Knauf Plasterboard

Knauf plasterboard is another name for Chinese drywall.  Also known as toxic drywall or Chinese sheet rock, Knauf plasterboard causes a host of issues.

Origin of Knauf Plasterboard

Knuaf plasterboard is name after the company that manufactures the defective drywall.  Knauf is a drywall manufacturer in China that exported enough Knauf plasterboard to build 100,000 homes.  This plasterboard appears to be centered around the coastal ports into which it arrived.  Many of the cases of Knauf plasterboard are located in Florida, around the port of Miami.  Other concentrations are in Virginia Beach and the Gulf Coast of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana.  The Gulf coast area appears to have been a two-fold victim.  The hurricanes that caused dramatic destruction throughout the region also caused a shortage of building materials.  In order to repair buildings that had been damaged, Knauf plasterboard was imported to replace domestic drywall that was in short supply.  The building supply shortages were witnessed throughout the country and Chinese drywall has been reported in more than 40 states.  The majority of the cases involve homes built between 2001 and 2008.

Problems with Knauf Plasterboard

Knauf plasterboard is among a group of defective drywall brands.  Although there are several other brands that are also defective, Knauf is the most well known and, likely, the largest.  Chinese drywall was installed in many homes as part of the new construction process and in others as part of renovations or repairs.  Regardless of the nature of the use of Knauf plasterboard, the concerns are the same.  

The drywall emits a number of compounds that combine with elements of normal indoor air to create dangerous and destructive gases.  These gases cause severe corrosion throughout the building, affecting copper wiring, air condition units, electronics, appliances, and jewelry.  Although the relationship between Chinese drywall and property damage has been confirmed by the government agencies responsible for the investigation, Knauf plasterboard has only been anecdotally linked to adverse health consequences.  

The gases created are recognized by the government agencies OSHA and NIOSH as hazardous to human health, but the exposure concentration and durations are under debate.  The concentration levels found in the average home that is affected by Knauf plasterboard are much lower than the acceptable levels as determined by these agencies.  That being said, the exposure duration (time) set by OSHA and NIOSH is measure in minutes whereas the exposure duration of those who live in a home built with Knauf plasterboard is measured in months and weeks.  Further, the effects of these gases on human health were studied on adults.  The effect on children and infants is unknown.

Identifying Knauf Plasterboard

Identifying Knauf plasterboard is relatively easy if the rear of the drywall boards are visible.  The manufacturer name “Knauf” is typically stamped across the back.  In reality, drywall is typically not installed such that the rear of the drywall is visible.  Further complicating the issue is that the majority of the homes that have reported Chinese drywall problems have been discovered to be built with several brands of drywall.  Identifying that the drywall in the dining room is not Knauf plasterboard does not necessarily mean that the rest of the home does not contain defective drywall.  
Several different methods of Chinese drywall inspection have been developed.  They range from basic visual inspections to comprehensive material testing.  The basic visual inspections for Knauf plasterboard involve identifying symptoms associated with Chinese drywall.  Corroded copper electric wire and corroded AC coils are the most prominent and obvious symptoms.  Some visual inspectors will look for the Knauf branding stamp on the drywall in the attic.  While some reports seem to indicate that Knauf did not manufacture plasterboard in a thickness that could be hung on ceilings, those reports have not been substantiated.  

Other drywall inspections rely on non-invasive material testing.  Typically, these inspections utilize XRF (X-ray) technology to analyze drywall for strontium.  While XRF is largely accepted as one of the reliable technologies for identifying Knauf plasterboard, it should not be used as a single mode testing technology.  Further, XRF should not be used in non-invasive testing.  The most recent guidance from the CPSC recommends utilizing XRF to analyze core samples of drywall and not to analyze through the face of the drywall.  

The CPSC also recommends utilizing a second technology to identify Knauf plasterboard.  The second technology, FTIR, utilizes infrared light to analyze sample material for calcium carbonate.  Similar to XRF, FTIR should be used on core samples, not through the face of the drywall.