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

[Nige F]

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

Bathroom fitter/dry rot specialist You`ll be allright if he`s a time served carpenter

 

[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.

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

Bathroom fitter/dry rot specialist You`ll be allright if he`s a time served carpenter

be suspicious if your guy starts saying no probs guv have that sorted in a jiffy.

as said expect the worst and if it turns out to be the lesser kind then its a RESULT.
dont forget if it turns out to be dry rot,then any firm will insist(where practical) 1 m past the last found evidence of rot will need to be exposed/removed/treated/replaced.

and insist that any new joinery is treated and primed before being fixed.

 

[alittlerespect]

Hi

Regretfully, RonnyRaygun is incorrect in his last statement, once established dry rot is not dependant upon any source of timber for nourishment or survival, it does not need a source of water, it can take what it needs from the very vapour in the air or from interstitial condensation within porous building components. That is why dry rot is so noxious!

If you have a serious problem it would be necessary to inject the brickwork that has been in contact with the contaminated timber, otherwise is a short period of time all the good work in trying to eradicate the problem will be undone - hence the reason for getting the specialists involved.

However, there is one caveat, you should use an established company, if nothing else they have a reputation to keep, which is probably more valuable than the piece of paper that the guarantee is written on!

Regards

 

[RonnyRaygun]

Alittlerespect. Without wishing to be an argumentative git, I don't think I am wrong.

From BRE Digest 299:

Contain the fungus within the wall.
Because the dry rot fungus derives nourishment only from
wood and other cellulosic materials, it is unimportant if
living fungus remains on and within brick and plaster walls,
provided it cannot spread further. If measures taken to
prevent further wetting and to promote drying of the
building can be fully effective at an early stage, this alone
may be sufficient to bring the outbreak under control.
However, there are cases, for example if there is difficulty in
drying the structure, when infected walls need treating with
a chemical to prevent further spread and damage. It is
important then that chemical treatments remain effective
until the growth of the fungus is checked by drying or
exhaustion of food materials within the strands. Several
fungicide treatments are available for this purpose, surface
application should suffice in the majority of cases.

I have the entire digest if you are interested.

Also, without wishing to rubbish the many dry rot specialists out there, some will charge an arm and a leg for unnecessary treatments simply due to the fact that most lay people are petrified their house is going to crumble the moment dry rot is mentioned.

 

[jeds]

Just to clarify a couple of technical matters.

The dry rot spores are abundant in the general atmosphere - it is everywhere and you could say we've all got dry rot.

The spores need a source of water to germinate and grow and a source of food to sustain itself. (bit like us really)

The food source is basically timber products. (cellulose) There is no food in masonry but the fungus will spread across masonry looking for food - it can carry food along its body from the source to where it needs it.

The water source can be anything. A drain, dampness in a wall, a dripping refridgerator, a dripping tap, or pipe. Anything you like. The fungus also carries water along its body from the source to where it needs it.

Dry rot cannot germinate and live on the moisture content of general internal timbers such as floorboards or skirting boards. These should have a MC of about 10-12% and dry rot needs more like 20+% to survive. If it could do that probably half the houses in the country would have dry rot fungus.

So, top priority is to find the source of the water and eliminate it. What you do after that depends on damage caused so far and how well developed the dry rot is. Sometimes dry rot becomes so invasive that it develops multiple water sources. In these cases there is no choice but to tear it all out. In my experience though that's fairly rare. Most times you can remove local damage, clean off and all will be well.

It is true that the fungus will lie dormant but without a source of water it won't grow and it will eventually die after about three years.

Of course this all assumes you have dry rot at all. But if you don't, I should have that skirting off anyway or you probably will do soon.

There are several other factors and the most important one is probably ventilation - particularly with regards under-floor voids. Good ventilation will help to keep voids dry and will keep the temperature down. Dry rot don't like it cold. (or too hot come to that)

 

[alittlerespect]

Hi

Specifically to RonnyRaygun - I like the cut of your manner and hopefully you will not have taken too much offence to my comments, not that I meant any offence.

Its also an interesting article that you posted, but people need to read between the lines. So long as dry rot is identified earlier enough it can be treated as suggested in the article, however, once dry rot becomes established it can become a living nightmare, wrong diagnosis and/or the wrong treatment can lead to a recurrence of timber decay in an extremly short period of time - hence the need to use the services of a reputable specialist in diagnosing and treating the dry rot.

Regards