronics going bad. This was the first time I saw something like this.
I think the best person to answer your question about how the CDW inspectors handle electrical inspections would be a fellow poster here. Kbuild. He does CDW inspections. I would be curious too as to whether or not he looks inside main electric panels as part of any kind of home inspection.
There was a post yesterday in the general Florida forum.
Seems that the poster's parents bought a home in Cape Coral back in 2007. After having ongoing problems with the AC, her husband did a quick check for CDW symptoms and found them. A later inspection by an inspector confermed their fears. Now they don't know what to do next. Chinese Drywall - Any advise?
Wow, when I looked at the picture you posted it first looked like a hand coming through a wall. (no, I'm not on drugs!)
Anyway, I agree with you about the inspection because someone could have used CDW during renovation. Sure the homes built 2005 and later are more likely to have it, but I've known people drywall installers and they often worked in older homes. People knock down walls and put up new ones all the time. I don't know the effect a small amount of CDW would have on a home, however. I think I asked this already, but aren't inspectors limited to the amount of electrical inspection they can do, i.e., removing a ceiling fan or looking behind a wall socket? If you pay $250-$300 for a home inspection and then pay an electrician to checkout the wiring, would that be overkill? I just don't see why spending an extra $150 to $200 on a lifetime investment is ever a bad idea.
Generally a home inspector will find signs / symptoms that a house may contain CDW. There are distinct things to look for that tend to give it away. You can never say with absolute certainty, unless you reall do some major forensic testing. Even if one piece of CDW was used. It is going to out-gas, but the initial signs may take much longer to become evident, and the smell may be indistinguishable from other smells. The corrosive effect, and the effect on you health may be muted as well, but over a long period - who can tell. Generally, you are going to look for the signs and symptoms and if you don't see them you are going to prioritize things and you money expenditure for testing and focus on other things.
As for the electrical inspection. Generally when you hire a qualified home inspector, he will take apart a sampling of the electrical devices, look at the wiring, make sure it is grounded, see if it is blackened (one of the symptoms of CDW), and make sure that the polarization is correct (white to white, black to black, and in some cases black to blue or black to red based on wiring requirements for certain things). He will check to see the the required inspection stickers are in the electrical panels, and will test the current in the outlets to see that they are working and if any of them are switched. If all those things are done correctly, there isn't a need for a separate electrical inspection, and if you have CDW the electrician isn't going to do anything anyway, so long as everything else is in order. You need a licensed electrician to do any work, but not inspect. If something is found not to be working, or wrong, because it was installed incorrectly the home inspector will report it to you, but is unlikely to correct it for you. The same applies to the HVAC, he will inspect that, and all the filters, make sure it is working test the temperatures, and can even test the cfms at each register (although the second you change the fins on one, you pretty much changed the cfms delivered to the rest of them throughout the house - although slightly). You don't need a separate HVAC technician to inspect, or plumber. All that said, if it gives you peace of mind, a couple hundred bucks spent, may be well worth every penny - especially if you don't know what I'm talking about! LOL Which truthfully not many people do.
Nancy, I was trying to figure out how I could flirt with you when I was saying all that, but couldn't, so I'll try next time. OK.
My wife and I are looking to move into the Sarasota, specifically the Palmer Ranch area. Is there a web site that contains the names of builders or developments where CDW has been identified? I am particularly interested in Village Walk and Isles of Sarasota which are Divosta properties. Thank you for your help.
My wife and I are looking to move into the Sarasota, specifically the Palmer Ranch area. Is there a web site that contains the names of builders or developments where CDW has been identified? I am particularly interested in Village Walk and Isles of Sarasota which are Divosta properties. Thank you for your help.
I've been following this very closely and none of those names have come across my radar as of yet. Non the less, have any place you put an offer on inspected specifically for Chinese Drywall anyway.
For anyone else reading here because they are following news about CDW, I have been reading through latests Federal Investigation Report that came out today. The long and short is that they say, more testing needs to be done. They are still working out what to test for and how as they claim they still do not know what is causing the metal corrosion and health problems. They also do not seem to be anywhere near reccomending a remediation protocal as a result.
One test in specific isn't expected to come out until June of 2010. The report was laughable over all and I learned why when I got further ahead.
The DOH not only used tedlar bags which are not the best for testing for these gasses, they sent them off to the Columbia Lab. This is the SAME lab that was hired by KNAUF, that has been helping KNAUF to deny that there is any unusual problem with their drywall.
Further, a very well established environmental air quality control company in Florida, got into inspecting for CDW early on. First, he shopped around to find the BEST lab able to detect these sulfurous gasses. He used what they individually specified for testing and then he intentionally filled the containers with high levels of sulfurous gases, to see whose lab had the best ability to detect them. The sample he sent to Columbia came back negative for sulfurous gasses.
