We know all about how homes were built during the boom using shaky financing and half-trained sub-contractors. But now they're telling us all is not right with the actual guts of the homes. From a story in southwest Florida:

Chinese drywall installed in houses in Lee County and elsewhere may be causing a wave of air conditioning failures and health problems.

The story seems lightly sourced, as if the reporter got a hot tip that didn't really pan out. I received the same tip a couple months ago - that Chinese drywall was crumbling prematurely in some newer Tampa area houses - but couldn't get anyone to confirm it.

The complaint is at least plausible. I had my roof re-tiled after the hurricanes of 2004 and within weeks noticed rusty red streaks running across a small section of the roof.

The apologetic roofer confirmed that we'd gotten a bad batch of tile adulterated with Chinese grit containing too much iron. He replaced the bad tiles free of charge under warranty from Owens-Corning.

Anyone who's bought assemble-at-home furniture or toys imported from China has probably had the same quality control complaints I've had: Missing hardware, ineptly drilled guide holes, damaged finishes, non-working parts.

Is it too big a leap to imagine those deficiencies extending to imported building materials? Let's hope the Far Eastern concrete was up to snuff...for the sake of our highway overpasses and skyscrapers.