Here we go again. Unfortunately I have found another development in South West Florida that I found visual evidence of the effects of Chinese drywall. A colleague of mine requested that I visually inspect a Lennox air handler manufactured in 2006. Since I am a EPA Certified Type ll air conditioning technician as well as a certified home and mold inspector he asked me to open up the air handler to see if we had any visual evidence of the effects of Chinese Drywall. Well it is official. The condo in the picture is located in the Moody River development in North Ft. Myers, Fl. As you can see in these pictures the copper of the evaporator coil has gone from shinny copper to flat black in color. There were other items that I saw myself in this condo that I did not get pictures of since I was only responsible for the air conditioner. I have had a dilemma  about if I should report the names of the developments that have this visual evidence of the effects of Chinese drywall. I decided that as a InterNachi certified home inspector it is my responsibility to report what and where I see it. I do not feel I should give the exact address or the homeowners name. I feel if they want to let the world know what they are experiencing that is up to them. 
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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
239-243-7322
