Is this dry rot? if so, what needs doing?

[Potatan]

Hi, just discovered what I think is dry rot - the skirting board appears to be splitting:

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• Potatan
• 6 Jul 2010
• 1

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• Potatan
• 6 Jul 2010
• 1

and there is a brown spot further along:

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• Potatan
• 6 Jul 2010
• 1

My guess is that this is related to the hopper overflow problems I was experiencing back in January //www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=210626 , because the wall near where that was happening (and in the corner that the skirting is headed for) now looks like this:

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• Potatan
• 6 Jul 2010
• 1

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So - is it Dry Rot? How would I have this remedied? And are there any precautions I should be taking immediately - I don't have any small children in the house but have just acquired a puppy.

cheers and thanks in advance.

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

Doesn't look like dry rot, timber normally cracks along the grain, white dust cotton wool like fugus will appear, as well a yellowish coloured fugus and the wood will eventual crumble.
Has the wood got damp and dried causing the paint to blister?
The brown spot looks like the knot in the wood has weeped.

 

[RonnyRaygun]

I don't think that's dry rot.

Dry rot has a strong musty smell that you would have noticed if it was present. Dry rot also needs a continuous source of moisture in order to spread, however it does dry out the timber causing it to lose strength and eventually to crumble.

If you want to be sure, take up your carpet and check your floorboards for the cotton wool-like spores that Prentice Boy was describing.

 

[Potatan]

Thanks for the replies. I can't check under the carpet because I don't have one It's a glued on Karndean vinyl floor.

The skirtings were repainted a couple of years ago following an underfloor central heating plumbing leak, so I guess they would have got damp then, and now thay are dried out it's made the damage.

I'll just give them a rub down and a fresh coat of paint, then keep an eye on them I guess.

Cheers

 

[RonnyRaygun]

I can't check under the carpet because I don't have one It's a glued on Karndean vinyl floor.

Oh yeah, didn't enlarge the piccies!

 

[Nige F]

probably wet rot and penetrating damp on that wall by the door - New pipework needed - like I said back when

 

[gregers]

mmmmmm gently take the skirting off,it will probably fall apart.

be prepared for the worst both wet rot and dry rot do cuboidal cracking.

check this out,
http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgu...org.mozilla:en-US:official&ndsp=20&tbs=isch:1

 

[Potatan]

mmmmmm gently take the skirting off,it will probably fall apart.

be prepared for the worst both wet rot and dry rot do cuboidal cracking.

Eeek! Not had to deal with cuboids since school... I'm getting a chap in to quote for the bathroom soon, I'll ask him to checkout the "rot" too, see what he thinks

 

[ajstoneservices]

I'll just give them a rub down and a fresh coat of paint, then keep an eye on them I guess.

That's asking for trouble. The brown marks are you fixings rusting. You could have a nightmare developing under the floor unseen until it's too late. I'd get the skirting off now and see what's lurking behind them.

Worst dry rot I've seen came to light when mushrooms began growing on the door linings

 

[hotrod]

I'll just give them a rub down and a fresh coat of paint, then keep an eye on them I guess.

You're having a laugh aren't ya? That timber's had it. It wants ripping off and binning. It's rotten to the core, I can see that from here. New timber -and make sure it's vac treated, or at the very least treat the reverse face before fixing.

 

[alittlerespect]

Hi

I would suggest that you get the specialists out - its hard to determine what type of rot you have, I would hedge my bet on 'dry rot' but there may be a small chance its the effect of wet rot.

Wet rot is simple to cure, once the source of the water/moisture is stopped the rot stops and all that is generally required are local repairs. Therefore in your situation as you have solved the leak then the rot should not be spreading.

Dry rot is a totally different animal (and you should get a specialist out if the timber decay has been spreading since you solved the leak.

Generally speaking to become established dry rot does not need water, all it needs is moisture e.g. the moisture contained in the timber will be sufficient and fungal growth is helped by humid/stale conditions (lack of ventilation in floor voids being a prime example) think of mushrooms - after all it is a fungus. Once established dry rot can survive on the moisture in the timber and/or surrounding air - conditions no longer need to be humid. Dry rot is an absolute nightmare, if not caught early enough it can travel through brickwork, between the brickwork and plaster, across pipework and any other surface it comes into contact with to reach its next supply of wood.
Once established dry rot can cause devastate a property.

Regards

 

[RonnyRaygun]

after all it is a fungus.

Wet rot is also a fungus...

Take a look at this website

http://www.bwtse.co.uk/fungal_decay.htm#Wet Rot

If anything the brown spot looks like wet rot.

I had quite a severe case of dry rot in the property I renovated a couple of years ago. Some clever person had rendered over the damp course allowing a continuous source of moisture through the 9" brick walls.
The rot had spread through the whole of the kitchen and a good proportion of the hallway, up the end wall, into the wall plate and begun to spread into the bathroom timbers.

Treatment was as follows:

1. I removed the source of moisture by chipping away the render below dpc.

2. I removed all infected timber - this being the entire kitchen floor and much of the hallway. Any infected timber that couldn't fully be removed was cut back 600mm past the last trace of rot.

3. Bathroom timbers. These had a tiny trace of rot on the bottom edges from contact with the wall plate. I didn't remove these but used a treatment by which you drill holes in the timber at regular intervals and fill the holes with the rot treatment. This then permeates through the timber killing the rot and preventing further spread.

4. I removed all plaster on infected walls. (Dry rot will spread between brickwork and plaster causing the bond to be broken. The solution is to treat and replaster.)

5. I treated all nearby timbers and the infected walls.

6. I replaced the timber wall plate with a prestressed concrete lintel.

7. I concreted the kitchen and hallway floors.

Over two years later and there is no sign of rot

As A Little Respect said, the moisture in the timber is enough to fuel the growth of dry rot. However, dry rot spreading through masonry will die once the fuel (ie. timber) has been removed.

 

[bigyorkshireman]

Looking at the pics there is a possibility of dry rot but best to get it checked out by a fungal decay specialist - either way the source of the moisture into the building needs to be stopped otherwise the problems will come back.

For more info on Dry rot I found this video podcast useful:

 

[annastar82]

Definitely need a new timber. How could you consider a coat of paint just to hide it ?

 

[Potatan]

Definitely need a new timber. How could you consider a coat of paint just to hide it ?

That was my first idea after the first two responses indicating it might not be anything so drastic.

After seeing the rest of the replies, I think I'll give it a bit more than just a lick of paint!

Thanks for all the replies.