Chinese Drywall Trouble Went Unreported

An East Coast homebuilder knew about problems associated with tainted drywall from China two years before the issue erupted on a national level, reports ProPublica. Instead of alerting authorities, the parties involved—including the construction company, the Chinese manufacturer, and the US distributor—dealt with the problems like foul odors and corroded wiring on a case-by-case and low-key level, mostly in Florida. By the time the problem came to light on a wider scale, it affected homes in 37 states.

The companies involved are now entangled in lawsuits over their levels of culpability in the fiasco—including some with homeowners angry over a potentially huge remodeling bill. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued guidelines that suggest that homeowners remove the tainted drywall and all the wiring in the house—effectively gutting the home at an estimated cost of $100,000.
(More Chinese drywall stories.)