Chinese Drywall Inspection | Defective Drywall Inspection

Why Should I get a Chinese Drywall Inspection?

Not knowing the status of your home may cost you big money, not to mention potential safety and health hazards.

In addition to safety and health hazards, important reasons to test include:

• Property tax relief of 75% or greater
• Lender relief on FHA backed mortgages
• Insurance claims
• IRS tax deductions
• Documentation for assisting attorney
• If you are buying or selling a home
• Renting a home
• Lenders establishing knowledge of contamination status for liability and valuation reasons

Are all Chinese Drywall inspections the same?

No. XRF testing is a superior protocol because it basically brings a portable laboratory to your home. A common feature found in most cases of reactive drywall is a significantly higher level of the element Strontium and can be an indicator for Chinese drywall as outlined in test reports commissioned by the CSPC. Recently, there have been instances where false positives and negatives have occurred. These instances are not common, but for now the CPSC no longer recognizes the element Sr in levels above 1,200 ppm as a marker. Nonetheless, XRF testing remains a very powerful tool in the search for defective drywall.

Visual inspections can be unreliable. The risk of a misdiagnosis is high and the consequences costly. In many cases the classic signs of Chinese Drywall such as: rotten egg smell, failing A/C coils, blackening and corrosion of metals are clearly evident but these signs are not always present. In these cases where classic signs are not present, the standard Chinese drywall inspection could mistakenly declare the home defective drywall free. Missing visual signs can occur in situations where properly balanced HVAC systems keep heat and humidity below levels necessary to activate the mechanism of Chinese Drywall.

Most other inspection protocols take limited samples of drywall thought to represent Defective drywall; however, situations are common where the home can have a mixture of defective and domestic drywall and limited sampling can miss the contamination. The importance of choosing the correct inspection protocol cannot be overstated when dealing with a contamination that can decrease property values by 75%. This is dramatically illustrated in the pictures to the right where the upper picture shows a wall the way we normally see it. How would you know that the upper half is domestic drywall and the lower half is defective as shown in the lower picture? Note the low XRF readings in the section colored green; the green is to identify the domestic drywall. Now look at the pink area identifying defective drywall and the high XRF readings. Now imagine the odds of a standard Chinese drywall test taking random samples missing the contamination. This is even more likely if the Chinese drywall was in the upper half of the wall. This is why Chinese Drywall Advisors features non-destructive X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) testing as an integral part of our certified testing protocol. Apply for Chinese Drywall Testing now!

Chinese Drywall Advisors offers a two tiered inspection format based upon the existence or non-existence of Toxic drywall

Tier One - Defective Drywall Clearance Inspection

The first tier of our protocol begins with the question: does the home have defective drywall or not? Chinese Drywall Advisors first begins with a visual examination for signs of defective drywall and then non-destructively tests drywall in the home until the home is cleared or defective drywall is found. If no defective drywall is found, the client is given the choice of further documentation to be eligible for up to 10 year warranty certifying the home to Chinese drywall free. This Defective Drywall Clearance Inspection was developed to provide assurance to homeowners and potential buyers that the home has been tested to a specific protocol and a National Construction Warranty can be issued to provide assurance to all parties of the condition of the home. This can be a major selling advantage in today's tough real estate market. If defective or Chinese Drywall is found by X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) testing then legally the contamination is considered probable and must have additonal testing to become a legally confirmed case.

Tier Two - Defective Drywall Certification Inspection

The second tier of our protocol begins with the discovery of any defective drywall. At the point of discovery, the Defective Drywall Clearance Inspection becomes a Defective Drywall Certification Inspection with a higher level of documentation. This inspection is critical as it establishes proof of contamination for legal purposes. This proof is used by your attorney and as proof to the county assessor, IRS, insurance company, lenders and others.

Although a positive test by (XRF) is an indicator of Defective drywall, governmental authorities require testing that confirms that the drywall is the cause of the symptoms associated with Chinese drywall. This requires an additional extra cost laboratory test. The key item to note is XRF testing has already narrowed down which drywall contains the high strontium levels associated with problematic drywall and one 2" x 2" sample is necessary rather than multiple samples required by other methods.

Make an Appointment now for a Chinese Drywall Inspection, Chinese Drywall Testing, Chinese Drywall Problem, Chinese Drywall Solution and Chinese Drywall Remediation or call us at 888-887-5387.
For further information and queries email info@chinesedrywalladvisors.com