Hi all,

We've just discovered some dry rot in the house whilst renovating the
en-suite (ground floor, in the extension, with a flat fibreglass
roof). We've knocked off
all the plaster and render from the block walls and plan to treat them
with some
cuprinol dry rot stuff, and we're replacing all the wood from the
room. However, when we took down the ceiling plasterboard, we found
that the rot had touched the ends of two of the joists (about 60cm
worth, from ends towards the middle).

As we've not long purchased the house, cash is kind of tight - we've
got access to
some acro-props if need be - can anyone recommend what the best thing
to do here is? We're edging towards splicing in two new joist ends.

Cheers

Phil

"Phil" wrote in message
om...
Hi all,

We've just discovered some dry rot in the house whilst renovating the
en-suite (ground floor, in the extension, with a flat fibreglass
roof). We've knocked off
all the plaster and render from the block walls and plan to treat them
with some
cuprinol dry rot stuff, and we're replacing all the wood from the
room. However, when we took down the ceiling plasterboard, we found
that the rot had touched the ends of two of the joists (about 60cm
worth, from ends towards the middle).

As we've not long purchased the house, cash is kind of tight - we've
got access to
some acro-props if need be - can anyone recommend what the best thing
to do here is? We're edging towards splicing in two new joist ends.

Sorry but as you've removed the ceiling anyway I'd seriously recommend
removing the joist and burning it and any other wood within 3 feet. I know
this sounds traumatic and expensive but the spores will be well spread
around and it's better to fix it all now than have to come back later. That
said if you've got the props and can do the work yourself joists aren't
expensive.

Mike wrote:

"Phil" wrote in message
om...

Hi all,

We've just discovered some dry rot in the house whilst renovating the
en-suite (ground floor, in the extension, with a flat fibreglass
roof). We've knocked off
all the plaster and render from the block walls and plan to treat them
with some
cuprinol dry rot stuff, and we're replacing all the wood from the
room. However, when we took down the ceiling plasterboard, we found
that the rot had touched the ends of two of the joists (about 60cm
worth, from ends towards the middle).

As we've not long purchased the house, cash is kind of tight - we've
got access to
some acro-props if need be - can anyone recommend what the best thing
to do here is? We're edging towards splicing in two new joist ends.


Sorry but as you've removed the ceiling anyway I'd seriously recommend
removing the joist and burning it and any other wood within 3 feet. I know
this sounds traumatic and expensive but the spores will be well spread
around and it's better to fix it all now than have to come back later. That
said if you've got the props and can do the work yourself joists aren't
expensive.


I would nopt be so drastic. My old house was full of rot when I took it
down, but it was confined to areas that had existing damp problems.

Once you get the damp out, the rot dies. Just make good as you see fit,
but pay 110% attention to damp.

Thanks everyone for all the replies. We've already removed and burned
all the wood from the room - the problems set in we think when the roof
leaked and was replaced - but it was apparently wet for a very long
time (we weren't the owners then). As far as the dry rot is concerned,
there were no fruiting bodies, and no sign of any red spores. However,
the skirts had "cubed" and there was mycelium on the plaster, leading
up to the joists (hidden behind tiles). The main affected areas were
around the shower cubicle. We've gutted the room and will be refitting
it very soon. I do plan to coat all blockwork and all new wood in the
appropriate chemicals, and probably use plasterboard on the walls.

We're just trying to decide now whether to splice in new joists or to
just rip out the two affected (and one on either side of these) - as
well as the 2x4 that they're resting on, oh and the fascia board as
well.

Phil

Phil wrote:
Thanks everyone for all the replies. We've already removed and
burned
all the wood from the room - the problems set in we think when the
roof
leaked and was replaced - but it was apparently wet for a very long
time (we weren't the owners then). As far as the dry rot is
concerned,
there were no fruiting bodies, and no sign of any red spores.
However,
the skirts had "cubed" and there was mycelium on the plaster, leading
up to the joists (hidden behind tiles). The main affected areas were
around the shower cubicle. We've gutted the room and will be
refitting
it very soon. I do plan to coat all blockwork and all new wood in
the
appropriate chemicals, and probably use plasterboard on the walls.

