TAMPA, FL — Crews are busy in a South Tampa home, putting the finishing touches on some freshly hung drywall. But this is the second time they’ve finished the same project in the same home.

“The homeowner had been complaining about burning sinuses, burning eyes. We were trying to figure out why. Finally, he had problems with his AC, the AC contractor looked at it and said I bet you have Chinese drywall,” says small business owner Philip Dobson.

Philip Dobson owns Dobson Construction Inc. He originally built the problem home in the spring on 2006. But he says when he hired a sub contractor to hang the drywall, he had no idea he was using drywall imported from China.

“The only thing to do was to remove the drywall and then remediate the copper inside the walls,” Dobson says.

The homeowner moved out. Dobson stripped the home down to the frame replacing not just the drywall, but also all copper wiring, and plumbing, which he says turned to black.

“The smell was the worse part and the AC closet was encased in this so it just brought the air through that,” says homeowner David Black.

Black’s been staying with a friend for the past three months. It’s a big inconvenience, but he says at least he has a solution. “Fortunately my builder was good enough to step up to the plate and take charge. I feel sorry for the people who are in this predicament,” Black says.

Dobson is stepping up, but also digging deep into his pockets. He estimates he’s out $75,000 on the repairs.

“A lot of the problem of this is the cost is so great and the construction industry in such financial hard time right now that the builders can’t afford to do it,” he says.

Dobson says he would like to see some federal disaster relief money made available to the people affected by the tainted drywall. He feels this problem is going to get worse.

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