Dry rot

by **azaman** » Wed Sep 21, 2011 8:41 am

I discovered dry rot on a whole old gable end which is now center of the house as a new extension has been built on end.
I have uncovered the all walls following the dry rot back to to the brick work except on old gable external wall which has very hard render try removing that but so hard the bricks start to break.
What can i do to treat the white roots that have grown (looks as if they are dead now, how do i get rid off them?
What if there is any treatment out there?

I have called a number of company's but i am not confident with as they quotes are no where near each other or their advice is more to telling of their treatment will cure as to what they are proposing to do? and how?
other then then i can get extra cover 20 years grantee for X amount of extra cash.

I be grateful if someone can guide in the right direction.

by **njgriffiths** » Wed Sep 21, 2011 4:59 pm

Hi Azaman,

As qualified building surveyors, we recomend that, with all dry rot, you must try and find the source of the moisture that is feeding the dry rot and hyphae (white roots as you call them). Dry rot cannot will not continue growing or spreading if there is no source of moisture. Yes dry can lay dormant for years, and all hypae should be treated and removed. All dry rot affected timber should be removed to extent of atleast 1 m back from the nearest point of attack. All brickwork within 1m of the dry rot outbreak should be treated with a fungicidal spray to kill off any remaining spores. I suggest you spray your walls with the fungicdal spray. I do recomend also that a experienced dry rot treatment company carries this out.

by **welsh brickie** » Thu Sep 22, 2011 6:08 am

first thing is to identify if it is dry rot,If it is all the roots must be cleared and all the tools used to remove it must be cleaned as it can spread to other areas.
Call your local enviromental health authority for advise, usually the local council will give you a price for the removal and treatment.

by **azaman** » Thu Sep 22, 2011 8:25 am

thanks for the advice, proceeding as planned, reveling all dry rot and removing bad timber replacing with treated timber and making structure sound and when i am ready i'll call the company i'll choose to treat the walls. the moisture source has been located, low water level in ground. Put a auto pump tank and in process added new new external vents. very hard to do.

Many thanks for the replies.

by **marydoll** » Thu Apr 05, 2012 4:11 pm

Msg for nj griffiths read your last post about dry rot have a few Qs regarding long term dry rot, can you reply thank u.

by **Refresh PSC** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 12:44 pm

One major point that has been missed is that ventilation is also extremely important when it comes to dry rot as improving ventilation will reduce the risk of re-occurance. Dry rot prefers wet, un-ventilated areas. If you can improve both these factors then the occurence of dry rot is unlikely.

Again, I could go on for a long time explaining everything there is about Dry Rot (Serpula Lacrymans) but I would advise reading the below link for a better understanding of this fungus, its causes and cures.
http://www.safeguardeurope.com/pdf_datasheets/dry_rot_book.pdf