As long as you do deal with the damp, there is no need to chemicalise
anything. If you dont address the damp, nothing you do will prevent
re-rot, but chemicals can delay it.


IIRC copper is effective against plant lifeforms, so you can treat it
with copper sulphate in emulsion paint if you want.


NT

I would nopt be so drastic. My old house was full of rot when I took it
down, but it was confined to areas that had existing damp problems.

Once you get the damp out, the rot dies. Just make good as you see fit,
but pay 110% attention to damp.

Isn't this confusing wet rot with dry rot. Dry rot brings its own moisture
in from its roots just like ivy, hence the name. Wet rot can only survive
in damp and will die when the moisture goes.

I found my dry rot specimen thriving in a thin void where cement render and
bricks had separated due to poor adhesion, and growing from next door
through a crack in the brick work. Conditions were desert dry but it had
almost reached my ceiling joists.. After cuprinol dry rot treatment it
hasn't reappeared since 1989 so I hope its gone.

rusty.

Rusty wrote:

I would nopt be so drastic. My old house was full of rot when I took it
down, but it was confined to areas that had existing damp problems.

Once you get the damp out, the rot dies. Just make good as you see fit,
but pay 110% attention to damp.


Isn't this confusing wet rot with dry rot. Dry rot brings its own moisture
in from its roots just like ivy, hence the name.

It does not.

Wet rot can only survive
in damp and will die when the moisture goes.

As wiul 'dry'

Dry is called dry because it leaves a superficially dry powdery residue
rather than wet rot which leads to sponginness and superficially damp
appearances.


I found my dry rot specimen thriving in a thin void where cement render and
bricks had separated due to poor adhesion, and growing from next door
through a crack in the brick work. Conditions were desert dry but it had
almost reached my ceiling joists.. After cuprinol dry rot treatment it
hasn't reappeared since 1989 so I hope its gone.


If it was growing they were not dry.

rusty.

"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...
Rusty wrote:

I would nopt be so drastic. My old house was full of rot when I took it
down, but it was confined to areas that had existing damp problems.

Once you get the damp out, the rot dies. Just make good as you see fit,
but pay 110% attention to damp.


Isn't this confusing wet rot with dry rot. Dry rot brings its own
moisture in from its roots just like ivy, hence the name.

It does not.

Wet rot can only survive
in damp and will die when the moisture goes.

As wiul 'dry'

Dry is called dry because it leaves a superficially dry powdery residue
rather than wet rot which leads to sponginness and superficially damp
appearances.


I found my dry rot specimen thriving in a thin void where cement render
and bricks had separated due to poor adhesion, and growing from next door
through a crack in the brick work. Conditions were desert dry but it
had almost reached my ceiling joists.. After cuprinol dry rot treatment
it hasn't reappeared since 1989 so I hope its gone.


If it was growing they were not dry.


Well OK, a fine distinction. Moisture must be ultimately necessary.
Wet rot needs local moisture and isn't mobile through dry parts.
Dry rot can carry moisture from any wood it has infected through its
tendrils which can grow for many metres through arid conditions in search of
more damp wood. So it's highly mobile Also I believe it doubles up on
this creeper propagation by throwing off spores from the white candy floss
effect, but I never had this.

rusty

In article ,
The Natural Philosopher writes:
Rusty wrote:

Isn't this confusing wet rot with dry rot. Dry rot brings its own moisture
in from its roots just like ivy, hence the name.

It does not.

It does actually. It needs a source of moisture to germinate and
grow, but once it starts, it can carry the moisture it needs from
the source (which must be maintained moist) to distant dry timber.
(I wouldn't use the term 'roots' -- they're hyphae in the timber.)
If there is a very copious water source available, you can sometimes
see the hyphae that carry it away 'leaking' tiny water droplets,
possibly on the off-chance they are next to a nice piece of susceptable
timber. I've also seen some suggestions the hyphae can extract moisture
from the air, but I suspect this may just be confusion as a result
of seeing the tiny droplets of moisture on the hyphae.

