Dry Rot -how to treat

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liteweight

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We've just discovered dry rot in our bedroom. Any suggestions as to how this is treated. Can anyone recommend contractor who deals with this. Any idea of costs?

Is it possible to DIY job? Any help, advice, gratefully received. Have looked through other threada but nothing relevant.
 
liteweight said:
We've just discovered dry rot in our bedroom. Any suggestions as to how this is treated. Can anyone recommend contractor who deals with this. Any idea of costs?

Is it possible to DIY job? Any help, advice, gratefully received. Have looked through other threada but nothing relevant.
Click to expand...

It could be possible to treat it yourself - the key is to find the source of moisture that is feeding the fungus (leaking downpipe or similar). Contrary to its name the fungus requires water to survive, cut that off and you kill it. Beware of dry-rot treatments, they won't stop the source of the problem and may end up slowly poisoning you! (Check out permethrin, I don't think I'd want to put it in my house).

You may need to replace structural timbers that are too far gone, check with an engineer if you are worried.
 
bankrupt said:
It could be possible to treat it yourself - the key is to find the source of moisture that is feeding the fungus (leaking downpipe or similar). Contrary to its name the fungus requires water to survive, cut that off and you kill it. Beware of dry-rot treatments, they won't stop the source of the problem and may end up slowly poisoning you! (Check out permethrin, I don't think I'd want to put it in my house).

You may need to replace structural timbers that are too far gone, check with an engineer if you are worried.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that bankrupt.........I think I may be sharing your name, if the quotes I've gotten have anything to do with it!!

Think its too big a job for DIY. Neighbours bay filled with water a couple of months ago due to a blocked drainpipe. The pipe had a join in it and when the blockage was shifted, the pipe split due to force of water. The red brick walls became saturated and, to make matters worse, it continued to rain heavily for the next week. Water came through brick into room. We removed the wet plaster and allowed the room to dry out (or so we thought) and then had it re-plastered.

Unfortunately, the neighbour did not fix the problem even though we thought they had. In recent weeks we noticed the new plaster becoming damp but were not sure if this was just drying out. Then, this morning, we took down the heavy curtains in the bay and were really shocked at the state of the window. The wooden lintel is completely gone and the bricks its supporting have started to sag. Dry rot has moved up and under the cornices so I suppose they'll have to be replaced. Sad about that because they are 100 years old but what can you do.

We've called our insurance company and they're sending an assessor out ASAP but we're going on holiday in a couple of days! We approached the neighbours but they seem to have suffered sudden memory loss about the incident even though household insurance operates under a no blame policy and each householder's insurer pays half of cost.

I'm worried now that even if we have the problem sorted, the rot will just creep in again from next door. Am also worried about the treatments that will be used as I have an intolerance to most chemicals.

All in all not a great day!
 
liteweight said:
I'm worried now that even if we have the problem sorted, the rot will just creep in again from next door. Am also worried about the treatments that will be used as I have an intolerance to most chemicals.
Click to expand...

Dry rot won't just "creep in," it requires moisture to survive, remove that and it will disappear. I suggest you avoid the chemical treatments too, if you remove the moisture there should be no need for them.

The key is just to remove the source of water, or perhaps an impermeable barrier that is preventing the wood from drying out?
 
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