Don’t wait until you fall through the floor
Wood rot is when wooden structures of a property decay and start to rot away. There are various building faults that can cause wood to rot, but all rot requires moisture. Fungus and the breakdown of timber is nature’s way of tidying up the earth, without it we wouldn’t be here. What we don’t want is for nature to get it wrong and start destroying our property. There are three main types of timber decay, Wet (Brown) Rot, White Rot and the dreaded Dry-Rot. All need to be dealt with but none more urgent that the Dry Rot Fungus (Serpula lacrymans). In addition to wood rotting fungi our timber is also often infested with wood boring insects (woodworm), all helping our environment to stay clean but all costing us a lot of money to eradicate from our property.
Dry Rot
Dry-Rot is by far the most serious attack of timber decay which given the right conditions can spread through your home and even into adjoining properties. What makes this so destructive is the fact that it can pass through non-wooden structures such as walls and masonry, which means it’s able to spread through the property extremely quickly. A small attack of dry rot can soon accelerate into a massive issue that affects all of your home. It’s important that you identify dry rot and have it surveyed by a qualified timber and damp surveyor without delay. Thankfully there are a few tell-tale signs that let you know you have dry rot attacking your home. These are distorting joinery timbers, bouncing timber floors, the smell of mushrooms when you come into the room and a rusty red dust settling on furniture. If you have the slightest inclination that you might have a problem, call Tapco HomeDry immediately to arrange an urgent survey.
Wet Rot
The second type of wood rots are called wet-rot; these can be Brown Rot or White Rot. As its name suggests, wet rot is also caused by the presence of water. If you have any form of moisture ingress or damp in your home, there’s a risk of getting wet rot. When the wood gets wet it will slowly start to decay especially where it is built into wet walls or in enclosed areas which are poorly ventilated. Over time, wet rot will slowly decay the timbers but unlike dry-rot it won’t spread outside of the damp area. It is very important to find the cause of the moisture ingress and rectify it prior to replacing the affected timbers with new pre-treated timber.
Woodworm
Another cause of timber decay is woodworm of which there are many types. These are tiny little insects that will eat through wooden structures in your home, slowly causing them to lose their structural strength. Unlike the wood rot, these aren’t a fungus, and can be dealt with easier, unless of course it hasn’t been left too late. It is also easier to notice because you’ll see tiny holes appear in the wood and lots of fine wood dust (Frass) around the holes. It is the grub that eats away inside the wood and the adult Beatle that bores so unfortunately when you see the holes, they are exit holes.
Thankfully new building methods and using pre-treated timber means less damp and decay and no woodworm.