Dry Rot

One of the worst things that can happen to your home is to have dry rot. Dry rot destroys wood and makes it extremely brittle. As such, if any part of your home is affected by dry rot, this part can become highly unstable and dangerous.

What Is Dry Rot?

To better understand dry rot, it is important to know what it is and how it occurs. Dry rot is a wood destroying fungus (Serpula lacryman). The fungus eats and digests the cellulose component of the wood and leaves it in a dry, weak and brittle state.

Dry rot is caused by dampness occurring simultaneously with the absence of ventilation. These are the ideal conditions for the fungus to grow and eventually result in a fungal attack.

While it is called dry rot, the fungus requires moisture to thrive. However, it demands much less moisture as compared to a wet rot.

Why Is Dry Rot Harmful?

Dry rot is quite dangerous as it can spread quickly and affect multiple parts of a structure or a house. The most common target of dry rot is wood. It is one of the primary causes of severe wood decay.

This does not mean though that dry rot only grows on wooden structures or surfaces. Given the ideal conditions where this fungus thrives, it can also exist on brickwork and masonry. Hence, dry rot can cause structural damage to the parts of the house with brickwork and masonry. In addition, it may also affect other materials like fabric and carpet if they are in the area affected by dampness.

While dry rot itself doesn’t cause health problems, the conditions that make dry rot possible like the dampness of the structure means that there is most likely the presence of mould as well. Mould growth is definitely a health hazard.

Perhaps, the structural decay caused by dry rot is its most harmful effect. This is because it poses as a huge safety risk to everyone living or occupying the affected structure.

Simply put, dry rot issues must be addressed immediately to avoid health problems and costly damages to your property.

How Do You Detect Dry Rot?

To know if your house has this type of fungus, you need to seek the help of people specialising in dry rot treatment. Often, properties which are old have high probability of having dry rot.

Determining if dry rot is present can be difficult if you are not an expert. For one, distinguishing which part of the house is affected can be impossible to do if you have no training or prior experience in this kind of task. This is because a part with dry rot may sometimes look the same as unaffected wood. In this case, some experts may recommend lab testing of the suspected affected material to detect the presence of dry rot. In its more advanced state, the fungus is easy to spot because you would see brown spore dust on the affected wood.

How to Treat, Control and Solve Dry Rot

Effectively treating dry rot entails getting rid of the damp problem. Currently, a plethora of products is available in the market for treating damp and all the issues that come with it including dry rot. Furthermore, there are multiple techniques employed to address the problem like waterproofing, re-plastering or increasing ventilation. Meanwhile, affected wooden structures in the house may need to be replaced to prevent dry rot from spreading and causing further damage to the house.

It is important to note that this task should only be done by experts to ensure that the root cause of the problem is eliminated. Furthermore, addressing the issue on your own can make the situation worse and further weaken the structural integrity of the affected building or house.

Need dry rot treatment? Let professionals do the job for lasting results. Call us today at 0867907555!

Dry rot, when left untreated, can damage your property and cause you to spend thousands of euros on repair. More importantly, it can compromise the structural integrity of your house, making it an unsafe place for you and your family to live in.

So, do not neglect any dry rot issue in your house. Make sure that you treat it immediately. Get the help of a professional dry rot treatment specialist. Make sure you choose the best one in Ireland to ensure excellent service. But before we discuss how you’d find the top dry rot treatment specialist, let’s learn more about dry rot – telltale signs of its presence and how to treat it.

Signs of Dry Rot in the House

Dry rot pertains to timbre decay caused by Serpula lacrymans, a type of wood-destroying fungus which is found all over the world. It is famously known for targeting timbre forests as well as wood in buildings and ships.

You should not ignore the presence of dry rot in your house. Wood with dry rot can become brittle. Furthermore, it can quickly spread, even through non-wooden materials of the house. When dry rot becomes widespread, extensive structural damage can happen. Your house may even collapse! This can be very dangerous for you and other people living in the house.

So, to preserve your house and ensure your safety, make sure that you immediately address any dry rot problem. Before you could do this though, you need to be aware of the signs of dry rot presence in your home.

The most common indicator of dry rot is a musty or damp odour. Other usual signs include mycelium growth (grey and cotton wool-like in appearance) and  the presence of soft fruiting bodies with a pizza-like colour (rusty deep red or orange-ochre spores) and wide pores.

The fungi remove the moisture from the wood causing it to dry out. As a result, the affected timbre darkens, becoming covered in silky grey skin with lilac and yellow tinges. The wood shrinks, turns brittle and eventually cracks.

Choosing the Best Dry Rot Treatment Specialist

Admittedly, diagnosing a dry rot problem is not something anyone could do. This task requires expertise. This is why, you need to hire a dry rot treatment specialist to carry out a survey and to remedy any dry rot problem in your house.

It should not be difficult for you to find a company offering damp treatment services since there are a lot of them. However, if you want real results, you need to carefully select your service provider.

Do not choose a company just because it is the first one you found or because it offers cheap rates. If you want this fungi problem completely eliminated, pick a dry rot treatment specialist with an excellent reputation – one with a proven track record of effectively eliminating dry rot and damp-proofing a house.

To know if the company renders first-rate service, you can ask people you know for feedback. You can also get first-hand information from previous clients. How? You can check online business directories as well as the company’s website where client reviews or testimonials are posted.

Apart from checking feedback, you can also interview the company to learn more about them. Ask about their people, tools and services. Remember, a reputable dry rot treatment company has trained and experienced people and uses the best tools and products. Furthermore, they can confidently and clearly explain to their potential clients how they diagnose and treat dry rot issues.

Looking for the best dry rot treatment specialist in Ireland? Call us at 01 – 8417716 (telephone) or 086 – 7907555 (mobile) today!

Where Dry Rot is active in a home, it can cause numerous serious problems and may pose a danger to the safety of those inhabiting the property. Gradually, Dry Rot weakens the timber which it affects and can cause it to collapse. Where a staircase or floor is made from timber, this can mean that the stair or floor can collapse, causing obvious damage to the property and a risk of serious injury to you.

Dry Rot Treatments

We specialise in the prevention and treatment of Dry Rot. In any case where Dry Rot is discovered, it is essential to act quickly. Dry Rot decay is a progressive defect, meaning that it will spread and worsen in time if untreated. If the decay is found quickly, it then might be possible to save more of the timber, thus lowering the overall costs of the Dry Rot treatments.

Where small outbreaks of the decay are found, it might be possible to save the timbers which are affected, so early treatment of Dry Rot is essential. However, where the decay is as serious as that pictured, replacement of the timber is almost inevitable, which can be costly.

Dry Rot Specialists in Dublin

We are specialists in the treatment and prevention of Dry Rot decay. Where you suspect that Dry Rot is affecting your home, we advise that you contact us as soon as possible – call us at 01 – 8417716 (telephone) or 086 – 7907555 (mobile) today.