DRY ROT & WET ROT

Dry Rot & Wet Rot

Dry Rot Larne

Dry rot is a very common problem in the Larne because we get so much rain. Moisture and lack of air circulation is all you need for dry rot to appear on wood. Wood rot problems are especially dangerous when rot appears on the wooden structure of the house. Once the fungus starts to grow on your structure, it destroys wood tissues which are responsible for the wooden structure to be firm and solid. Dry rot causes wooden parts of your house to decay, become soft, lose its shape, and loses the ability to withstand weight pressure. This leads to the leaning of the house to one side, dropping of the floor level, sagging in open spans of wood (such as garage door openings), and roof structure deformation. All these signs are warnings to us that something is going on inside the structure of our house and something may be affected by dry rot. The rot problem has to be taken care of right away once it has been determined!

If you notice a sagging corner on your window sill it didn't appear there over night. If you are able to see rotten particles with your naked eye without taking apart your wall it means that the rot has been inside for quite some time and is in the stage where the rot starts to affect the surfaces that are visible. One sagging corner of the window sill may not just be a simple repair of a small piece of your sill but it might mean that the whole window frame is affected by dry rot and has to be repaired. That's why it's very important to fix the damaged areas once you suspect that you have a problem.

Now fixing dry rot damage is not a simple procedure, most of the time dry rot has to do with your structural framing, except when it's just the exterior siding trim that is rotting. But most cases, dry rot gets to your framing. You have to realize that the part of your wall that is rotting is actually holding the wall itself, so if you will just start taking studs out to replace them with new framing, the whole wall may just collapse. It is the same story with the floor joist system or roofing trusses. So dry rot repairs often require building additional support walls or installing supporting posts to hold the rest of the structure while you are doing the rot repairs to the wall. Things get more complicated when you are dealing with two or three story homes. Then you have more weight pushing on your damaged walls and you need additional support to withstand all that weight. Fixing dry rot requires not just good carpentry skills but also engineering knowledge of weight distribution and support.

One more important thing about dry rot and what's causing it, that I should mention, is the vapor barrier on the house. Since the vapor barrier is the under-layment that separates your siding and your framing by tacking on the vapor barrier to your wall before installing your siding, it is very important to choose a good quality product that will actually allow your structure to "breathe". This means that the vapor barrier will let air circulate behind your siding. A very widely used product brand is Tyvek. In my opinion it is the worst choice you can make when choosing your vapor barrier. Tyvek is actually a plastic like product that will withstand moisture pretty good but doesn't "breathe" very well, so if any moisture will get trapped behind your Tyvek vapor barrier there is almost a 100% chance of getting the dry rot fungus on your walls. An even worse situation is with new construction housing.

Since construction in Northern Ireland, Larne doesn't stop for rain, homes are being built under all conditions. So just imagine when Tyvek or other poor performing vapor barriers are installed right on soaking wet plywood, all that moisture has no way to escape. You basically have the conditions for dry rot right from the very beginning. But you will notice dry rot only years later when the rot had caused extensive damage to your structure. So my advise would be to use a rain screen system on your walls, or a high quality vapor barrier such as HydroGap by Benjamin Obdyke. HydroGap has plastic bumps, which makes it an uneven surface that allows air and moisture to travel between those bumps and drain out and away from the building. HydroGap is made of fabric like material that "breathes" better.

So take good care of your house, watch for any signs for dry rot and deal with the problem as soon as it is discovered. For more information about dry rot remediation give us a call

Wet Rot Larne

Sometimes we see that there is decay of wood because it contains lots of moisture. Wood contains lots of moisture so the fungi attack the wood and it damages the wood. It is mainly caused by the cellar fungus, coniophora puteana. If the wood turns brown, the fungus has attacked the wood. It is basically a brown fungal rot affecting timber with high moisture content. It is also used for decay of crop plants by fungi and the deterioration of rubber. This decay can cause instability and collapse in houses, wooden ships' hulls, and other wooden structures.

How to detect the wet rot is affecting the house?

We have to check the wood articles such as doors or windows for signs of rot. The bottom is more susceptible to rot as the water collects where as the wall/ floor is suffering from damp. If the paint finish damaged, it can increase the risk of wet rot. Timber suffering from wet rot will feel spongy (even through a coat of paint) and look darker than the surrounding timber. When dry, the timber will easily crack and crumble in to fine particles.

Measures for prevention:

• Improve ventilation of the house.

• Prevent the water from getting in the wood.

• Paint all the external timber frames to protect the timber from frontal ingress of water.

• We have to remove the soil and other debris from the bottom of timber frames.

• The favorite places for wet rot are under the kitchen sink, bath, shower, washing basins, and toilet and behind the washing machine etc.

Treatment measures:

• We have to treat the problem as there is a possibility that it can occur again, so no need of repairing.

• If the infected area is small it can be cut away and a new piece can be inserted.

• We should take the experts' advice if the infected area is roof trusses, floor joists.

This article is submitted by Venus, one of the young generation author, concerned about the technological issues and the problems of day to day life. Now I am sharing information about Wet Rot.