I was recently in a development in South Ft. Myers doing a Visual Chinese drywall inspection. I was very saddened to discover that this very nice complex was suffering from the effects of the chemicals associated with Chinese drywall. I spent some time there speaking with residents of this development and found out that many of the units were being rented. I talked to one owner that recently moved his tenant out at his expense. He informed me that there were many empty units in the development.

As you can see the development that I did the visual Chinese Drywall Inspection was Avalon Preserve. Feel free to go to my blog at my website at www.mermininspections.comand click on the blog button which will take you to the INSPECTOR’S CORNER. Look for the “From the Inspector” posts and you will find all the previous Chinese Drywall update posts. You will find pictures of the visual evidence found in the unit I inspected in Avalon Preserve.  You will also see all the other corners that are made available for guests to write postings. There is a Realtor’s Corner that I allow Realtors to write interesting posts. Just send a post to me at jacob@mermininspections.comand I will look it over and if it fits into the whole concept of separate corners I would be happy to post it. I am looking for current events of the real estate business that you feel would be of interest to Realtors and sellers and buyers. No listing please, they will not be posted. Be looking of a Jacob Mermin Inspections monthly newsletter. It will cover all types of inspections.

                                                      These pictures are common visual evidence of the effects of the chemicals associated with Chinese drywall. Solid copper ground wires in a electrical outlet changes to black. Chrome plumbing fixtures become black, corroded and pitted. Copper air conditioning lines will turn black as well as the evaporator coil. And you will get blackening on the edges of a bathroom mirror.

I have seen these effects all over SW Florida and it always effects people. I have done these inspections just before a closing and feel very bad because their dream home is no longer a good investment. Every time I have to show my clients this kind of visual evidence they are sad at first and then they shake my hand and thank me for saving them thousands of dollars. When I hear this it makes me feel better and I realize I am doing what I am meant to do. I do full service home inspections that include a Chinese drywall inspection. I tell everyone that I meet no matter what get a home inspection before you commit to purchasing a home.

Jacob Mermin CHI/CMI/EPA Type ll

I was out to the River Hall development near Alva, Fl. again last week. I was asked by one of the residents to do the $99.00 visual inspection that I am advertising on my website and other outlets. My client wanted to know where they stood. This home is a second residence and occupied several times of the year. A second air conditioning evaporator coil was replaced one day before my arrival. I requested that my client ask the air conditioning company to leave the coil so that I could include it in my inspection and investigation. Unfortunately the a/c company said they couldn’t do that as it was to be sent to the manufacturer for warranty. Couldn’t postpone that one day, go figure. I asked if my client could do part of my job by taking pictures of the contaminated evaporator coil before it was taken away.

AIR CONDITIONING

As you can see in this picture the old evaporator coil with it’s blackened copper tubing is in stark contrast to the new shinny copper tubing of the new evaporator coil. This is definate evidence that this home maybe suffering from the effects of the chemicals associated with   Chinese Drywall.

ELECTRICAL

My visual investigation continued by inspecting several electrical outlets and switch plates. As you can see in this picture there is a wire that is connected to a ground screw on the left side of the electrical outlet. I found several electrical outlets that had this blackened copper ground wire.

PLUMBING FIXTURES

All types of plumbing fixtures are a good area to find if there is visual evidence of the effects of the chemicals associate with Chinese Drywall. As you can see with this sink plug it is very corroded and pitted. Stainless steel or chrome are very effected and visual evidence is usually easy to see. Your darker bronze type fixtures are the most difficult to see.

This matching faucet in the same guest bathroom is also effected by the chemicals that are associated with Chinese drywall.

DRYER PLUG

In this close up picture of the home’s dryer electrical plug you can see that the brass elements are just starting to turn black. On several occasions I have seen the brass elements of the common dryer plug become completely black in color with no sign of that shinny copper color. This dryer plug may eventually fail due to Chinese Drywall.

 In this Chinese Drywall update I have given a few examples of the evidence that I have found during my many inspections. There are plenty of other household locations that can be effected by the chemicals associated with Chinese Drywall. These include mirrors, refrigerators, freezers, and main panel electrical breaker boxes that are found inside condominiums instead of the garage. These are usually in the laundry room and can be a major problem if the copper wire is effected.

