"Mark" wrote in message
...
On 16 Jul 2003 10:13:39 GMT, (Andrew
Gabriel) wrote:

snip

It might help to think of it more like a pot plant. The soil
is the wood, and it breaks down the wood to grow branches
across rock and brickwork, and through mortar and behind
plaster, to search out more wood for food. The branches can
carry the water it needs, so it is capable of infecting some
wood which isn't damp once it gets started.

From what I've read, the rot will not spread through dry media, but it can
spread through damp media that would otherwise offer no nutritional value,
e.g. plaster and brickwork. This is what especially distinguishes it from
other rots.

The flowers
(fruiting bodies) are like white cotten wool balls, and the
seeds (spores) are a dark red or brown powder which the flower
throws out some feet from it. The powder can lay around for
years after the fruiting bodies have gone, if not disturbed.

It requires a particular humidity range which doesn't occur
naturally in the UK, but can be found in poorly ventilated
enclosed spaces in houses. It will actually die all by itself
if exposed to good ventiallation -- you never see it growing
outdoors in the UK. It's natural habitat are caves in the
Himalayas where it feeds on the dead tree roots which
penetrate the cave walls. It was brought back to the UK in
wooden ships, where it also became a major problem.

I found a small outbreak under a bath. It was in a tiny block
of wood fixed to the wall. The branches had grown out along
the wall to find some more wood. However, it's blind, and it
had managed to stear a course which missed all the other wood,
and then it ran out of energy from the original tiny piece of
wood and died (fortunately). There was no sign it had ever
managed to grow a fruiting body.

Thanks for the description guys, makes a bit more sense now the extent
of the treatment. Still think I'd do it myself and save a couple of
grand. :-)

Mark S.


1) sort out the ventilation. this alone can kill dry rot off almost
completely.

2) remove the source of the damp - without damp the fungus cannot live,
period. Spores can lurk in plaster and wood, but unless you remove and
replace all timber and plaster then you'll not get rid of them.

3) replace any structurally damaged timber. This isn't the same as
"infected" timber, but for example joists where the rot has attacked them to
the point where they have become seriously weakened.

4) whilst you've got the floor up, treat the timbers. If you replace joists
then you may as well replace them with pressure treated timber. Don't cut
the end that is adjacent to the air brick.

Of course, this all depends upon the extent of the problem. From your
description it doesn't sound like it warrants the draconian measures that
had been proposed.

cheers
Richard


--
Richard Sampson

email me at
richard at olifant d-ot co do-t uk