By Paul Owers, Sun Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Jun. 14--Kent Burkman and Rosie Puello-Burkman and their two kids live in a rental house in Boca Raton while their two-story dream home 20 miles away is stripped to the bare slats to remedy a homeowner's horror: defective Chinese drywall.
Their builder, GL Homes, is fixing their house and at least two dozen others in the 500-home Canyon Isles development off Lyons Road west of Boynton Beach. For that, the Burkmans consider themselves fortunate. But they worry. They don't know when the house will be finished. They don't know whether the home they bought for $890,882 in late 2006 will be safe and structurally sound. And they don't know whether their once-pristine neighborhood will ever be the same.
"Our family has been turned upside down," Kent Burkman said. "It's horrible to think that it's no longer your home, it's your problem."
After hurricanes, foreclosures and dizzying price declines, contaminated drywall from China is the latest hardship facing homeowners. Not all Chinese drywall is bad, but as many as 36,000 homes in Florida and 100,000 nationwide may contain defective wallboard, which can give off a sulfurous "rotten egg" odor, tarnish metals and ruin appliances and electronics by corroding pipes and wires.
Complaints in Broward and Palm Beach counties generally have come from Parkland, Pompano Beach, Davie and communities west of Delray Beach and Boynton Beach. But local officials fear the problem is more widespread. Scores of bank-owned houses and condominiums may have the defective drywall and the lenders don't know it because no one lives in the homes.
Homeowners insist the drywall is making them sick, causing nosebleeds, headaches, sore throats and respiratory issues. State and federal agencies have yet to determine whether the wallboard poses a health threat. The Florida Department of Health is waiting for results after testing the air quality of a house in Parkland last week.
Most complaints involve homes built from 2002 to 2006 during the housing boom that caused a shortage of materials. Builders then began using imports. Homes rebuilt after the busy 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons also are at risk for the defective drywall.
Some homeowners are filing suits, accusing builders and Chinese drywall manufacturers of running from the problem. Others are moving out of the homes and don't know when or if they'll be fixed.
Parkland resident Holly Krulik moved her family of four in with her parents in April after she discovered her house in Heron Bay had defective Chinese drywall.
"I'm lucky I have parents here," she said. "Many of my neighbors don't have the financial means to seek a rental."
Her builder, WCI Communities Inc., has yet to fix the house, and she realizes it could be months or years before WCI steps up. If ever.
A spokeswoman for WCI did not return calls last week. The builder has said it is responding to complaints by inspecting homes but is limited in what it can do to solve the problem because it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
The Burkmans say they're grateful GL is working with them and paying for their rental home, but they're still concerned because there are no uniform standards for fixing a home that has the defective wallboard.
"They're learning as they go and concluding what needs to be done," Kent Burkman, 44, said of GL. "There's no certification that their process is complete and correct."
GL Homes executives declined to be interviewed. In a statement, the Sunrise-based builder said workers installed Chinese drywall in a "limited number" of homes between February and November 2006.
GL said it has hired independent experts to ensure the homes are being repaired correctly. The builder said it has exceeded the experts' recommendations and is giving one-year warranties against defects in materials and workmanship. The company did not say who the experts are or how it is going beyond their recommendations. After discovering the Chinese drywall in the Burkmans' home in April, GL said it planned to rip out all the drywall, insulation, air-conditioning duct work and the copper plumbing. Essentially, the home would be stripped to its bones.
The Burkmans said GL gave them $3,000 a month to move to temporary quarters. The couple moved out of their house May 1 and signed a four-month lease for the rental. The company didn't say what will happen after that.
The builder said the Burkmans would be back in their home in eight to 16 weeks. But they aren't counting on it.
"We'll be amazed if we're back in by Christmas," said Rosie Puello-Burkman, 42, a marketing vice president for JM Family Enterprises in Deerfield Beach.
They said they took days off from work and spent several hundred dollars to pack and move into the rental house that's half the size of their Canyon Isles home. Everything they left behind was put into storage at GL's expense.
The Burkmans are trying to limit the strain on their 9-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter, telling them simply that their house is being renovated.
Kent Burkman, a real estate agent, stops by the house each day to check on the progress. The family is still responsible for mowing the yard and paying the quarterly homeowner association fees of $924.
The couple hasn't had any luck getting their lender to suspend mortgage payments while they're out of the house. They declined to say what their monthly mortgage payment is.
The Burkmans insist they won't walk away from the home because they have too much invested in it. But they can see why homeowners without equity would choose to hand the keys back to the bank.
Their gated development looks like a construction site. Huge Dumpsters and portable toilets sit in the front yards of the houses with the defective drywall. Passers-by can see from the streets the exposed framework.
In response to mounting drywall complaints, the Florida Association of Realtors has added an optional disclosure form for sellers of homes built during the past few years. The Consumer Product Safety Commission advises prospective home buyers to inspect exposed drywall.
At a recent drywall litigation conference in Orlando, scientists, government officials, lawyers and property insurers agreed there are more questions than answers. And real estate agents say it's unclear what effect the drywall will have on the beleaguered housing market.
"It's just too new," said Marla Martin, a spokeswoman for the state Realtors' group. "But if you're a buyer, this has to be on your radar."
Kent Burkman said he's not aware of any Canyon Isles homes selling since the drywall was discovered. He said he doesn't blame buyers for staying away.
The Burkmans get by as best they can, all the while wondering: Will their home regain its value? Will Canyon Isles overcome the stigma? Will they ever get to resume the lifestyle they chose when they bought there?
"I'd like to say we'll get all that back," Kent Burkman said. "But at this point, you have to ask, 'How?'"
Paul Owers can be reached at Powers@SunSentinel.com or 561-243-6529.
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