The hyphae pass this moisture as a cellulose disolving enzyme
into the dry wood, and hoover up the cellulose in order to grow
more hyphae. The removal of the cellulose causes the wood to
shrink (hence the cubing/cracking effect), and most significantly
lose to all its strength which is provided pretty much entirely
by the cellulose.

Dry rot is not native to the UK, and can't grow in our outdoor climate,
only in the micro climates which form inside buildings. It is native
to the caves in the Hymalyas, where it feeds on the tree roots which
come through the rock crevices. It was brought back to the UK in
the hulls of wooden ships, and probably got to infect some of the
merchandise or packing cases which were then carried across the UK.

--
Andrew Gabriel

On Sun, 3 Apr 2005 18:29:09 +0100, "Mike" wrote:

Sorry but as you've removed the ceiling anyway I'd seriously recommend
removing the joist and burning it and any other wood within 3 feet. I know
this sounds traumatic and expensive but the spores will be well spread
around and it's better to fix it all now than have to come back later. That
said if you've got the props and can do the work yourself joists aren't
expensive.

You are being too pessimistic "burning it and any other wood within 3
feet" is not necessary. The source of damp and any infected wood
should be removed and perhaps some poison should be spread in the
area. I wonder if extra long joist hangers are available for this
situation

Yes I know that several people have said all this already but I wrote
the message yesterday and failed to send it so you are getting belated
pearls of wisdom

Anna


~~ Anna Kettle, Suffolk, England
|""""| ~ Lime plaster repairs
/ ^^ \ // Freehand modelling in lime: overmantels, pargeting etc
|____| www.kettlenet.co.uk 01359 230642

"Anna Kettle" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 3 Apr 2005 18:29:09 +0100, "Mike" wrote:

Sorry but as you've removed the ceiling anyway I'd seriously recommend
removing the joist and burning it and any other wood within 3 feet. I
know
this sounds traumatic and expensive but the spores will be well spread
around and it's better to fix it all now than have to come back later.
That
said if you've got the props and can do the work yourself joists aren't
expensive.

You are being too pessimistic "burning it and any other wood within 3
feet" is not necessary. The source of damp and any infected wood
should be removed and perhaps some poison should be spread in the
area.

I believe I read this as the recommendation of the Agony Uncle on
www.periodproperty.co.uk some years ago. The problem with poison is you may
miss some of the rot and then it will return. As their ceiling is down I'd
still replace. Joists are only about £6/metre after all - I expect the
poison will be of similar cost.

Phil wrote:
Hi all,

We've just discovered some dry rot in the house whilst renovating the
en-suite (ground floor, in the extension, with a flat fibreglass
roof). We've knocked off
all the plaster and render from the block walls and plan to treat them
with some
cuprinol dry rot stuff, and we're replacing all the wood from the
room. However, when we took down the ceiling plasterboard, we found
that the rot had touched the ends of two of the joists (about 60cm
worth, from ends towards the middle).

As we've not long purchased the house, cash is kind of tight - we've
got access to
some acro-props if need be - can anyone recommend what the best thing
to do here is? We're edging towards splicing in two new joist ends.

Cheers

Phil


Phil,

In my experience, there is only ONE way to treat *true* dry rot - and that
is to be drastic.

Very briefly:

Remove and replace ALL timber within the infection area and upto 3 feet
(1metre) away from the last signs of the infection and burn it - even if its
not showing signs of dry rot.

Hack off ALL the render and plaster within the area stated above and dispose
of it carefully (try not to drop it around the house).

Properly treat ALL the wall on the exposed parts with the correct chemical
solution.
Treat ALL new timber again with the proper solution.
Mix a dry rot killer with the render and then re-render the exposed walls.
Ensure that all ventillation grills are open to ensure a good airflow.

Bear in mind that *true* dry-rot fungus will spread through brickwork,
stonework, render etc to infect timber far from the original site if not
treated properly.

Again, in my experience, if the infection is fairly serious, I would advise
that you contact a specialist firm to carry out the chemical kill procedure
for you, as they have the expertise to do the job properly and will usually
give a guarantee on the work they have done - the added bonus is that the
will correctly identify the rot.