Again the latest developement is the River Hall community on State Road 80 near Alva, Florida on the way to Labelle. This home was located in the Cascades section of the development. Remember earlier I was asked to inspect on of the model homes now owned by Bank of America. All inquires should be sent to them as they have taken over the responsibility of River Hall when Levitt and Sons went bankrupt.

Bulk drywall testing is available through my company Jacob Mermin Inspections. I use Assured Bio in Oakridge Tn. a nationally certified laboratory with extended experience. You can referr to an earlier post that has a message from the laboratory manager Lyn Pope. I have been instructed by Lyn Pope to take my drywall samples for testing from a wall that has an electrical outlet that has that blackened copper wire. She has told me to take a sample from every wall that has that effected electrical outlet. That many tests may prove to be too costly for the average homeowner. Beware there are inspectors who are not qualified to perform this testing. I recommend that my clients have as many samples done as they can afford. My policy is to give my clients the most for their money and if neccasary spread fewer tests out around the home.

Do not take the builders word for testing. Many builders have claimed that they performed testing in their homes and no Chinese Drywall was used. Ask for the test results. Ask for the visual inspection report. In many cases these builders were taking samples of drywall no where near any evidence of Chinese Drywall. For example, I take drywall samples next to electrical outlets where I found blackened copper ground wires. They do not. They take samples on walls where the electrical outlets showed no evidence of the blackening of copper ground wires. I do not mean that all builders are not being honest about their inspections and testing. I have not heard of very many builders bragging about independent visual inspections and testing. I would count DSD Homes of Lehigh Acres, Fl., Desoto Holdings of Ft. Myers, Fl., and the folks out at the models in the RiverHall development as those companies who want independent inspections and testing.

Final thought. You must find an inspector you can trust. Those concerned will not take your word for anything. You need a Certified Inspector to visually inspect your concerns and produce a report. Also get your Certified Inspector to get your testing done. Don’t take the builder’s word for it. Every attorney that I have talked to wants this report and testing for any type of litigation or class action lawsuit. I would advise you have all your eggs in a basket for them ahead of time. This way you are in control of it and not the lawyers. Remember your homeowner insurance company is also going to want this information. You definitely don’t want to use their inspections and testing.

From the inspector

Jacob Mermin CHI/CMI

www.mermininspections.com

jacob@mermininspections.com

239-243-7322

From Lynn Pope Assured Bio Laboratory Manager.

AssuredBio uses advanced infrared imaging analysis to detect contaminated Chinese drywall.  The technology is Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, or FT-IR.  By measuring the way the molecules in a drywall sample are excited across a spectrum of light, a fingerprint of the sample is created.  Like humans, every fingerprint is unique, but there are distinguishing characteristics that types of drywall have in common.  The contaminated drywall samples have a peak that is not present in uncontaminated samples.  That peak has been traced to sulfide and disulfide compounds and can be seen in the image below. 

This technology is not unique to the Chinese drywall issue.  In fact, is has been used in crime labs and court rooms for over 70 years to detect everything from illicit drugs to counterfeit currency.  The same technology is used to check the purity of all raw materials imported into the EU that will be used in pharmaceuticals. 

Many people wonder why this type of analysis is less expensive than other laboratory analyses available.  This analysis provides superior results while the time, labor, and materials that go into the analysis are far less than other analysis methods.  This allows us to provide a more cost-effective analysis than others on the market with better information. 

Currently, no analysis that can be conducted in-home to determine if there is contaminated Chinese drywall – only a visual inspection to find marked Chinese drywall.  Beware of quick and cheap tests, as they can provide false positives and false negatives.

AssuredBio (http://assuredbio.com) is a premier Indoor Air Quality Lab, specializing in DNA-based mold and bacteria analysis and contaminated Chinese drywall testing.  AssuredBio recommends Jacob Mermin Inspections for all mold and Chinese drywall inspections as a reliable, ethical, and valuable inspector.

Here is a quiz, what do you think this piece of equipment is and what is its common use?

You think about if for awhile and I will give you my latest Chinese drywall update.

I was called by a representative of Bank of America and requested to give them my opinion, actually a second opinion on a model home. As it turns out Bank of America is now responsible for the bankrupt builder Levitt and Sons. I was asked by a very nice young woman to come out to River Hall,a golf club community just before Alva Florida, which is on the way to Labelle. I jumped at the chance because I have been wanting to see this new golf course designed by Davis Love lll.

