Here is a quick report on what I have seen this week. I have done 8 of my Chinese Drywall Inspections this week. Out in Lehigh I did five inspections for a great builder by the name of DSD homes. A young man who is the superintendent for this company took me around Lehigh Acres Fl. on Monday and Tuesday to inspect five houses they were about to purchase. I have done home inspections for clients that were in the process of buying homes from DSD homes. I am very pleased to recommend to one and all if you are looking for a reasonably priced home in Lee county don’t hesitate to call DSD homes. The great thing about the young superintendent, Brian Saud is that as I am doing an inspection for one of their possible home buyers he is going around marking items with blue tape for repair. I have never seen in my 20 years in the field a company who was more professional or showed so much concern for their customers. Make sure you ask DSD homes to let you work with Brian Saud.
So back to the Chinese Drywall Report. There was no evidence of any Chinese Drywall in the 5 homes I inspected for DSD homes earlier this week. I inspected 3 Town Homes in the Meadows in Estero, Fl. which is near Pelican Sound off of U.S. 41 in south Lee County. All three had evidence of Chinese Drywall. They all had black copper evaporator coils in the air handlers. The picture in my $99.00 Chinese Drywall inspection is from that developement. I also found evidence of the effects of Chinese Drywall in the Rookery in Estero, Fl. The evaporator coil had been replaced in November and did not show any evidence. I found that most of the copper ground wire in the electrical outlets and light switches had turned black.
Today April first I was in the Hamton Park Neigborhood of Gateway in East Ft. Myers. I inspected two homes in that developement and I found that both had black evaporator coils and black copper ground wires in the electrical outlets and light switches. I also found several mirrors corroded along with plumbing fixtures. One of my clients has a silver plated bowl that has completley turned black. Now I did not want to find these examples of the possible effects of Chinese Drywall and I recommended that they have some lab testing done.
These inspections that I do are strickley visual in nature and the only way to be 100% shure is to have lab testing done. A coleague and I are developing a more affordable test for the average homeowner. This is coming and we should have more information on this in the blog in the next couple of weeks. As soon as we have the particulars especially the pricing I will post it to this blog. In the mean time if you feel you may have the effects of possible Chinese Drywall the first step is to have a visual inspection by a qualified inspector. I am a InterNachi certfiied home inspector, MICRO certfiied mold inspector,and  a AIRE certified indoor air quality inspector. But most of all I am a EPA certified Type ll air conditioning technician and inspector. This means I can open up the air conditioner and inspect the evaporator coil for signs of the effects of Chinese Drywall. Feel free to call me at 239=243-7322 for a free phone consultation or to make an appoitment for a Chinese Drywall Inspection.
Jacob Mermin CHI/CMI
Jacob Mermin Inspections
239-243-7322
Have you found any evidence of Chinese drywall in Lehigh ACres, FL.?
I should email you about this.
Greetings John,
Yes unfortunately I have found several homes in Lehigh Acres, Fl. that during one of my Visual Chinese Drywall Inspections I have seen evidence of the possible effects of Chinese Drywall. I will tell you the same thing I tell all of my clients. This is a visual inspection. To be 100% sure, lab testing of a bulk sample of the suspected drywall would have to be done. This testing is expensive and usally takes about two weeks for results. In regards to Lehigh Acres, Fl. There is a builder out there that has given me a glimmer of hope. DSD HOMES http://www.DSDHomes.net has hired me to visually inspect for Chinese Drywall any home that they are considiering purchasing. DSD Homes is purchasing bank owned properties, and foreclosures and turning them into show places. Before they purchase this home for resale to the public they have me go to the home and do a Visual Chinese Drywall Inspection. I check for any evidence of the effects of Chinese Drywall on this home. Only after I give these homes a thumbs up will they proceed to purchase this home for resale to the public. I believe in this builder. They also have the best construction superintendent that I have ever worked with in the 22 years I have been doing this type of work. I have done several full real estate home inspections for clients who were purchasing these homes. Brian Soud the superintendent I spoke of, walks through the inspection with my client marking everything I tell him he needed to repair or replace. I highly recommend that anyone who is looking for a home in Lehigh Acres, Fl. contact DSD Homes, 239-369-9122. You don’t need to mention that I told you to call them to get great service. They treat everyone the same, with respect and professionalism.
Thanks Again,
From The Inspector
Jacob Mermin CHI/CMI
http://www.mermininspections.com
jacob@mermininspections.com
239-243-7322