With regards to my statement of *true* dry rot - there is wet-rot fungus
that looks similar to dry rot and the simple cure for this is just to
eradicate the incoming moisture and the job is done - after replacing the
rotten timber.

As a matter of interest, I have seen new floors and windows replaced in a
house where the dry rot had not been properly treated, and these lasted all
of two years before needing to be done again - it was expensive as the rot
had progressed to other areas as well.

Hope this helps.

Brian G

"Brian G" wrote in message
...
Phil wrote:
Hi all,

We've just discovered some dry rot in the house whilst renovating the
en-suite (ground floor, in the extension, with a flat fibreglass
roof). We've knocked off
all the plaster and render from the block walls and plan to treat them
with some
cuprinol dry rot stuff, and we're replacing all the wood from the
room. However, when we took down the ceiling plasterboard, we found
that the rot had touched the ends of two of the joists (about 60cm
worth, from ends towards the middle).

Besides a roof leak. Just a thought; that dampness isn't in part due to
lack of a proper vapour barrier, on the warm side of the walls/ceilings,
thereby allowing house moisture to condense inside the structure and cause
rot?

Brian G wrote:

Phil,

In my experience, there is only ONE way to treat *true* dry rot - and
that
is to be drastic.

Very briefly:

Remove and replace ALL timber within the infection area and upto 3
feet
(1metre) away from the last signs of the infection and burn it - even
if its
not showing signs of dry rot.

binbags are somewhat more convenient disposal I find.


Hack off ALL the render and plaster within the area stated above and
dispose
of it carefully (try not to drop it around the house).

no need.


Properly treat ALL the wall on the exposed parts with the correct
chemical
solution.

no need. No plant life can survive being dried out.


Treat ALL new timber again with the proper solution.

or if its a wet prone room, get tanalised timber.


Mix a dry rot killer with the render and then re-render the exposed
walls.

way off

Ensure that all ventillation grills are open to ensure a good
airflow.

Bear in mind that *true* dry-rot fungus will spread through
brickwork,
stonework, render etc to infect timber far from the original site if
not
treated properly.

only if you dont fix the damp. And even then it can only grow on damp
wood elsewhere


Again, in my experience, if the infection is fairly serious, I would
advise
that you contact a specialist firm to carry out the chemical kill
procedure
for you, as they have the expertise to do the job properly and will
usually
give a guarantee on the work they have done - the added bonus is that
the
will correctly identify the rot.

you dont work for one of these ripoff companies do you?


With regards to my statement of *true* dry rot - there is wet-rot
fungus
that looks similar to dry rot and the simple cure for this is just to
eradicate the incoming moisture and the job is done - after replacing
the
rotten timber.

no, there is no type of dry rot that survives dryness. The solution is
always dryness.


As a matter of interest, I have seen new floors and windows replaced
in a
house where the dry rot had not been properly treated, and these
lasted all
of two years before needing to be done again - it was expensive as
the rot
had progressed to other areas as well.

of course, if you dont fix the damp, that will happen.


Hope this helps.

Brian G


Sounds like someone's been talking to a dry rot treatment salesmen.
This advice is quite off track, and the facts wrong.

It can be difficult to get a shower room dry if you have several people
taking showers. The best solution to this is a humidistatic
dehumidifier.


NT

wrote:
Brian G wrote:

Phil,

In my experience, there is only ONE way to treat *true* dry rot -
and that is to be drastic.

Very briefly:

Remove and replace ALL timber within the infection area and upto 3
feet (1metre) away from the last signs of the infection and burn it
- even if its not showing signs of dry rot.

binbags are somewhat more convenient disposal I find.

Great until the spores spread the rot around a little.


Hack off ALL the render and plaster within the area stated above and
dispose of it carefully (try not to drop it around the house).

no need.

Yep - there is a need, the mycelium can and does spread under the render.

Properly treat ALL the wall on the exposed parts with the correct
chemical solution.

no need. No plant life can survive being dried out.

Dry rot actually sucks the moisture out of what it is infecting - so even if
you cure the damp you've still got to kill the mycelium.

Treat ALL new timber again with the proper solution.

or if its a wet prone room, get tanalised timber.

Fair enough on that one.

