CyberCJH's Blog

I’m meeting with the builder and seller tomorrow at 11am to review and discuss the (possible) Chinese drywall situation.

Yesterday, I paid for our homeowner’s insurance and flood insurance. Even though we’re not in a flood zone, we have had flood insurance for the past two years on the contents of the house. Now that we’re in the process of (hopefully) purchasing the house, we need flood insurance for the structure as well.

I feel flood insurance is important and really, for us anyway, relatively inexpensive. Flooding is the most common natural disaster in our country. Not only that, 25% of flood insurance claims come from our risk area, low-to-moderate.

I also locked in our interest rate yesterday at 5.9%. I’m pretty happy with that rate.

I’m going a little crazy today with my credit report. I unlocked it for the mortgage company, but they keep insisting it’s locked. I called customer service and they confirmed it’s unlocked. So, I don’t know what the heck is going on with that.

written by cybercjh

I’ve been doing a lot of additional research and investigation into the Chinese drywall that exists in our home. I took these additional pictures from the drywall installed above the master bedroom closet.

This drywall is made by Knauf and from what I can tell, was not manufactured in China by Knauf-Tianjin. Some websites claim that this drywall is from China, but the marking on this drywall does not match the markings seen on the drywall of concern according to the Florida Department of Health.

I went around our home today looking for copper corrosion. I couldn’t really find any.

Here is the ground wire from a wall switch in our master bathroom. As you can see, the copper is not corroded.

Here is a wall switch from our dining room (next to the garage which does contain the Chinese made drywall of concern). Again, no corrosion.

And, here is a wall switch from inside the garage. I do not see any corrosion on the exposed copper wiring.

Here are various pictures of other items that are (I believe to be) copper that are not showing any signs of corrosion.

The mystery continues …

written by cybercjh

Since we’re in the process of buying the house we’re currently living in (we’re renting it right now), I thought a home inspection would be a wise investment. The home inspector was a great guy. But, the conversation quickly turned upsetting.

Home Inspector: “Your house is in great shape. But, are you familiar with the Chinese drywall problem?”
Me: “Oh, yes. That drywall that causes your copper pipes and jewelry to corrode and makes your house smell like rotten eggs and can cause breathing problems? Thank God we don’t have any of that.”
Home Inspector: “Well, actually, you do.”
Me: “Come again?”
Home Inspector: “Did you know that all the drywall in your attic above the garage is from China?”
Me: “Are you sure?”
Home Inspector: “Yes.”
Me: “How do you know?”
Home Inspector: “Because it says MADE IN CHINA on it.”
Me: “Sh*t.”

And, sure enough, it does.

Put it all together, and it says KANUF-TIANJIN CHINA ASTM C36.

But really, what’s all the hysteria about? What’s wrong with Chinese drywall? The Chinese make great toys and toothpaste and pet food, so why worry about their drywall? Well, here are all the problems you may experience if your home is infected with this evil, evil drywall.

• Wiring that has turned black and/or is corroded
• Piping that has turned black and/or needs replacing
• Silver jewelry that has turned black
• Electrical problems
• Respiratory problems
• Nose bleeds
• Headaches
• Eye irritations
• Allergies

So, I decided to take the Florida Chinese Drywall Self-Assessment Test.

• Step 1 : Odors. Does the home, or certain rooms have either a sulfur-like odor or other unusual odors? NO.
• Step 2 :  Recurring A/C Problems. Have there been repeated failures of the A/C evaporator coil (located in the air handler unit)?  NO. Well, not yet anyway. The house is going on 3 years old.
• Step 3A : Corrosion of Copper Freon Lines. Our copper freon line looks fine. A little dusty, but fine. So, NO.
  
• Step 3B : Corrosion of other metallic surfaces in the home. In the garage, where the Chinese drywall is, it looks like the copper plumbing for our hot water heater is corroded. So, YES.
   
• Step 4 : Does It Say ‘Made In China?’ Here’s where things get interesting. The drywall installed in the ceiling above our garage absolutely was made in China, there is no question. But, the drywall installed in the ceiling above Christina’s bedroom closet does not indicate it was made in China. In fact, the markings on this drywall are totally different. So, YES & NO.
  
• Step 5A : Corrosion on A/C Coil. Our home inspector snapped this picture of our A/C coil. To me, this fits the description of normal oxidative coil aging and not black corrosion. But, this is an UNKNOWN.
  
• Step 5B : Corrosion on Electrical Wiring. I snapped a picture of some electrical wiring that exists on our garage door opener. Now, mind you this is installed directly below the Chinese drywall. I do not see any corrosion on the copper wiring. I am going to do further inspections tomorrow. NOT SURE YET.
  

In summary, that’s 3 NOs, 1 YES, 1 YES & NO, 1 UNKNOWN and 1 NOT SURE YET. Hardly conclusive. But, since our house was built after January 1, 2004 and I answered YES to two or more steps, our house does meet the case definition for the presence of poisoned Chinese drywall.

I called the seller who is calling the builder who is calling the home inspector who is supposed to take samples and run tests. We shall see. Stay tuned.

written by cybercjh

Our home inspection is scheduled for early next week. It’s almost $500. Ouch. But, it will give us peace of mind in knowing the house is sound and the roof isn’t in danger of collapsing or something.

In other news, the woman who claims to be our realtor is pissed since we decided (both buyer and seller) to go without an agent on this purchase transaction.

She tells me that they have a realtor code of ethics and that we all have rules we must follow. Really? A realtor code of ethics. Could such a thing actually exist? Well, in fact … yes, it does.

The preamble to this code of ethics states:

… REALTORS® can take no safer guide than that which has been handed down through the centuries, embodied in the Golden Rule, “Whatsoever ye would that others should do to you, do ye even so to them.”

Wow. Realtors are familiar with the Golden Rule?

written by cybercjh

The house hunt has become exceedingly frustrating. Houses that are listed as active on the MLS aren’t actually active and those that are listed as short sale approved really have never actually approved for a short sale to begin with. My realtor has provided me a couple of lists of about 40 houses each. From those 40, we would select 10 we liked and of those, 2 would actually still be available. The MLS is a worthless piece of crap.

We looked at one house on a road called Breezeway that looked like a murder scene with blood all over the walls and carpet.

Incredible how the real estate market works – it’s a wonder that realtors make any deals to begin with as unorganized as the whole system seems.

So, we gave in a signed a sales contract for the house we’re living in now. And, I can’t say I’m upset by that decision. We like the area and the house is nice with quite a few upgrades.

Keep your fingers crossed for us, please.

written by cybercjh