Editorial: Builders face drywall issues
Big questions remain about how much damage the sulphur-emitting dry wall actually caused to air conditioners, refrigerators and even home wiring, and whether there was a threat to human health. Builders are already hard-pressed in the current slump. But this dry wall business has the potential of becoming a class-action litigation nightmare. Better to tackle the matter up front, using insurance, special funds, whatever, to satisfy customers once there's a reasonable handle on the issue, than to let lawyers fight it out in court.
Editorial: Builders face drywall issues
This is going to be difficult and expensive to sort out, but the responsible parties must make good on whatever mistake was made, proportionate to the harm done.
Big questions remain about how much damage the sulphur-emitting dry wall actually caused to air conditioners, refrigerators and even home wiring, and whether there was a threat to human health.
Builders are already hard-pressed in the current slump. But this dry wall business has the potential of becoming a class-action litigation nightmare. Better to tackle the matter up front, using insurance, special funds, whatever, to satisfy customers once there's a reasonable handle on the issue, than to let lawyers fight it out in court.
Lennar Homes, which has gotten complaints from residents in the Bella Terra condominium, sounds like it is among the builders confronting the issue head on.
The company's Southwest Florida Division president, Darin McMurray, said in a statement, "... independent subcontractors installed Chinese drywall in a very small percentage of Lennar homes built between November 2005 and November 2006. ... Scientific testing shows no indication of any health risks to our homeowners. Lennar has been working with our homeowners on long-term solutions based on the specific testing of their homes."
Aubuchon Homes has relocated one family in Fort Myers while determining whether problems are drywall-related. Engle Homes twice fixed problems by taking out the drywall or sealing it with paint.
That's a good start. If homeowners and builders can work together honestly, avoid panic and repair proven problems, maybe this problem can be addressed without enriching the lawyers.
But the problem has to be faced, whatever its dimensions, and any harmed parties made whole.
http://www.news-press.com/article/20081224/OPINION/812240351/1015
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