Mix a dry rot killer with the render and then re-render the exposed
walls.

way off

Nope, exactly right, after spraying the brickwork.

Ensure that all ventillation grills are open to ensure a good
airflow.

Bear in mind that *true* dry-rot fungus will spread through
brickwork, stonework, render etc to infect timber far from the
original site if not treated properly.

only if you dont fix the damp. And even then it can only grow on damp
wood elsewhere

See elsewhere above.

Again, in my experience, if the infection is fairly serious, I would
advise that you contact a specialist firm to carry out the chemical
kill procedure for you, as they have the expertise to do the job
properly and will usually give a guarantee on the work they have
done - the added bonus is that the will correctly identify the rot.

you dont work for one of these ripoff companies do you?

Nope, just retired from a building maintenance environment where as a
chippie and a general formeman I had the dubious honour of working on well
over fifty houses infected with various levels of dry rot.

With regards to my statement of *true* dry rot - there is wet-rot
fungus that looks similar to dry rot and the simple cure for this is
just to eradicate the incoming moisture and the job is done - after
replacing the rotten timber.

no, there is no type of dry rot that survives dryness. The solution is
always dryness.

See eslewhere above

As a matter of interest, I have seen new floors and windows replaced
in a house where the dry rot had not been properly treated, and
these lasted all of two years before needing to be done again - it
was expensive as the rot had progressed to other areas as well.

of course, if you dont fix the damp, that will happen.

The damp was fixed in the original area - but someone (not I) took the
decison that the rot wasn't bad enough to go the whole hog.


Sounds like someone's been talking to a dry rot treatment salesmen.
This advice is quite off track, and the facts wrong.

Talking to the tech-reps (not salesmen) and the bodies that actually did the
spraying along with a few experts NOT connected with the dry-rot companies -
we had a whole department of these hanging on 'coat-hangers' just waiting
for us to call on their services.

It can be difficult to get a shower room dry if you have several
people taking showers. The best solution to this is a humidistatic
dehumidifier.

I've yet to see a dehumidifier completely dry a room where there is a
constant dampness and not hermetically sealed.

Brian G

Brian G wrote:
wrote:
Brian G wrote:

Phil,

In my experience, there is only ONE way to treat *true* dry rot -
and that is to be drastic.

Very briefly:

Remove and replace ALL timber within the infection area and upto 3
feet (1metre) away from the last signs of the infection and burn
it
- even if its not showing signs of dry rot.

binbags are somewhat more convenient disposal I find.

Great until the spores spread the rot around a little.

dry rot spores in landfill are not a problem. By the time you remove a
roomful of rotten wood, the spores are all over the place already. It
is not the spores that are the prime problem, it is damp.


Properly treat ALL the wall on the exposed parts with the correct
chemical solution.

no need. No plant life can survive being dried out.

Dry rot actually sucks the moisture out of what it is infecting

all plant life does that. All plant life can not take up sufficient
moisture to survive when its environment is too dry. This is qiute
basic stuff.


- so even if
you cure the damp you've still got to kill the mycelium.

no


you dont work for one of these ripoff companies do you?

Nope, just retired from a building maintenance environment where as a
chippie and a general formeman I had the dubious honour of working on
well
over fifty houses infected with various levels of dry rot.

So you did work for companies that did the kind of treatment you
advocate?


As a matter of interest, I have seen new floors and windows
replaced
in a house where the dry rot had not been properly treated, and
these lasted all of two years before needing to be done again - it
was expensive as the rot had progressed to other areas as well.

of course, if you dont fix the damp, that will happen.

The damp was fixed in the original area - but someone (not I) took
the
decison that the rot wasn't bad enough to go the whole hog.

looks like it wasnt


Sounds like someone's been talking to a dry rot treatment salesmen.
This advice is quite off track, and the facts wrong.

Talking to the tech-reps (not salesmen)

a tech rep is not a salesman? Rep means representative.


and the bodies that actually did the
spraying along

who obviously also have heavy financial incentives, ie a very biased
viewpoint


with a few experts NOT connected with the dry-rot companies -
we had a whole department of these hanging on 'coat-hangers' just
waiting
for us to call on their services.

impartial expert advice is available.


