Drywall Thesis

Connor Slattery
Prof. Richard J. Shaughnessy

Hypothesis
Chinese drywall used in the United States is a problem but is one that is being controlled and eliminated through courts and tearing out the hazardous material and replacing it. This problem, though quiet serious for those effected, is not going to turn into a long running problem, instead the defective material will be destroyed and replaced and no similarly defective product will be used.

Abstract From 2004-2007 construction and supply companies in the United States had to import drywall from the People’s Republic of China in order to finish the homes and move families back in. This imported drywall though was a Trojan horse which would cost families more time and money to have their …show more content…
The amount of rebuilding being done caused a shortage of drywall in the United States and so companies began to import drywall made in China. This drywall was said to have “a distinct sulfur odor” and “was a grayish-brown color and had a much coarser grain than the ‘American Drywall’”. (Curtis et. al., 2009) Companies used this tainted drywall in order to finish their work and allow for homeowners to return home quickly. Companies began to realize the problems associated with the drywall “as early as July 2006” (Spallina and Galvani, 2011). The problem though was not addressed until 2008 as builders tried to move families out to do remediation and word spread of the epidemic of Chinese drywall. (Spallina and Galvani, 2011). Over the next years the epidemic grew as more people became aware of the cause of their apparent sick building syndrome and negligence lawsuits started against builders and suppliers as well as suits against insurance companies who did not want to pay for the damages caused by the defective drywall. The issue that is Chinese drywall caused an estimated $15 to $25 billion in damages. (Spallina and Galvani, 2011) These damages include remediation, damaged property and health problems suffered because of the off gassing of the …show more content…
(Allen et al 2012) In these tests the teams found taking core samples of the drywall to be the most effective step in identifying the drywall as a problem. These tests showed in the Chinese drywall there was higher concentrations of strontium, over 1200 mg/kg, and carbonate, over 5 absorbance units while non—complain homes exhibited lower measures in both of these categories. (Allen et al, 2012) Another test used by the teams was direct analysis in real time (DART) which allowed for samples to be heated in a helium gas stream to test the samples of “American” and “Chinese” drywall to see if any of their properties were different. At first nothing was detected at lower temperatures but when they raised the temperature of the helium to 250⁰C the “Chinese” drywall emitted an odor consistent with sulfur dioxide. (Curtis et al,

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