Wellington Couple Joins Large Chinese Drywall Suit In Effort To Reclaim Their Dream Home By Julie Unger
Jason and Christine Borowski thought they had found their dream home when they moved to Wellington in 2008 from New York with their young daughter. Instead, two years later, they discovered that they had bought into a nightmare. The house was beautiful. It fit their needs perfectly, creating a post-work oasis where they could unwind after a long day and enjoy family time. That is, until strange things started happening. “The air-conditioning units — we have two of them in the house — it just seemed that every year, one of them would just break,” Jason recalled. “It just didn’t seem right.” They kept asking their neighbors, Christine said, before they began researching online and discovered that they were experiencing many of the
same house symptoms associated with defective Chinese drywall. Eli Thomasevich, owner of Thomasevich Construction, said that common indicators of a home compromised with Chinese drywall include ground wires within receptacles, outlets and switches looking black and not like copper, and a distinct sulfur odor. “For instance, a coil in your AC handler, the average lifespan should be eight to 10 years,” Eli explained. “If your house has Chinese drywall, you can find yourself replacing it every year.”
In some cases, the house smells strongly of rotten eggs, but some houses have a nearly undetectable smell. There are companies that will come out and check for Chinese drywall, and the Borowskis were referred to a company called Chinese Drywall Screening. “As soon as he walked into the house, he said, ‘I smell it. But now I have to find it,’” Christine recalled. “They came in, started checking the wires and said, ‘Yes, you have it. Every room; every wall.’” Warned by friends that they were breathing in toxic fumes, leaving the home they loved was a devastating experience. “Worry. What do we do? Confusion. Do we walk away? It was very tough,” Christine said, because they couldn’t do
Initial demolition begins on the kitchen and living areas. PHOTOS COURTESY JASON AND CHRISTINE BOROWSKI
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may 2015 | wellington the magazine