Drywall from China blamed for problems in homes

— -- Real estate agent Felix Martinez thought he'd found his dream house when he bought the 3,500-square-foot beauty in Homestead, Fla., two years ago.

Then, he says, his large-screen TV mysteriously failed. Next, the air conditioner went. His bath towels smelled like rotten eggs. Visitors noted an odor in the house. Martinez says he's suffered new sinus problems and sleep apnea. His wife and son sneeze a lot.

The walls in the home, a recently filed class-action lawsuit alleges, were built with the same kind of Chinese-made drywall that tests have shown emit sulfur gases that corrode copper coils and electrical and plumbing components.

Similar problems have been linked to hundreds of Florida homes. Tens of thousands of homes there and in other states could be affected, say lawyers who have filed lawsuits on behalf of Florida homeowners. The discovery has created a firestorm that's engulfed an international building supplier, large and small home builders and dozens of subcontractors. The issue also has revived concerns about quality-control procedures of U.S. companies that use Chinese-made products, following episodes in recent years involving contaminated toothpaste and pet-food ingredients, lead-tainted toys and defective tires imported from China.

A leading U.S. home builder, Lennar, and a Chinese drywall manufacturer, Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin, say tests show the gases given off by the drywall pose no health hazards. Florida regulators and the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission are investigating.

Lawyers say far more testing needs to be done.

"If it can put holes in metal coils, how do we know it doesn't cause problems in children or adults?" asks attorney Jeremy Alters of Florida-based law firm Alters Boldt Brown Rash Culmo. Alters says he has clients who developed respiratory ailments "out of the blue" after moving into allegedly affected homes.

Knauf says Chinese drywall imports started in significant amounts in 2005 as a result of a shortage driven by the booming housing market and rebuilding after Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma.

In addition to lawsuits on behalf of Florida homeowners, a class-action lawsuit was recently filed by an Alabama home builder that has made air conditioning repairs on two dozen Alabama homes, says attorney Steven Nicholas. A class-action lawsuit has also been filed on behalf of Louisiana homeowners.