In the summer, you may feel that disregarding thoughts of timber treatment and dry rot issues is sensible. Moisture levels are down, the heat is up and what could possibly cause the timber in and around your property to develop a damp related issue?

You kick back, relax and feel the gentle breeze as it tickles past.

Attention!

The summer is the most high-risk time for dry rot, Serpula lacrymans, to develop quickly and yield devastating results for your timber and your pocket. Dry rot needs damp, air and food to flourish and after a wet winter and spring the increased heat of summer provides the optimum breeding ground.

• Dry rot requires around 20% moisture to exist.
• Spores are in the air all the time and are virtually invisible.
• Spores need damp timber to embed themselves in.
• The cellulose in the wood is the fungi’s food source.
• The dry rot fungus fruits and produces spores in a continual cycle and this expands the dry rot’s affected area.
• You may see red-brown spore dust if the fruit bursts.
• Dry rot can be caused by a variety of issues including broken drainage, blocked guttering, a lack of ventilation, a neglected room or leaking window frame that the winter weather has caused damp in.
• It may exist in the least obvious of places, a dark corner, a closed off cupboard, in the floorboards or behind wall panelling. This means that dry rot which requires timber treatment may go unnoticed for a compromising period of time.
• Good housekeeping, a watchful approach and regularly scheduled inspections make dry rot treatment less probable.
• If you have any doubts or suspicions about whether your property’s timber is affected by dry rot and/or is weak, smells mushroomy and when uncovered displays a cream-white veined fungal growth that cracks paintwork, then please contact a leading dry rot specialist like Thames Valley Timber Treatment.

Dry rot treatment

Don’t hesitate to contact professionals for a diagnosis and timber treatment. The longer that the dry rot is established and spreading the more damage it is likely to do, this generally increases the bill. Most importantly, dry rot left unchecked can cause serious structural issues.

Qualified and experienced dry rot specialists visit your property and carry out a thorough survey to discover the severity of the issue. This survey looks at affected and potentially susceptible areas, this is for safety and service level maximisation. It is not intended to scare clients or to increase the bill unnecessarily.

Dry rot specialists won’t carry out any timber treatment until the cause of the problem moisture levels is addressed. e.g. Better ventilation, floor/roof repairs, new installation or the repair of faulty plumbing.

When the area has dried out, either the damaged timber is removed to a sound level and replaced or the whole timber is replaced with treated timber.

Dry rot treatment is guaranteed for decades and many timber treatment firms work in partnership with chemical specialists so that you can enjoy peace of mind again, whatever the season.