"Peter Taylor" wrote in message ...
"Meoww" wrote in message
om...
John Rumm wrote in message
...
Z wrote:

snip
He's also wrong about Dry Rot. Dry rot is so called because (A) it
requires
drier conditions than wet rots

Not actually true. You don't often find Dry Rot for instance as a
result of rising damp. It needs quite a fair amount of water to get
started. When it's off and running it can do with less...

(B) it transports its own moisture and attacks dry timber.

It certainly does...

That's why it is necessary to eradicate it, not just cut
off the source of moisture

If you remove the water source, it will die eventually, as will all
rots. It transports moisture via it's hyphae from the moisture source
to dry wood and continues from there. If the source dries up however,
so does the rest of it. It can't manufacture water from the
atmosphere.

It is described in the Bible (Leviticus 14 vs. 33-57) as a "fretting
leprosy of the house", from the appearance of the water droplets, like tears,
that form on the fruiting body.

I didn't know that - quite fascinating. I know it's latin name,
Serpula Lacrymans, alludes to tears but I haven't read Leviticus for
quite a while (well, never actually))

I agree with most of what he says about double glazing, plastics and wall
coatings though. This bit intrigued me: "There is growing evidence that
plastic pipes leach chemicals into the drinking water which can make men
infertile."

I think he's one of these people who need a large pinch of salt.

Regards

Patrick