Dry Rot Problem

becky_sleaf

Hi All,

I live in a rented terraced house & last year we discovered we had a dry rot problem (As a professional said it was the worst case he had ever seen!)

To cut a long story short they said it would basically be a case of ripping up the entire front room floor (Also has a wood worm problem they said) Treating it & new floor etc.

Well as you can imagine my landlord was non to happy with that & said it was rubbish & that he would treat it. So they came round got rid of all the white cobweb like stuff,put some stuff on the walls & said that would sort it.

Well it has been alot better but by no means has it completly gone. I ring him every so often to tell him it's back & they come & put something on it & off they go again.

Now my problem is that it's now appeared om the skirting board behind my tv unit & there is alot of what looks like a brown dust under the tv unit (I'm really a tidy person so I know it's not just dust!)

I've just sent my landlord another message to let him know but in all honesty I don't want to carry on with this. It needs sorting properly!

So...My questions are:

How do I get him to sort it properly when they said it would cost around £5000! I'd have no living room floor for up to a week. (I can live with that just)

Also what are the health implications? I have a 5 month old baby & there's myself & hubby.

As a tenant can I get help in making him do something about this?

Is it a serious enough problem to go & seek advice from the council or who ever necessary?

I forgot to say that we've already had a piece of skirting board & a couple of floor boards replaced as they had been affected by this...I didn't discover it though until I moved a pretty big bookcase & found that it was all rotten!
Landlord never even offered to replace it either.

Thanks...Sorry it's a long one! :eek:

ukwoody

Dry rot is spread by incredibly long thin strands called filaments which spread metres! That is the cob webby type stuff you see, buit what you see is only about 60% of the problem as it's so fine, it buries itself into wood and plaster, seeking moisture.
The ONLY way to totally remove it ins severe cases is to remove all skirting boards, hack off the plaster to a height of 1 metre, treat with killer, and replace with new timber and plaster.
The floor will often also have to be totally removed although sometimes you can treat sections.
It sounds like a severe case to me from what you describe. Now the problem is also what is causing it? For dry rot to survive and thrive it needs moisture. Therfore there has to be a problem with either airflow under the floor, or some form of damp - possibly rising. That needs to be dealt with or the problems will return.
Health wise, dry rot is not good for you at all, as in the air will be millions of microscopic spores and mycelia, that for some poeple can cause illness and can certainly aggrivate Asthma and Bronchitis. In the States, houses are condemed for it, thougnh we do not take it that far in Europe.

In your case I would be seeking the advice of the council as Landlords now have "Duty of Care" in relation to their tennants, and I have concerns he may not be meeting them. The council can send round inpsectors in most authories who will judge if the house is livable, needs work, whatever. Your landlord can then be forced to carry out the remedial work.

The quote of £5000 seems a bit dear, I would have expected about £3000, but it could be correct depending on exactly what they have found, how far it has spread, and the course of action thewy are wishing to take.

Either way, to have it as bad as you say, is not particulalry good!
Woody

Doozergirl

I'd move house. It's such a massive job to get rid of that you wouldn't feasibly be able to live in the mess created.

Even hacking off to one metre isn't necessarily going to find all of it - it goes where it will. When we removed it from a house it was literally everywhere. Walls, joists, we had to lose so much decorative coving and there was barely a scrap of plaster left on the walls and it was an absolutely HUGE house. You could see right from the floor to the ceiling at one point, it had to be stripped back so far.

It's the worst thing that could be wrong with a house, IMO

becky_sleaf

Thanks for getting back to me. I'm going to call the council & seek advice.

I think what's bothered me is having to re find a deposit first months rent etc for somewhere else.

I know it's not good enough what they've been doing & it need's sorting properly! But I think I know deep down he's not going to sort it properly! AHHHH! :mad:

daveyjp

He's only putting off a problem which will get significantly worse as time goes on and for that he is a fool. He is putting you in danger as it can affect any timber in the house- floor joists, staircases etc etc.

Call your Council's housing department and speak to someone who deals with tenants in private sector lettings.

Doozergirl

daveyjp wrote: »

He's only putting off a problem which will get significantly worse as time goes on and for that he is a fool. He is putting you in danger as it can affect any timber in the house- floor joists, staircases etc etc.

Very true. I went to view a house once wearing heels. My heels were consistantly dropping through the boards they were that rotten. Even trying to walk on your tip toes you sometimes have to put your heels down lightly and evey time my heel was crunching though something :eek:

Bargain at the £600,000 odd they were asking for it. Had a MASSIVE crack running right through it as well. :rolleyes:

becky_sleaf

Well thankyou for the advice.

They turned up this morning & were here for a good 1.5-2 hours. They have put air vents in to the cellar & replaced the joist from what I can gather. The most that has been done really!

We have decided to just look for somewhere else. After living here for 3+ years we are ready. I also know that what they have done today still won't have solved the problem! So that's the final nail in the coffin so to speak.