Dry Rot Returned after Builder Repairs

“Dry Rot causes millions of pounds worth of damage to properties annually”.

By far the most common problem or defect in houses - how can we eradicate it? We provide a summary of how our services help identify the problem and recommend the best action.

Our following research shows how some people have been really affected by the problem of dry rot.  We give examples of dry rot in a house, dry rot in a commercial property and dry rot in a church, what next!

Dry Rot in a House 

“I bought my house three years ago and when I moved in I found the porch roof was leaking. I made a claim on my home insurance for this and they paid out. I now have dry rot in the porch presumably as a result of this leak. Do you think the insurance company should pay out for this? They are saying that they do not think a leaking roof would cause dry rot.”

Dry Rot in a Business

”I rent a shop with a full repairing lease. The building is approx 100 years old. 6 months ago I had to pay out for repairs for dry rot. The builders replaced the affected floorboards and timber frames and re-plastered the affected masonry. They also sprayed the area with a chemical. They guessed it may have been caused by an overflowing drain on the outside of the building, this was rectified and they also installed 2 airbricks into the outside wall as there was no ventilation under the floor. The dry rot has now reappeared on an inside wall about 2 feet away from where they sprayed up to”.

Dry Rot in a Church

“Tomorrow the Bishop of Lichfield will lead the congregation back into Ingestre Church in Staffordshire, claimed as the only parish church outside London designed by Sir Christopher Wren. Three years ago the 150 parishioners were faced with the unexpected discovery of dry rot and an estimate of £500,000 for repairs”

What is Dry Rot

Dry rot is a crumbling and drying of timber caused by a fungus. It is called Serpula lacrymenas. It is common and expensive to fix.  It affects properties with old timber in the roofing. A Victorian one bedroom flat in Clapham was failed on a survey because of damp coming in through what we call a London roof which is shaped like a 'V'. Damp coming in from either end of the roof was causing dry rot. How can this be treated as Timber is expensive? Not to our surprise we found a mixture of old and new timber in the roof.

As mentioned dry rot is the most common problem in properties in the U.K, it requires a certain level of mositure to spread.  It eats away at the cellulose in the wood which causes it to shrink and break. It usually appears as grey or white strands in the wood. Other ways of sensing dry rot apart from the colouring of the wood are by smell and fungal growths. It really is ugly!  But what  if you don’t treat it!

You can also usually find dry rot in cellars, underfloor areas, kitchen sinks and around sanitary fittings These are areas not too cold and badly ventilated similar to a roof with poor insulation!   I recently found out how much a good cellar being built can add immense value to a property (ten thousand).  Dry Rot spreads through ceilings plaster and joists.  Sometimes it appears in walls meaning irrigation has to be used with a chemical barrier to stop it spreading. It can involve removing plaster and using a blow torch to remove strands. Heat treatment is however not recommended. It can also involve removing floorboards and plaster and cutting inspection holes. What a burden!

How to Get Rid of Dry Rot

Getting rid of dry rot is not just as easy as cutting away the timber, one of the challenges is to stop it spreading. 

Normally as surveyors one would recommend timber decaying specialists visit your house to determine the root and how to get rid of it.

Here are some methods researched to help eliminate the problem:

There are various methods. You can repair the dry rot, by cutting back the timber and eliminating the damp. You can fill holes and voids with putty like moulding mortar. For missing ends or mid spans you can use timber resin splice. These are timber units treated with a spray and gel and paste to fill the wood.

The other way is to drill back the wood and determine the moisture content and extent and then apply boron paste gel and ultra 12. You can remove all the decay by the drilling before applying the fix. Probably the best way is to eradicate the problem from the start by preventing rising damp and treat the timber to boron gel, paste and spray and then apply a special dry rot paint to prevent the spread. For example you could have logs on a house featuring the rot and prevent the spread by applying the boron using paint and grout. This provides long term protection and is cheaper than dealing with the issue later.

Please note equipment used can be hazardous so special clothing must be worn and the right people must be consulted! Start with 1stAssociated.co.uk!

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