Drywall Made in China Posing Major Problems

Posted in Home Insurance

July 6th, 2009

Do you live in a home built in the past 5-10 years, and you’re noticing unpleasant smells coming from your walls? The problem could be Chinese-made drywall used in its construction. Thousands of people are complaining about a foul rotten-egg stench coming from their homes, and the culprit is cheap drywall made with an unfortunate compound of sulfur mixed with two other organic materials. Unhappy and revolted homeowners are filing home insurance claims to have the offending drywall removed and replaced, but unfortunately for them, practically all home insurance providers have expressly defined clauses wherein they indicate they will not be responsible for repairs stemming from poor construction materials or defects.

Home insurance claims filed for the removal of the Chinese-made drywall are almost all coming from states with more humid climates, as the combination of heat and moisture is most responsible for triggering the offending odor. Additionally, the drywall and its fumes cause metals to corrode quickly, and in humid states, that means air conditioning systems are in frequent use and are deteriorating faster than they would normally.

Home insurance providers typically exclude home damage caused by poor products used in construction from their list of liabilities they’re willing to cover. Home owners could conceivably seek compensation by filing a claim against their builder’s general liability insurance, but clearly, there is no guarantee that would actually be honored. Instead, a better option might be to join in one of several class-action lawsuits that have been filed against manufacturers who used the cheap but malodorous Chinese drywall.

This problem is yet another example of why home owners need to truly familiarize themselves with the details of their home insurance policy. It’s one thing to know you won’t be covered in specific instances, but quite another to expect coverage only to be told there is none.