Finding American-made Drywall

At a home inspection yesterday on a brand-new house, my client was buying a home built by one of the companies that has installed Chinese drywall in the past.

They are having obvious problems because of that installation.

My client wanted assurance that there was no Chinese drywall in this house.

So, I tried to make him aware that in Virginia we got very little Chinese drywall, and that mostly in the Virginia Beach, Newport News areas. But we should look around nonetheless. There was none reported in Gainesville VA where this house was located.

I was able to find a spot where the stamps were visible to show that this drywall, in fact, was American made!

While I cannot guarantee that there is no Chinese drywall in the house, it is a pretty good bet that there is none! This builder likely wouldn't open that can of worms again, a scant couple of years later. Especially since it's in the news.

Although Chinese drywall is showing up in more and more states and locations, it should be checked for. See my other links regarding Chinese-made drywall on the left navigation of my website under Jay Markanich's blogs.

My recommendation: if you have concerns when buying or selling a house built any time from 2004 on that there may be Chinese-made drywall, have your inspector try to find the stamps on the backside that demonstrate where it had been manufactured. Peace of mind is worth a million bucks... and a picture says a thousand words.

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Comments

Jay, is it true that some

jay | Mon, 02/15/2010 - 11:46

Jay, is it true that some American drywall has the same problems as the Chinese stuff?

Julianne B.

Julianne - there are new

jay | Mon, 03/22/2010 - 10:47

Julianne - there are new reports that one U.S. manufacturer is experiencing similar problems, and that their product is 1/2 cellulose. The manufacturer disagrees with both of these issues brought up in the news reporting. It is probable that this American manufacturer is NOT experiencing such problems because they do not use the same materials in the production of their drywall as the Chinese.

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Jay performs inspections Monday through Saturday, throughout Northern Virginia, from his office in Bristow to Leesburg and Centreville, to Great Falls and Vienna and everywhere in between!

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