It can be difficult to get a shower room dry if you have several
people taking showers. The best solution to this is a humidistatic
dehumidifier.

I've yet to see a dehumidifier completely dry a room where there is a
constant dampness and not hermetically sealed.

Strange, I've not seen them have any problem. One of the risks of
dehumidifiers is that people can be tempted to get a cheaper non
humidistatic one and end up drying everything to a crisp.


NT

wrote:
Brian G wrote:

wrote:

Brian G wrote:


Phil,

In my experience, there is only ONE way to treat *true* dry rot -
and that is to be drastic.

Very briefly:

Remove and replace ALL timber within the infection area and upto 3
feet (1metre) away from the last signs of the infection and burn

it

- even if its not showing signs of dry rot.

binbags are somewhat more convenient disposal I find.

Great until the spores spread the rot around a little.


dry rot spores in landfill are not a problem. By the time you remove a
roomful of rotten wood, the spores are all over the place already. It
is not the spores that are the prime problem, it is damp.



Properly treat ALL the wall on the exposed parts with the correct
chemical solution.

no need. No plant life can survive being dried out.

Dry rot actually sucks the moisture out of what it is infecting


all plant life does that. All plant life can not take up sufficient
moisture to survive when its environment is too dry. This is qiute
basic stuff.



- so even if
you cure the damp you've still got to kill the mycelium.


no



you dont work for one of these ripoff companies do you?

Nope, just retired from a building maintenance environment where as a
chippie and a general formeman I had the dubious honour of working on

well

over fifty houses infected with various levels of dry rot.


So you did work for companies that did the kind of treatment you
advocate?



As a matter of interest, I have seen new floors and windows

replaced

in a house where the dry rot had not been properly treated, and
these lasted all of two years before needing to be done again - it
was expensive as the rot had progressed to other areas as well.

of course, if you dont fix the damp, that will happen.

The damp was fixed in the original area - but someone (not I) took

the

decison that the rot wasn't bad enough to go the whole hog.


looks like it wasnt



Sounds like someone's been talking to a dry rot treatment salesmen.
This advice is quite off track, and the facts wrong.

Talking to the tech-reps (not salesmen)


a tech rep is not a salesman? Rep means representative.



and the bodies that actually did the
spraying along


who obviously also have heavy financial incentives, ie a very biased
viewpoint



with a few experts NOT connected with the dry-rot companies -
we had a whole department of these hanging on 'coat-hangers' just

waiting

for us to call on their services.


impartial expert advice is available.



It can be difficult to get a shower room dry if you have several
people taking showers. The best solution to this is a humidistatic
dehumidifier.

I've yet to see a dehumidifier completely dry a room where there is a
constant dampness and not hermetically sealed.


Strange, I've not seen them have any problem. One of the risks of
dehumidifiers is that people can be tempted to get a cheaper non
humidistatic one and end up drying everything to a crisp.


NT



For future ref...

I was wondering how dry is dry enough here? Thinking of situations where
very dry conditions (I have 18" thick rubble filled walls) are difficult
to achieve (at least in a timely manner).

Also, timber is not often all that dry esp. when new (even the kiln
dried stuff) - thinking here of patching the effected area might
introduce moisture, at least temporarily.

In those types of situations is it not prudent to use a chemical
approach also to prevent reoccurence?

Alex

wrote:

Brian G wrote:


dry rot spores in landfill are not a problem. By the time you remove a
roomful of rotten wood, the spores are all over the place already. It
is not the spores that are the prime problem, it is damp.



Properly treat ALL the wall on the exposed parts with the correct
chemical solution.

no need. No plant life can survive being dried out.

Dry rot actually sucks the moisture out of what it is infecting


all plant life does that. All plant life can not take up sufficient
moisture to survive when its environment is too dry. This is qiute
basic stuff.



But rots are not plants.
They are fungi.

On Wed, 6 Apr 2005 00:29:33 +0100, "Brian G"
wrote:

Remove and replace ALL timber within the infection area and upto 3
feet (1metre) away from the last signs of the infection and burn it
- even if its not showing signs of dry rot.

binbags are somewhat more convenient disposal I find.