He has the whole initial experiment of shopping for test labs he could rely on posted at his web-site. Columbia was the worst for being able to detect sulfurous gasses. Why is the Department Of Health also using Columbia?
That said, anywhere the Federal Agencies used the same lab KNAUF has been using, their results are meaningless and useless from my view.
For those of you in the area tired of waiting on the government for answers and a remediation protocal, if there even is any guaranteed to work, there is an informational free townhall meeting scheduled for this Monday night at the Holiday Inn in Lakewood Ranch at 6:30 P.M. You need to RSVP through this site if interested.
I've been following this very closely and none of those names have come across my radar as of yet. Non the less, have any place you put an offer on inspected specifically for Chinese Drywall anyway.
For anyone else reading here because they are following news about CDW, I have been reading through latests Federal Investigation Report that came out today. The long and short is that they say, more testing needs to be done. They are still working out what to test for and how as they claim they still do not know what is causing the metal corrosion and health problems. They also do not seem to be anywhere near reccomending a remediation protocal as a result.
One test in specific isn't expected to come out until June of 2010. The report was laughable over all and I learned why when I got further ahead.
The DOH not only used tedlar bags which are not the best for testing for these gasses, they sent them off to the Columbia Lab. This is the SAME lab that was hired by KNAUF, that has been helping KNAUF to deny that there is any unusual problem with their drywall.
Further, a very well established environmental air quality control company in Florida, got into inspecting for CDW early on. First, he shopped around to find the BEST lab able to detect these sulfurous gasses. He used what they individually specified for testing and then he intentionally filled the containers with high levels of sulfurous gases, to see whose lab had the best ability to detect them. The sample he sent to Columbia came back negative for sulfurous gasses.
He has the whole initial experiment of shopping for test labs he could rely on posted at his web-site. Columbia was the worst for being able to detect sulfurous gasses. Why is the Department Of Health also using Columbia?
That said, anywhere the Federal Agencies used the same lab KNAUF has been using, their results are meaningless and useless from my view.
For those of you in the area tired of waiting on the government for answers and a remediation protocal, if there even is any guaranteed to work, there is an informational free townhall meeting scheduled for this Monday night at the Holiday Inn in Lakewood Ranch at 6:30 P.M. You need to RSVP through this site if interested.
For the record; that's not a town hall meeting, it's a solicitation by a law firm. The fact that they created a web site called "chinesedrywall.org" should be a sign of the level of integrity of this firm. I like the fact that they were "peer reviewed" for ethical standards.
Sorry but these people don't give a rat's ass about you, your family, your home, or your CDW, unless they can get 33.33 percent of some settlement.
For the record; that's not a town hall meeting, it's a solicitation by a law firm. The fact that they created a web site called "chinesedrywall.org" should be a sign of the level of integrity of this firm. I like the fact that they were "peer reviewed" for ethical standards.
Sorry but these people don't give a rat's ass about you, your family, your home, or your CDW, unless they can get 33.33 percent of some settlement.
That's how it works. That's what the CDW town hall mettings are, a chance to shop law firms and get information about recovery for losses.
There are people out there who have been waiting for the government or their builder to make everything right. They will be waiting a long time for maybe nothing.
In the mean time, homeowners have suffered hefty losses, from equity in their home, to dimunition of value in the home, to personal property damage within the home, to ruined credit because they had to abandon the home, to medical bills.
Sure, they can suck it up all of those losses if that is what you are suggesting they do. It's a free country.
67% recovery of losses is better then 0%.
I am suggesting that maybe it is time for some to accept, that their builders are not going to cover all of their losses, nor is the government. As much as I think lawyers are slimey ambulance chasers taking advantage of peoples misfortune, they are often needed to recover losses through our legal system. A firm is holding an informational town hall meeting on Monday for anyone interested.
Our of curiousity, are you suggesting that people suck up the losses?
Are you a builder that used CDW?
If not through the legal system, how are these people suppose to cover their losses, incurred from this toxic import?
Some peoples builders went belly up, and government bail outs are not fair to other tax payers, nor does it look like any are coming after this flim flam report anyway.
The Lawyers are going after the manufacturers, and everyone who profitted off of the sale of this junk board. If you have a problem with that, you must be someone who profitted off of the sale of it yourself. Why else would you begrudge people from using our legal system to recover damages sustained from a faulty product? That is how our legal and defective product liability system works weather we like it or not.
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but the percentages of homes built prior to 2003 still fall with in the logic that it will be CDW free. I know when I drop a few hundred thousand I do my homework, as I am sure you do. Lots of problems or potential problems to look for when buying a property. Some of the problems we can live with and fix and in this case with CDW run Forest run. You don't want to deal with it. 
LOL
Developments with CDW issues
