With more than 3000 homes involved in some form of litigation over Chinese Drywall, engineers of all sorts are being called upon to investigate the infected properties and report on its conclusions.

The Chinese Drywall problem, however, presents a lot of practical and scientific challenges.   As engineers scratch the surface of these claims, they find more and more questions about the drywall and its damages.

Scott Wolfe has presented to the Louisiana Engineering Society and the American Society of Civil Engineers on precisely these questions, and specifically to answer this question:  What Are You Looking For?

Scott’s presentation breaks down the search into three categories:

(1)  Is it There?    This is the most basic question posed to engineers; simply determining whether the home does or does not have contaminated drywall.

(2)  How Deep Are The Damages?   This question inquires as to just how deep into the home the damages go.   Does it affect the wiring?  Does it affect the building studs?  Not only does this have relevance to the next category of inquiry, but is also has relevance to determine who is liable for the losses.   A prime example of how this affects liability concerns builders and the New Home Warranty Act.  If the damages go so deep as to create a structural defect, the NHWA will have broader applicability.

(3)  What Type of Damages and How To Remediate.  The final question requires determination of how to fix the problems, and to identify what type of damages the problem caused.

Here is the Keynote presentation used during these talks, brought to you by SlideShare: