REPRINT from News Press, Ft. Myers, FL (Dick Hogan)

A national mold remediation trade organization was in Fort Myers on Thursday demonstrating a Chinese drywall fix that carries a 10-year warranty and follow-up visits to ensure the hardy bacteria that cause air quality problems are gone for good.

The drywall, imported from China mostly between 2004 and 2008, emits sulfur compounds that corrode air conditioning coils, electrical wiring and numerous other metal items. Residents claim health symptoms ranging from nosebleeds to respiratory problems.

Almost 1,400 Lee County homeowners have reported to the property appraiser’s office that they have defective drywall.

Experts disagree on exactly what causes it, but many builders remove the drywall, strip a house down to the studs and use a powerful vacuum to get rid of any remaining dust.

The Abita Springs, La.-based National Organization of Remediators and Mold Inspectors developed its procedures to give homeowners some assurance that they can get long-term relief, said Doug Hoffman, executive director of the organization.

“Prognosis without diagnosis is malpractice,” said Hoffman, who is one of the instructors at classes his group is giving around the state to introduce the program.

About a dozen state-licensed mold remediators and building contractors got instructions in such arcane topics as preserving enough of the drywall as legal evidence so that the homeowner won’t be precluded from suing the builder or drywall manufacturer.

“It’s not cheap,” Hoffman said – $86 to $96 per square foot for spraying a biocide formulated to penetrate walls and kill the bacteria that cause the problem, then ripping out all the bad drywall, vacuuming out all the possibly contaminated dust and retreating with the biocide.

After that, he said, the drywall remediator does annual checkups and puts a monitor that records temperature and humidity to make sure the homeowner doesn’t leave the house without air conditioning – a sure way to trigger a relapse.

“It loves moisture,” Hoffman said. “Anytime you have moisture in the environment, you’ve got a problem.”

Della White, co-owner of Fort Myers-based Environmental Services Group, said she thinks the training and certification will make the process of drywall remediation more certain for homeowners and the people doing the work.

“I think it’s going to provide us with a path to follow,” she said.

For more information on training go to www.BestTrainingSchool.com/cdw.php and register for an upcoming class in your area or call the NORMI Hotline 877.251.2296×8911

June 24, 2010

In the last few weeks judges in Louisiana and Florida are adjudicating drywall cases and finding in favor of the plaintiffs. What this means to the industry could be significant, of course, but what it means to the plaintiff is, in our opinion, more significant—BECAUSE there is no contractor who can do the work with the proper insurance. That’s a problem!

“A Florida family has been awarded $2.46 million in the first Chinese drywall lawsuit to be heard by a jury. The decision was seen by some as a ‘bellwether’ case, which could forecast how other juries may respond to similar evidence that will be presented in other trials over Chinese drywall that has caused problems for homeowners throughout the United States.”

“Earlier this year in the Federal MDL, Judge Fallon awarded $164,000 to a Louisiana family that filed a Chinese drywall lawsuit against Knauf. The ruling equated to about $81 per square foot. Since that ruling, Knauf has begun seeking settlements with U.S. builders who bought their drywall.”

“Judge Fallon has also issued a ruling that awarded $2.6 million to seven Virginia families who filed a lawsuit against China-based Taishan Gypsum Co. over drywall problems. However, it is unclear how the families will collect, since China does not acknowledge civil lawsuit judgments in the U.S., and the company did not send a representative to court to answer the charges.”

So, here are the problems: 1) how many appeals will be filed to slow down the payback process, 2) how are they going to collect from the defendants, if they even will, and 3) if they can get the work down for the awarded amount, WHO is insured to do the work and what protocol will they follow?

The first two questions are, of course, the most difficult. We are dealing with an international community (so political pressures are great) and a country (China) to whom we are incredibly indebted (according to U.S. treasury nearly $755.4 billion at last year’s end). There is little doubt that the plaintiffs are in for a very long fight.

The third question, however, is being addressed by NORMIPro Management (www.NORMIProMgmt.com) and its team of experts. With engineers, IAQ specialists, laboratories, Remediators, assessors, and insurance professionals on board, NORMIPro Management will soon introduce solutions that could give hope to the plaintiffs in two areas: 1) that they will be able to do the work for less that the amount of money they’ve been awarded and, 2) that those who do the work will have the proper insurance.

The third piece of the NORMIPro Management package that may be in place shortly is an insured guarantee that the problems will be solved and solved permanently. Following proper IAQ Management techniques and the NORMI Sanitization Protocol, which helped hundreds of homeowners following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, these Chinese Drywall issues can be resolved and resolved permanently.

There is hope for the victims of Chinese Drywall and it may not be in the court system. This hope may soon find its way into the marketplace…where it should be!