Chinese Drywall—Does Statute of Limitations Apply?

Pahrump, NVSusan hasn't yet determined if her home is contaminated with Chinese drywall and now she is up against another wall: A lawyer told her the statute of limitations in Nevada had changed from two years to one year.

"Our house took a few years to build and it was completed in 2007," says Susan (name withheld). "Since that time my son and I have suffered from umpteen nose bleeds (I had another nosebleed this morning just from blowing my nose and my son had one yesterday) but I always thought they were due to the dry weather. Then I found some information about Chinese drywall on your website and wondered if these symptoms had anything to do with my house?

At this point I don't know whether it has contaminated drywall. I haven't contacted anyone yet; I am not really on speaking terms with the builders because a lot of finishing that needed to be done was put off when my husband passed away. When I finally asked the builders to finish the work they just brushed me off so it soured our relationship. I think my next step is to get a home inspector in but I'm thinking that I need a specialist, someone who knows about Chinese drywall.

Maybe there is an inspector in Florida or Louisiana I can call who is licensed to inspect in other states, or if they know of someone in Nevada. I don't even know if there are any houses affected in my state.

I have a legal service with the company I retired from that I'm considering calling to see if they have a lawyer on a retainer; perhaps the statute of limitations doesn't apply to Chinese drywall…"

In the meantime, Susan should check electrical outlets and the air conditioning unit for signs of corrosion and look inside the attic for a manufacturer's name on the top of the drywall. Of course that may not be easy too find, short of ripping out the drywall.

One blogger suggests an easier solution: "Measure up about 49" above the floor, that should be the horizontal joint between the sheets, cut out a peice about 6" above and 6" below that height, for about 4 feet, that should give enough edge to find the name… Repairing drywall is cheap and easy, and if the piece comes out in one piece as it should, that same piece can be put back in and patched around. Of course, if it is Chinese drywall, put it back in temporarily, but why patch it? All of the drywall may end up getting ripped out anyway."

Something else to take into consideration: your home may have been built with more than one "type" of drywall and it only takes a few sheets of contaminated drywall to start corroding pipes and metal and possibly cause health problems such as respiratory symptoms (nose bleeds?)

And one more thing: you may want to contact a lawyer sooner than later...