Mushroom funghi growing in house...

quietheart

Our dishwasher has been leaking and mushrooms are growing behind it and through to the outside wall.
Is it just a case of getting the dishwasher fixed and the wall dried out or do we need specialist damp help?

keith969

Sounds like you may have dry rot. You will probably need to get a specialist in to make sure its eradicated properly as it can spread very quickly. And get the leak fixed asap.

loracan1

My elderly dishwasher started leaking last September, spread out underneath the laminate floor - which started growing a mushroom-like fungi from underneath it. Floor is asphalt. There was nothing growing behind the washer, just in front of it. After removing both the dishwasher and floor there's been no reappearance whatsoever.

quietheart

keith969 wrote: »

Sounds like you may have dry rot. You will probably need to get a specialist in to make sure its eradicated properly as it can spread very quickly. And get the leak fixed asap.

it doesn't look like dry rot at all, just mushroomy where the leak is. why do you think dry rot?

quietheart

loracan1 wrote: »

My elderly dishwasher started leaking last September, spread out underneath the laminate floor - which started growing a mushroom-like fungi from underneath it. Floor is asphalt. There was nothing growing behind the washer, just in front of it. After removing both the dishwasher and floor there's been no reappearance whatsoever.

the way the floor is tiled against the cupboards it seems it's been leaking a while without us knowing so hopefully repairing the dishwasher and gettings the moisure removed will solve the problem. thanks.

David_Aldred

Is the floor a suspended timber floor or solid floor ? Can you post a photo of the mushrooms / damage ? Kindest regards David Aldred Independent damp and timber surveyor

quietheart

David_Aldred wrote: »

Is the floor a suspended timber floor or solid floor ? Can you post a photo of the mushrooms / damage ? Kindest regards David Aldred Independent damp and timber surveyor

It's a solid floor. we have removed the internal growths, the external pics are here -
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa147/withnail1969/003.jpg
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa147/withnail1969/002.jpg
many thanks for taking the time to help.

David_Aldred

Hi Quietheart,
Thank you for posting the pics which is much better as an aid than trying to describe them in writing. The fungus in the photos is consistent with Plaster fungi Peziza species, that are found on damp brickwork and plaster. These fungi feed on surface detritus or organic material included in walls such as bituminised felt damp proof courses or hair within old plasters. These are non wood rotting fungi not to be confused with dry or wet rot fruiting bodies and are typically found in situations as you have described where there is leakage. The primary remedial treatment is to locate and remove the source of dampness which you have done and remove the fungi themselves / let them die off.

If adjacent timber internally is wet then it should be dried down as quickly as possible to under the threshold of decay (20-22%) and monitored for any signs of wood decay during this period. Boron preservatives applied to such timber may be of use to offer limited protection against decay during the drying down phase or you may want to temporarily remove the wood skirting and any other wood at risk during the drying down phase and re-fit / re-new with pre-treated timber once the wall is acceptably dry.

The wall itself will naturally dry down at best at a rate of 25mm wall thickness per calender month once the leakage has been resolved so an outside wall may take several months to dry down. Be mindful that during the drying down phase the plaster may degrade if salts from the wall material leach into the plaster and contaminate it at which point the plaster would not recover and would need to be renewed to a specification able to hold back salts within the wall along with any residual dampness. Leakage / plumbing failure of this nature which it is reasonable to say that you would not be immediately aware of is often covered by your insurance and it may be worth checking your policy in respect of this as obviously it would be better for the insurer to fund any remedial works rather than yourself.

Hope this helps, kindest regards David Aldred Independent damp and timber surveyor

quietheart

Thanks David for such valuable input.
We have a dehumidifier on where the damage is. There is a skirting board, I haven't been able to remove the dishwasher yet I'm calling someone out tomorrow so I'm not sure how wet it is, the wood to either side is dry and no damage is visible. How long would we need to monitor for wood decay?
Thanks also for the insurance tip, I guess it depends how costly this is going to get....
Do you feel we can manage this ourselves without involvement of a damp expert (other than yourself of course!)

David_Aldred

Hi again Quietheart,
Thanks for the kind words, if you leave the wood in contact with the wall it will be at risk of decay for as long as the wall is damp which as indicated above when there has been leakage enough to cause the plaster fungus the masonry will be saturated and consequently the risk remains for many months during the drying down period.

Consequently although you do not according to yourself have visible dry or wet rot at present the wood will be at risk of developing such over the drying down period. When the wood is very wet the risk is wet rot and then as the moisture content reduces with drying down there will be a phase where the risk of dry rot also becomes high until the wood eventually drys down to a moisture content under the threshold of decay.

With a solid floor the water could have run down any gaps between the wall and the floor where they join and the floor slab itself may have become wet. All of this moisture entering the floor / wall joint wetting the floor slab may feed moisture like a resevoir back into timber sat on top of this point during the drying down phase and hence the recommendation to remove the wood and let the wall / floor slab dry down, then re-fit / renew rather than simply leave the wood in place and wet / at risk of decay for a long period of time.

Dry and wet rot spores are in the air all the time and think of them like seeds looking for timber of a certain moisture content to germinate upon. Remove the moisture and decay will not occur and if it has previously occurred due to wet woood if you dry the timber down sufficiently that decay will die out irrespective of whether it is dry or wet rot and irrespective of whether preservative is applied or not. It is the moisture content that is the key to controlling / preventing decay and not preservatives.

In addition in my experience leage of this type often does indeed degrade the plaster over time as the moisture dries out from the wall into the plaster it brings with it salts from within the wall and deposits them within the plaster as the moisture vents off the wall surface.

This accumulation of salts degrdes the plaster over time and as you might be aware if you leave salt out in a kitchen it absorbs moisture from the air and goes damp. In the same way salt contaminated plaster may not dry down simply because it will absorb moisture from the air and accordingly the possibility it will need replacement.

In view of the above what may appear currently a not too serious issue visibly could well degrde over time such that you end up with wood decay, degraded plaster that stays damp because of the salt that has migrated into it and degraded finishes. This is why it may be prudent to hand the issue over to your insurer with a quote from your plumber explaining the leakage and a recommendation to address damp / degraded plaster and timber at risk.

If you leave it without notifying your insurer you may be lucky and get away with it and everything dry down okay but chances are you may not ,at which point it is no good a few months later then getting in touch with your insurer as they will quite rightly say why did you not contact us as soon as you became aware of the problem.

As with anything to do with insurers photograph everything with date stamped camera before doing anything and make sure everything is documented in writing of who did what and when. As regards getting a damp person in local to you then certainly it would not do any harm for them to do a report to back up your claim. Kindest regards David Aldred Independent damp and timber surveyor

quietheart

I see it could well become a serious issue in time. I will check out the insurance details and go from there. There are water pipes up against the skirting so it wouldn't be easy to remove them, the more people involved the more it will cost so I guess a claim is the way forward.
Thanks once more for taking the time to share your expertise it's really appreciated and may well have saved me from bigger problems ahead. :T