Apparently an inspector, what kind I don’t know had inspected one of the models for Chinese drywall. This inspector had this device pictured above and apparently it started alerting to the presence of Chinese drywall. This inspector told this Bank of America representative that this device was telling him that there was Chinese drywall in this bathroom. I was told that the air conditioner’s air handler evaporator coils showed evidence of the effects of Chinese drywall. For all of you unfamiliar with these effects the chemicals in Chinese drywall vent gasses that turn copper black, pit and corrode chrome, blacken mirrors and etc, etc, etc. You can read previous From the Inspector posts for further information. Being an EPA Certified Type ll air conditioning technician I am allowed to open up and test air conditioning equipment, also to include using and handling Freon. I found that there was definite visual evidence of the effects of Chinese drywall. I must admit that it was not the most effected air conditioning evaporator coil that I had seen to this point. Nerveless there was evidence of the blackening of the copper tubing in the coil. I then proceeded to the bathroom and removed electrical outlet switch plates to inspect the solid copper ground wire that is connected to the green ground screw. It was not black. I inspected the master bathroom mirror and it was not black. I inspected the water shut off valve under the vanity and saw that it was not black. Now this made me even more curious. How could this inspector’s Chinese drywall sniffer go off as they say alerting him to the gasses venting that are associated with the effects of Chinese drywall.

Now remember the device pictured in this post. Remember I asked you if you knew what its common use was. It is a Freon Leak Detector. This detects Freon leaks; it is used by air conditioning technicians to determine if air conditioning systems are leaking Freon. To be fair similar devices are used to detect natural and propane gas. I brought my Freon leak detector from my truck and showed it to the Bank of America representative and asked her if it looked like mine. She said it did, it was just a different color. I can assure you, the reader, that this inspector did not have a Chinese drywall chemical and gas venting detector. To be fair this leak detector that he had could possibly pick up venting sewer gasses from the toilet.

Here comes the part that really bothers me. He told the Bank of America representative that they would have to pull out a piece of drywall near the floor and send it to a lab. I am also a Certified Mold Inspector and I take mold samples all the time. There are certain protocols that need to be followed. One is that a Chain of Custody Form has to be filled out. COC form lists the sample taken, what they are going to be tested for and the requirements for those tests. This form is then signed in front of the client to show your client that you are taking responsibility for the sample. You are also telling your client what lab you are sending it to. You then explain to your client that the lab technician who is going to work on that sample also signs the COC form showing your client that they have taken responsibility from you and on to themselves. This COC form is given to the client with the results of the testing. According to the Bank of America representative there was no Chain of Custody Form.

Speaking of the testing, this bulk testing that was being done would take about 10 business days and costs on average of $1100.00. In two weeks the representative did not hear anything from this person. I was called in for a second opinion on weather there was any evidence of the effects of Chinese drywall. The original inspector told the representative that the master bathroom would need to be completely gutted and redone. He put her in contact with a contractor that he new and this contractor told her it would be $15,000.00 to do the bathroom. He put her in contact with a contractor that he new and this contractor told her it would be $15,000.00 to do the bathroom. Do I have to repeat it again or do you understand what I mean. As an inspector you claim that there is Chinese drywall gas in a bathroom picked up with a Freon leak detector and recommends that the bathroom be gutted and it will cost $15,000.00 that can be done by someone he recommends.

The only evidence in this model was the black copper tubing inside the evaporator coil in the air conditioner’s air handler located in the garage. The representative asked me how come this is the only evidence. My possible explanation was that since there is a ceiling return, maybe a few sheets of the Chinese drywall were used in the ceiling near the air conditioner’s return grill. I have found many homes where several different brands of drywall were used. This small amount of drywall could have caused the blackening of the copper coils because of it strategic location nears the return in the ceiling. I believe that these gasses over time expel themselves. The chemicals could be still there but no longer expelling the gasses associated with the chemicals in Chinese drywall. The only testing that should have been done is a piece of the drywall near the return grill. This should be done for piece of mind, and good customer relations. Show your clients that you care and you are not hiding anything.

Be careful, there are always bad elements in our society that will try and make easy money off someone’s misfortune. Hire a certified inspector to do a visual inspection first. You can go on from there. Take your time and don’t jump into anything. I believe that unless you have the rotten egg sulfur smell air testing will not show elevated levels of the gasses associated with the effects of Chinese drywall. Stay tuned and remember I value your comments.

