10/23/2009 Chinese drywall drives Boynton Beach family from home

For two years, the stately house on Cobblestone Creek Drive was home to Paul Sirota, his wife Alli and their children.

But the five-bedroom, four-bath house west of Boynton Beach is no longer a home. It stopped being one the day the Sirotas discovered it was built using defective Chinese drywall.

According to some estimates, as many as 100,000 homes nationwide may contain tainted Chinese drywall. Many communities in Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast have said they are affected.

Certain Chinese-made wallboard installed in thousands of Florida homes between 2000 and 2008 has been found to emit sulfuric odors and gases responsible for corroding electrical wiring, air-conditioning components, bathroom fixtures such as toilet handles and even jewelry.

On Thursday, the Sirotas opened their property to court-ordered inspectors who are helping set a protocol for homes with defective drywall.

U.S. District Judge Eldon E. Fallon in New Orleans is overseeing federal class-action lawsuits against drywall manufacturers, distributors, home builders and installers. He ordered the inspections.

Thirty homes nationwide are being examined by Atlanta-based Crawford & Co.

Some drywall imported from China between 2000 and 2008 gives off a sulfuric odor and corrodes such metal components as electrical wiring and air-conditioning coils. It has been linked to appliance failure and is blamed by a growing number of homeowners for headaches, nosebleeds and respiratory infections.