Houston, Texas-based Integrated Mortgage Solutions (IMS), a provider of property preservation and rehabilitation services to mortgage lenders and servicers, will offer a new remediation process for Chinese drywall, which releases dangerous sulfur compounds into the air, particularly in warm, moist environments.

According to IMS, Chinese drywall was used in the rebuilding efforts of storm-ravaged coastal communities for years due to the inability of domestic suppliers to meet growing demand.

The material, which was used in homes and businesses throughout the Gulf Coast region after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, endangers health and damages structures, often making them uninhabitable.

“It is a problem of staggering proportions,” said Cheryl Lang, president and CEO of IMS. “There are millions of the defective drywall panels in homes and businesses, and its

effects are so corrosive that it destroys air conditioning and electrical systems by chemically attacking copper components, including pipes.”

IMS’ remediation process does not require the complete removal of existing wallboard. The on-location, “in-situ” process is completed in as little as one-third the time of traditional methods and reduces overall costs by up to 50 percent, according to the company.

IMS uses a water-based, non-toxic biochemical approach, which is warranted for three years against recurrence of odor and corrosion. It was tested successfully for more than two and a half years.

The process uses a patented technology developed by Sandia National Laboratories for the U.S. Department of Energy and National Security Administration for their Chemical and Biological National Security Program (CBNSP).

The biochemical product is applied in spray form to the front of the defective drywall and the inward side by drilling holes and filling wall cavities with a foam version of the formula. Living areas are fogged with the product. Affected hardware is replaced during the process.

“For a good-sized family home, the old method can cost up to $100,000 and take 10 weeks or more,” Lang said. “The new method for the same home would be roughly $60,000 and take three weeks or less. It represents a great leap for REO managers tasked with restoring and remarketing properties quickly as well as investors desperate to recover value.”