Jacob Mermin CHI/CMI

www.mermininspections.com

jacob@mermininspections.com

239-243-7322

As you can see in this picture we have the air conditioners copper line sets. These copper lines connect the inside air handler with the outside condenser. It is very obvious that the effects of Chinese drywall are at work in this home. There is black rubber armor flex insulation covering the larger line. This is the way it should be as it is insulating the copper pipe because it carriers the cold freon. The smaller pipe carriers the hot Freon after it has absorbed the heat from your house. The smaller copper tubing is under high pressure and the corrosion caused by the effects of the Chinese drywall could cause the copper line set to leak and lose Freon.

This is the air handler in question. It is located in a condo in Moody River in North Ft. Myers, Fl. You can see where I tore the black armor flex insulation to take the picture of the copper line sets that were effected by the Chinese drywall in this condo.

It is my opinon that the manufacturers of these air conditioners are not going to continue to honor warranties on these evaporator coils. This is not a manufacturers defect. This is an outside influence on these units. Those out there that have had there evaporator coils replaced under warranty should feel lucky because I do not believe it will be honored in the near future. This unit is made by Lennox, thanks Dave but the new one will just turn black and eventually fail again. My family doctor in Cape Coral, Fl. has had 9 new coils installed in the last 2 years. The warranty doesn’t cover labor, so the home owner is responsible for the $400 to $800 dollars the average company charges to replace these coils under warranty. Labor is usually only for the first year after install unless a extended labor warranty is purchased. There are companies out there that are misleading customers about warranties. You may have been told that you have a 10 year warranty on the coils and parts. Unless you have paper work from the manufacturer that says you have a ten year warranty you may not. It may be one of those as long as I am in business warranties that is provided by the air conditioning contractor. Basically it may be worthless.

If you are purchasing a home that was manufactured between 2004 and 2007 you should get a Chinese drywall visual inspection. I charge $99.00. If you are buying a home you should get a home inspection. My home inspections includes a InterNachi certified home inspection, MICRO certified mold inspection, AIRE certified air quality inspection, EPA certified type ll air conditioning technician’s inspection, and now it also includes a Chinese Drywall visual inspection. Call and ask for detail on what I look for and inspect for the effects of Chinese drywall. Every time I see with my own eyes the effects of Chinese Drywall I am going to report it to all my potential clients. I am going to take pictures of it and put it in this blog. I will keep doing this until there is no more to report on. I will post another Chinese Drywall Update in the Inspector’s Corner as soon as I can take the pictures.

The Inspector

Jacob Mermin CHI/CMI

www.mermininspections.com

jacob@mermininspections.com

239-243-7322

Along with being a InterNachi certified home inspector  your guy on the corner is also an EPA certified type ll air conditioning technician. This means I am allowed to open up your air conditioner to check if your coil has acquired that very distinctive flat black color. I think it is a good idea to move slowly. Remember knowledge is power. It’s best to collect information and make an informed decision. I am not one to tell people what to do. I do tell people do not buy an home without a home and mold inspection. Just to recap, my home inspection also comes with a mold, air quality, air conditioning, and now a Chinese Drywall inspection. Because I am certified in all these specialties you don’t have to go anywhere else. I do everything. One stop shop. I don’t like to tell people what to do, but I would never buy a house that someone showed me copper evaporator coils and copper wiring that has turned black.

Black evaporator coil (disregard date)

I think we all know what copper looks like. Air conditioning coils have that new penny copper look. Once they start to get older there will be some corrosion and some greening of the coils.  As you can see from the picture there is some copper shinning through on one of the upper loops of the tubing. The reason that this is a problem is that this corrosion causes leaks in the copper tubing and freon is escaping thus no cooling in that SW. Florida home. This is an actual evaporator coil that I came accross in a community in Estero Florida  in March. If you are considering purchasing a home in SW. Florida that was built from 2004 through 2007 call me for a Chinese Drywall Inspection.

The Inspector says: “All my real estate freinds tell me and I agree, the SW. Florida real estate market is awsome.” There are plenty of homes and great prices why buy one that may have a Chinese Drywall problem.

Jacob Mermin CHI/CMI

www.mermininspections. com

jacob@mermininspections.com

239-243-7322