Is sheetrock still questionable, regarding Chinese formaldehyde, or is "today's" sheetrock still questionable?
Is there a USA manufacturer, for safe sheetrock?
Sonny
Is sheetrock still questionable, regarding Chinese formaldehyde, or is "today's" sheetrock still questionable?
Is there a USA manufacturer, for safe sheetrock?
Sonny
I have never heard of drywall having formaldehyde in it. This is usually associated with glues or resins.
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Is sheetrock still questionable, regarding Chinese formaldehyde, or is "today's" sheetrock still questionable?
Is there a USA manufacturer, for safe sheetrock?
Sonny
It does not have formaldehyde in it. The sheet rock is manufactured using fly ash which is a waste product of coal burnt in power plants. It emits hydrogen sulfide gas and has the faint odor of rotting eggs.
There are some US makers, but they have closed a plant or two because of the building decline.
Unless you're buying from a small, local dealer who has an inventory that has been sitting there for three or more year, I seriously doubt that you are going to have a problem in 2011 with the problem Chinese product of a few years back.
Buy from the Borgs in your area, particularly if you stick with a national chain like Home Depot, Lowes, etc., and you should be just fine.
Actually, I wasn't thinking, last night, when I posted the query. I recall thinking something wasn't right, in that, I was aware it was the Chinese plywood that had issues with formaldehyde (FEMA trailers especially, post-Katrina), not sheetrock. Anyway.....
My post was on behalf of a lady in a gardening chat room, I visit. She is in the Corpus Christi, Tx area and is having some remodeling work done. She stated her contractor told her there was no problem with sheetrock, but she didn't know any better.... if it was sheetrock (or something else) that had issues concerning formaldehyde. Her not knowing any better, she mentioned her concern in the chat room and I told her I would ask, here, to make sure. I gave her the link to here, so she may pop in for commenting. Her name is Jan. I'm sure your comments will be a relief for her. Thanks.
Other chat room members were interested in the facts, also.
Sonny
There are a number of US plywood sheet goods manufacturers with either "no formaldehyde" or ""no formaldehyde added" products.
Columbia Forrest Products plywood, which is usually available Home Depot, is made here in the US with a formaldehyde free glue, so should be something that is easy to find.
Probably worse than plywood with formaldehyde content is MDF.
Temple-Inland, among others, makes a formaldehyde free MDF product which you can usually find at better lumber yards, plywood dealers.
With the emphasis on green building these days, there are a lot more of these products than there used to be. As a builder I've had to stay up on what is available as it is a question I get asked ten times a day.
Sonny -
The problem was that the Chinese mixed fly ash and the limestone from the fluidized bed of their coal fired power plants. Most Gypsum used today is a by-product of a coal fired power plant and if it is done correctly (regulations in the US and quality control at US plants mean that 99% of the time it is here) there is no harmful chemicals in the wall board. In the case of the Chinese Wallboard, the wallboard manufacturers had a lack of raw material, so scooped up anything that was a waste product of the plant. That included fly ash that had a large amount of sulphur compounds in it. The wallboard leached sulfuric acid and sulfur dioxide (stank and eroded fasteners, etc).
China now has a quality control process in place and has segregated the waste products.
Domitar and others make wallboard in the USA and Canada. Lowe's and others have Greenboard and paperless board that pretty much all is made in the USA or Canada. If you are willing to go a grade above the plain old wallboard, you can normally find on the edge tape a "Made In xxx" label on the edge tape that holds two sheets together.
I think you were confusing two different things: plywood (Chinese or otherwise) that was outgassing formaldehyde, and Chinese drywall that was outgassing hydrogen sulfide.
Yeah, I was confused, because I didn't know the appropriate facts about sheetrock or plywood. I couldn't answer Jan's concern because I didn't know. That's why I came here, to get some facts, rather than relying on my own speculations (based more on news reports post- Katrina, than any actual knowledge). I didn't even remember the news reports correctly, as to whether it was sheetrock or plywood that had the formaldehyde issue.
Jan is having sheetrock work done and she mentioned formaldehyde. I didn't know, any better, to catch the error. I suppose/suspect Jan's contractor caught her faux pas, just as readily as you all caught mine, and that he is taking good care of her remodeling.
Sonny
By the way, Sheetrock is a trademarked name for gypsum wallboard panels. USG Corp makes Sheetrock but other companies make gypsum wallboard as well.
Max
FWIW, I DO REMEMBER hearing on the news of houses being built with drywall imported from Asia that contained Formaldehyde. The memory crossed my mind too when I bought drywall last year. Of course, I don't know whether a typical news reporter can be relied on to know the difference between Hydrogen Sulfide and Formaldehyde, but I'm no less concerned about one than the other.
Bill
Are you sure the reporter didn't call it a "high-powered assault weapon"?
USG "SHEETROCK" brand drywall is still made in the US of A and is the only one i would ever consider using. Blue and red end stripes.
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