Dry rot

Dry rot

Dry rot can affect buildings of all ages and if decay is discovered it should be identified and remedial action taken without delay. 

Whether a modest basement flat or an important listed country house, dry rot can rapidly destroy timbers and building fabrics, leaving owners with extensive repairs that result in significant disturbance. Where it occurs, consequences can be serious if not tackled properly.  It can spread rapidly and will destroy timbers to sustain itself and regenerate by producing large numbers of spores.

Find local dry rot specialists >>

What sort of potential damage can dry rot do?

If left untreated and the conditions remain favourable, dry rot can cause extensive damage causing the disintegration of large structural timbers as well as skirting boards and window linings.

Dry rot can lead to the total collapse of building structures.

1. How it Occurs - The beginning

Microscopic spores are by dispersed by air currents. If they fall on damp wood and the right conditions persist they can germinate.

3. How it Occurs - How it feeds

Dry rot will grow through certain structural types such as masonry. It will grow away from the timber it is feeding from and will move through even very small cracks in search of new timber to colonise and feed upon. 

5. How it Occurs - The fruiting body

After a period of growth, feeding and if in the right condition; fruiting bodies will eventually appear. Mature fruiting bodies will produce millions of additional spores that will eventually be released into the air that will begin the dry rot life cycle again.