On Tue, 15 Jul 2003 21:56:05 +0100, Mark
wrote:

On Mon, 14 Jul 2003 23:01:58 +0100, Andy Hall
wrote:

On Mon, 14 Jul 2003 22:29:55 +0100, Mark
wrote:



I'm not familiar with dry rot (only the wet rot in my bathroom).

Is it a fungal rot caused by damp rather than the wood being rotten
through the water?

There are several forms of wet rot but I believe only one kind of dry
rot.

Wet rot happens generally when there is a high level of moisture and
there are various types, the most common being cellar fungus, which is
almost certainly what afflicted your bathroom. Basically the fungus
is limited to the wood and to wet areas at that and causes to
disintegrate along the run of the grain. Window cills and fencing
are other prime candidates. The fix is basically to remove the
source of water, to mechanically replace or repair the wood and to
treat.

There is another wet rot fungus called mine fungus which happens under
similar conditions but the wood tends to crack into cuboid shapes
across the grain. For this reason it is sometimes mistaken for dry
rot which can also leave the timber with this appearance.

Dry rot thrives in somewhat drier conditions of the wood, the key
factor normally being lack of ventilation plus a source of moisture.
The fungus has the ability to obtain water from a remote source as
well through its strands which can penetrate masonry.
There are various appearances at different stages ranging from a white
cotton-wool appearance of the mycelium (growing part) to the
purple/brown of the fruiting body. Very often, there is a
distinctive mushroomy smell which is difficult to describe, but once
you've smelt is unmistakeable.

I once saw an extensive outbreak in an old church hall. It was
really quite revolting with strands extending over an entire wall
behind some panelling.

The treatments tend to be quite draconian because of the ability of
the fungus to penetrate masonry. There is a debate as to whether
ripping off plaster and sterilising brickwork is really necessary, or
contractors trying to put more meat in the sandwich. The counter
theory runs that if the moisture supply is removed, the ventilation
fixed and the timber replaced with pressure treated, then there should
be no need to sterlise the masonry.

Rentokil's web site has some pictures of the various fungi.

http://www.fogit.co.uk/woodrot/default.php





The treatment of the wood and another poster
mentioning treatment/burning etc.

Mark S.

ps. perhaps I underestimated with the fiver in my original post having
just seen the horrors so called "builders" have done on the latest
"horrors" program on tv.

..andy

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