Virginian-Pilot - Millions Needed To Fix Chinese-Made Drywall, Official Says

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By Josh Brown, Virginian-Pilot

Sen. Mark Warner and the nation's top consumer safety official toured homes built with Chinese-made drywall Monday and learned at least one thing about residences that have had problems: It's going to be expensive to fix.

One local home builder told the visitors that her company will spend more than $5 million to repair condos made with the product.

Helen Dragas, president and chief executive of The Dragas Cos., told the lawmakers her company is spending about $70,000 on each of its 73 condos in Chesapeake and Virginia Beach built with tainted drywall.

Homeowners have complained that the drywall corrodes electrical systems and makes people ill. The Consumer Product Safety Commission is investigating the complaints and air-quality issues related to the drywall and hopes to release its findings in coming weeks, said Inez Tenenbaum, the commission's head.

Tenenbaum joined Warner and U.S. Reps. Bobby Scott and Glenn Nye as they toured three homes at The Hampshires at Greenbrier in Chesapeake constructed by Dragas.

Warner had urged Tenenbaum to make the trip to Virginia after she toured affected homes in Florida, too.

The first home officials toured Monday at The Hampshires had been vacated by the homeowner but still had the original drywall remaining. A second home had all of its drywall ripped out, exposing wooden studs. A third home toured was completely restored and owner occupied.

Inside the second home, Tenenbaum leaned in close to smell the exposed wooden studs. "The first home we went into had a definite strong smell in it," she said. "These, you do not have the strong smell."

The commission's report will include an analysis of the elements and compounds found in the drywall, as well as results from air-quality tests.

Tenenbaum said the commission, which is spending $3 million to investigate Chinese drywall, will advise Congress on how to handle the issue.

"None of the agencies have the resources to go out and remediate," she said. "So it's going to have to be something passed by Congress."

She said Congress will have to authorize funds and work with federal agencies to devise a national plan to help restore homes built with the drywall.

Tenenbaum commended Dragas for undertaking the process of fixing its homes built with the drywall but stopped short of endorsing the builder's remediation effort. "I'm not going to make any presumptions just on a tour," she said. "We're waiting for the science to inform us of what the issues are."

Dragas is in a dispute in federal court with its insurance company, Builders Mutual Insurance Co., over which company is responsible for paying for the remediation.

The lawmakers also visited a home in Virginia Beach with the drywall and visited with homeowners from across the region who gathered for the tour.

Outside the Virginia Beach home, the lawmakers called on banks and lenders to assist homeowners whose homes were built with the drywall while the product safety commission finishes its tests.

"What we're going to be doing in the meantime is seeing if we can get some forbearance from the mortgage payments being made because these families are having to continue to pay mortgages on homes that are uninhabitable," Warner said. "Some of the families... are going to have to declare bankruptcy."

At least 150,000 sheets of Chinese-made drywall were imported by a local construction supplier. That's enough to build more than 300 homes. The drywall since has been found in housing developments in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Newport News, Chesapeake, Williamsburg and northeastern North Carolina

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