Dry rot

beautiful_ravens

Hi,
The landlords agent has just been round after I reported some repairs that were needed, and some areas of probable dry rot.
The agent looked at the 3 areas, and seemed not too bothered and just told me that dry rot needs moisture to live [I knew that].
Presumably if left unchecked, it will consume all the wood in the house?! This in itself isn't my problem exactly as I am renting, apart from the fact that the stair wall is wood and has dry rot at the bottom, could it get up into the steps? How fast does it 'spread' and what are the ways of getting rid of it [apart from drying it out til its dead] ?
Thanks

Doozergirl

beautiful_ravens wrote: »

Hi,
The landlords agent has just been round after I reported some repairs that were needed, and some areas of probable dry rot.
The agent looked at the 3 areas, and seemed not too bothered and just told me that dry rot needs moisture to live [I knew that].
Presumably if left unchecked, it will consume all the wood in the house?! This in itself isn't my problem exactly as I am renting, apart from the fact that the stair wall is wood and has dry rot at the bottom, could it get up into the steps? How fast does it 'spread' and what are the ways of getting rid of it [apart from drying it out til its dead] ?
Thanks

It needs a water source. It will only spread as far as the water does. If there is a persistent leak then it will continue to grow as long as there is water and as far as the water can soak in to the building fabric, but if the source of the water has gone then it shouldn't really spread much at all.

The agent is being quite a typical agent about it. Any landlord with dry rot should be concerned enough about their investment (even if they aren't bothered about their tenants!) to fix it.

Norman_Castle

How have you concluded this is dry rot?

beautiful_ravens

Well, the wood goes 'crackled', broken and dry, like a cadburys flake. Pull it off and look behind it, it looks like coffee powder dust. Some time ago I saw a weird, orangey/brown fungus looking thing appear from behind a skirting, which matched online pictures of dry rot. Later the skirting disintegrated.
Also the house is damp everywhere, and at some point someone made concrete skirtings in other rooms, so it may have been a problem before.

Doozergirl - Yes you'd think so, but the house is basically a source of revenue for a large old estate, the owners are a family and its a trust which runs the estate for them. Theres loads of these rented estate houses in all the nearby villages.
So the only thing they need to ensure is a constant tenancy and that the house is up to a reasonable living standard - I dont suppose the house itself is of great concern, more the income it brings in.
On the plus side I dont have to worry that they will come along and evict me because their son grew up and wants to move in or something!

Norman_Castle

beautiful_ravens wrote: »

Well, the wood goes 'crackled', broken and dry, like a cadburys flake. Pull it off and look behind it, it looks like coffee powder dust. Some time ago I saw a weird, orangey/brown fungus looking thing appear from behind a skirting, which matched online pictures of dry rot. Later the skirting disintegrated.
Also the house is damp everywhere, and at some point someone made concrete skirtings in other rooms, so it may have been a problem before.

That does sound like dry rot. Its ridiculous the owner is indifferent about it. It can spread through the whole house. As a tenant its not your problem to deal with. If the landlord does nothing about it keep an eye on structural wood such as floor boards and joists and the staircase. If these are weakened it could be dangerous for you.

Concrete skirting sounds horrendous.

beautiful_ravens

Yes the pictures of it online are terrifying! And so is the thought of the stairs collapsing.
At the moment, its under the front door, its near the back door in a wall between the bathroom and hall, and theres some under the stairs - my main concern as its very out of sight. I really want the landlord to agree to run big dehumidifiers for a week a year, but they wont entertain the idea of paying for anything regular like that, so it would be something Id have to budget for & do.
If Im right, you take away moisture from dry rot and it can't live? The only thing Ive witnessed that dried this house out is the big hired dehumidifiers we had in after a flood.
Is there any way of treating it beside drying it out? And if you dried it out and it died, then got damp, would it come back to life so to speak?

Concrete skirtings are horrible - they are not really straight, get mouldy easily, dont take paint very well and you cant take them off for any reason or nail a cableclip to them.

phil24_7

Write a letter to your agent stating your concerns (as clearly and concisely as possible). Also state that should anything happen to you, your health or your property they, and the owners will be held jointly and separately liable for any compensation and punitive damages. Send it recorded delivery and print and keep a copy for yourself.

I would also keep details of any works you have/need to do to keep this at bay including receipts and the amount of time spend. It may all come in handy at some point!

Norman_Castle

beautiful_ravens wrote: »

If Im right, you take away moisture from dry rot and it can't live? The only thing Ive witnessed that dried this house out is the big hired dehumidifiers we had in after a flood.
Is there any way of treating it beside drying it out? And if you dried it out and it died, then got damp, would it come back to life so to speak?

Apparently it needs a level of moisture to live. The brown dust are spores which spread the fungi and will develop if damp conditions return.

You mention a flood. Is it possible the house wasn't properly dried after this. My experience of dry rot is from a small but persistent leak. Is there any obvious cause to the dampness in your home?

beautiful_ravens

With regards the source of damp -

The front door gets condensation on it all the time, the colder the weather outside, the more water on the door. Despite me wiping it off each day, despite the heating on, it wont stop until unless the outside temp is 11 or above. I tend to turn the heating down when it warms up so I guess the temp equalises. This is one area I may be wrong about, it could be wet rot - the other day there was a kind of cotton wool mould growing there.

The back door/bathroom - there is a boxed in area behind the loo. This could very well be hiding a small leak, but, the bathroom walls 'sweat' and drips fall down to the skirting area, and the cistern and toilet get condensation on them which drips all over the floor.

The place that seems to have no direct source is under the stairs, I would not be surprised if damp was coming up from below. Mind you, its not that far from the front door across to the bottom of the stairs, maybe 2 foot.

Theres talk of my house being built on a spring, theres loads around here, but I did not get a spring coming up in the house during the flooding [someone else in the village did and it sounded awful, they had to drill a hole in it and let the water come out]

After the flood we had two large dehumidifiers in and they did dry everything, we ran them until no more water was being collected.

@Phil24-7
Yes good idea. Ive started emailing them instead of phoning, so there is a record of what Ive said with a date on, and I did state my concerns about the safety of the house in an email. It did seem to elicit more of a professional response than a phonecall. Their estate office is in walking distance, I used to go in there in person, or phone in, but only ever got a mild response. They really dont like hearing me mention the damp.

Norman_Castle

The condensation may be caused by the damp rather than causing it. Remove the box behind the toilet and check for leaks. Also check under the bath. Is there poor ventilation in the bathroom?
Is the ground floor floor boards on joists? Are there air brick outside that need clearing?

With wet rot the wood is wet and soft. This could be caused by permanent condensation.

For your health I would change the air in the house at least twice a day. Open numerous doors and windows and all the internal doors and let the outside air blow through for 10 minutes. It will cost a bit in heat but the fabric of the building will hold its heat.
This should help reduce the moisture level in the house.

beautiful_ravens

Thanks for your answer, the bathroom window is ajar all day all year to increase ventilation. Its a weird little extension with a shed on the other side, with no sign of insulation in its loft as the ceiling is incredibly mould prone, and the outside 'wall' has kind of wood cladding over it so Ive no idea what kind of wall it actually is.

Ill have a look round for leaks, but Ive more of a feeling it will be rising or penetrating damp plus condensation.

Does airing the whole house really work? What does it do, take out the damp air?