Great until the spores spread the rot around a little.

Doesn't treating the surface of the timber care of that?

Also what do you think of injecting boron based chemicals into the
wood? I'd expect if it gets/stays damp they will spread inside the
wood and stop more rot.

I've yet to see a dehumidifier completely dry a room where there is a
constant dampness and not hermetically sealed.

IME they do a good job of keeping the humidity level under control, if
the damp is due to condensation then they will dry it out, but if due
to water leaks etc then the affected area will stay damp.

cheers,
Pete.

Phil wrote:
Hi all,

We've just discovered some dry rot in the house whilst renovating the
en-suite (ground floor, in the extension, with a flat fibreglass
roof). We've knocked off
all the plaster and render from the block walls and plan to treat
them
with some
cuprinol dry rot stuff, and we're replacing all the wood from the
room. However, when we took down the ceiling plasterboard, we found
that the rot had touched the ends of two of the joists (about 60cm
worth, from ends towards the middle).

As we've not long purchased the house, cash is kind of tight - we've
got access to
some acro-props if need be - can anyone recommend what the best thing
to do here is? We're edging towards splicing in two new joist ends.


thats the logical thing, if its easier than replacing the whole joist.
Add joist hanger and bolt new section on.

You dont need acro props, just cut wood to the right length and jam it
in to prop it. If youre going to pull it about, it could slip and fall,
so a good idea to attach prop to joist in case it moves.

Rots are caused by damp, dry rot included. (The name is a bit
misleading.) So the most important thing is to fix the source(s) of
water.

I dont know all the dimesnsions, but I'm tempted to say it might be
sufficient on a small roof to simply fit some load spreading noggins
and leave it at that. Depends

NT

wrote:


Rots are caused by damp, dry rot included. (The name is a bit
misleading.) So the most important thing is to fix the source(s) of
water.

Hear hear. What about beetle and worm infestations though?

The Natural Philosopher wrote:
wrote:


Rots are caused by damp, dry rot included. (The name is a bit
misleading.) So the most important thing is to fix the source(s) of
water.

Hear hear. What about beetle and worm infestations though?

I'm still as puzzled by that as when I first read it

NT

wrote:

The Natural Philosopher wrote:

wrote:



Rots are caused by damp, dry rot included. (The name is a bit
misleading.) So the most important thing is to fix the source(s) of
water.

Hear hear. What about beetle and worm infestations though?


I'm still as puzzled by that as when I first read it

I agree that damp is the cause of all rots, but what is the best way to
deal wih worm and beetle attack to timber?

NT

On Thu, 07 Apr 2005 09:18:35 +0100, The Natural Philosopher
wrote:

I agree that damp is the cause of all rots, but what is the best way to
deal wih worm and beetle attack to timber?

For worm - central heating. I _think_ the same is true of beetle

Anna

~~ Anna Kettle, Suffolk, England
|""""| ~ Lime plaster repairs
/ ^^ \ // Freehand modelling in lime: overmantels, pargeting etc
|____| www.kettlenet.co.uk 01359 230642

The Natural Philosopher wrote:
wrote:

Rots are caused by damp, dry rot included. (The name is a bit
misleading.) So the most important thing is to fix the source(s)
of
water.

Hear hear. What about beetle and worm infestations though?

I'm still as puzzled by that as when I first read it

I agree that damp is the cause of all rots, but what is the best way
to
deal wih worm and beetle attack to timber?


white sauce and bread?

NT

On Thu, 07 Apr 2005 09:18:35 +0100, The Natural Philosopher
wrote:

wrote:

The Natural Philosopher wrote:

wrote:



Rots are caused by damp, dry rot included. (The name is a bit
misleading.) So the most important thing is to fix the source(s) of
water.

Hear hear. What about beetle and worm infestations though?


I'm still as puzzled by that as when I first read it

I agree that damp is the cause of all rots, but what is the best way to
deal wih worm and beetle attack to timber?

Magnetron from a microwave and a long extension lead* Doing both
sides of a 2" joist should take care of 'em!

But I would have thought there are surface and injectable treatments
that will do the trick.

* = don't try this at home!

cheers,
Pete.