Over the summer my hot water cylinder sprung a tiny leak. When I
noticed it (probably after a month or 2) I had it replaced asap (about
2 1/2 weeks ago). The cylinder is in our kitchen & the wood floor,
which was wet, dried up after a few days. However there's now a musty
smell in the cupboard which is the other side of the wall from the
water cylinder...

I've left the cupboard doors open & lifted the (50 year old) lino
flooring but the smell doesn't seem to be going away. The floorboards
& skirting appear dry & sound. My big worry is that we've got dry rot
under the floorboards. (The boards are part of a suspended floor over
a roughly 2 foot high, ventilated void in an Edwardian house).

I'm not sure if I should charge ahead, rip up the floorboards, run down
to B&Q & buy a chemical treatment or having read Jeff Howell (the Daily
Telegraph's buildings correspondent ) it seems that as the wood appears
sound & I've stopped the leak - maybe I don't need to panic? Should I
call a builder straight in?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Michael

Apologies - I've just noticed the other current thread about dry rot.

My situation is slightly different in that I'm reasonably confident
that I've stopped the source of the leak. Also I haven't found any
fungus (yet) - all I've got is a musty smell that's worrying me.

Michael

On 2006-10-03 09:57:13 +0100, said:


Over the summer my hot water cylinder sprung a tiny leak. When I
noticed it (probably after a month or 2) I had it replaced asap (about
2 1/2 weeks ago). The cylinder is in our kitchen & the wood floor,
which was wet, dried up after a few days. However there's now a musty
smell in the cupboard which is the other side of the wall from the
water cylinder...

I've left the cupboard doors open & lifted the (50 year old) lino
flooring but the smell doesn't seem to be going away. The floorboards
& skirting appear dry & sound. My big worry is that we've got dry rot
under the floorboards. (The boards are part of a suspended floor over
a roughly 2 foot high, ventilated void in an Edwardian house).

I'm not sure if I should charge ahead, rip up the floorboards, run down
to B&Q & buy a chemical treatment or having read Jeff Howell (the Daily
Telegraph's buildings correspondent ) it seems that as the wood appears
sound & I've stopped the leak - maybe I don't need to panic? Should I
call a builder straight in?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Michael

It's quite likely that in a couple of weeks that the underlying area
has not really fully dried out and that you simply need to wait a while.

It would also be surprising for dry rot to have established itself in a
month or two unless there is another source of moisture or lack of
ventilation.

At this point I would do four things:

- Continue to allow the cupboard etc. to dry out.

- Remove one section of floorboard in the cupboard and near the
cylinder and take a look under the floor - if nothing else for peace of
mind.

- Go outside and check that all air bricks are clear

- Check that the damp proof course isn't bridged by outside ground
level being too high.

wrote:

Apologies - I've just noticed the other current thread about dry rot.

My situation is slightly different in that I'm reasonably confident
that I've stopped the source of the leak. Also I haven't found any
fungus (yet) - all I've got is a musty smell that's worrying me.

Firstly let me clarify that I've never experienced dry rot first hand.

What I would say is that if it was me I'd certainly lift the
floorboards to see what is going on underneath. If there is a damp
smell, something is causing it.

Although I havn't experienced dry rot, I have experienced wet rot in
the form of rotten joists in a suspended floor. In my case the water
was from penetrating damp due to a bridged damp proof course and the
fact that the joists were in physical contact with the wall. I lifted
the whole floor (causing my wife to cry...) removed the rotten wood and
left it for weeks to dry out (more crying...).

The damp smell persisted for ages until I swept up the loose floor
covering, a dusty covering over the 'blinding layer' of concrete.
Removing this dusty layer removed the smell. After that was gone the
floor was gloriously smell free and utterly delightful.

I replaced all the timber with pressure treated stuff and ensured the
damp proof course was no longer bridged, removing the cause. (at this
point the crying stopped)

I'm not a betting man, but from what I've read and been told, true dry
rot is actually quite rare. Still worth visually inspecting it in my
opinion, but wait until you know what the situation is before engaging
a specialist or buying any expensive treatments.

--
Steve F

wrote:
Apologies - I've just noticed the other current thread about dry rot.

My situation is slightly different in that I'm reasonably confident
that I've stopped the source of the leak. Also I haven't found any
fungus (yet) - all I've got is a musty smell that's worrying me.


That will go as things dry out. Give it time.

By and large, rot stops when humidity goes down below a critical level.

The mustiness slowly fades.

A lot of 'mustoiness' may not in fact be wood rot as such - just mildews
on the surfaces of things.

Michael

Thanks for all of the advice - reading it I'm less worried than I was.
From the responses it sounds like if it's anything it's more likely to
be wet rot than dry rot, but I'll lift the floorboards in the cupboard
in the next day or so to get a better look.

As recommended - I've cleaned all of the airbricks & I've also
partially opened the access to the void to give more ventilation.

Thanks,

Michael