Chinese Drywall and Your Central Air

If your home or addition was built around 2004-2006, you mave have Chinese drywall.

At the height of the U.S. housing boom, when building materials were in short supply, American construction companies used millions of pounds of Chinese-made drywall because it was abundant and cheap.

Now that decision is haunting hundreds of homeowners and apartment dwellers who are concerned that the wallboard gives off fumes that can corrode copper pipes, blacken jewelry and silverware, and possibly sicken people.

Shipping records reviewed by The Associated Press indicate that imports of potentially tainted Chinese building materials exceeded 500 million pounds during a four-year period of soaring home prices. The drywall may have been used in more than 100,000 homes, according to some estimates, including houses rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina.

Bad Chinese drywall can harm your central air conditioning.

The wallboard is being blamed for corrosion of metal components. Air-conditioning evaporator coils, which typically last a decade or more, are corroding and failing in homes only a couple of years old. Pipes and wiring also may be deteriorating.

Integrity Air can replace a corroded coil. However, if your coil has failed while it is relatively new, you may want to find out the origins of your drywall.