Dry Rot

[Julie Clare]

We have had a persistent damp patch in our downstairs bedroom ever since we bought our house in the Morvan (10 years ago). Last year we decided to remove the plaster and let the wall breath.  On arriving at our place for the first time this year, the wall that we had left to ``breath'', was covered in a brown cobweb -like fungus with a topping of white in places.  We brushed this off, but there are stringy bits coming out of the wall, rather like roots.  I consulted our trusty Readers Digest book of DIY, and the picture in there indicates we have dry rot.  Could someone tell me what the French for dry rot is, so that I can buy the appropriate treatment for it, and also is this a job we can tackle ourselves as we have not got pots of cash to play with !!

Many thanks.

[Ian Hoare<br>All the best<br>Ian<br>La Souvigne Corrèze<br>http:www.souvigne.com]

Hi,

You asked about dry rot. For some reason this is relatively rare in France, but according to my trusty Harraps, the french for it is Carie seche or Pourriture seche de bois.

I've not seen dry rot fluids for sale in french DIY shops, though you might be able to find some.

Please don't shoot the messenger, but I should tell you that dry rot is extremely serious, and should be dealt with properly and professionally. A bad attack can destroy ALL the timber in a house relatively quickly. Beams, roof rafters, floor boards, skirtings, everything that's wood and not well ventilated.

As the Readers Digest says, you need to find out the origins of the attack and remove the fungus wherever it starts from. The myceliae can travel several feet through brickwork and under plaster in search of more wood to attack. As your DIY book will say, you need to remove all affected wood 1 metre beyond the furthest visible signs of infection. All wood in the vicinity will need to be treated with a suitable fungicide, the plaster hacked back to 1 metre beyond the furthest spread of mycelia (both sides of the wall, even if no attack is visible on the other side), and the wall sterilised with a suitable fungicide. Finally the cause of the moisture penetration MUST ba tackled.

I have had dry rot in my house and treatment was within my scope, though it wan't easy, nor pleasant. I've not seen or heard of specialist treatment firms, though that isn't to say they don't exist. Try doing a  french google search for traitment pourriture seche and see what turns up. Best of luck. and DO under all circumstances eradicate it. You can't just carry out cosmetic work and hope for the best.

[Ian Hoare<br>All the best<br>Ian<br>La Souvigne Corrèze<br>http:www.souvigne.com]

Hi Julie

To reply on the forum, which is probably the best, as it will allow others to chime in and also to see my continuing reply, you just click on the "Add Reply" button, just above and to the left of the post you're reading (unfortunately the software doesn't let you select the post or part post and quote it).

I shall be taking the liberty of copying this reply to the forum, by the way. I hope you don't mind.

Now then, replying to your questions.

You said.

I was worried that we might have a big problem on our hands here.

You have. Dry rot is no laughing matter at all. It can travel at the rate of 12cms a week, if it's happy!

Because of this, the House is locked up for long stretches and ventilation is a problem. we do have a French neighbour up the road who holds a key and airs the place from time to time, but I don't know how often that is.

When I talked about "unventilated wood", I literally meant that dry rot doesn't attack a _surface_ that is exposed to the air. However, taking skirting boards as an example; if the dry rot reaches the back of a skirting board having travelled through the brick wall behind it, it will bring in enough moisture TO the board to enable it to attack it, and will travel along the skirting board destroying as it goes, all except for the very front face. It will travel down to the floor boards and from there to the floor joists. It will also go round the door architraves and so on.

So ventilating the house now is utterly useless. You really should treat this with extreme urgency.

airflow.  For some reason they were blocked off by the previous occupant. Anyway, I will do as you suggest and trawl the internet for information 'French' style.

I didn't see TOO much, when I had a brief look. I should mention that you MUST notify putative buyers if you know a house you're selling has it - that's how seriously it's taken here in France. I suggest that you go down to your local Mairie and ask them whether they can find the names of any company treating "Pourriture Seche de bois". By the way, all attacked wood should be burnt "sur place" to prevent the spores escaping and helping the fungus to spread.

Sorry again to be the bearer of bad news, but the church we used to go to in London got dry rot in the roof and the whole place had to be condemned. It really is a killer, and the sooner it is tacked the better chance you have to helping your house survive. 

[Julie Clare]

Thanks Ian,

  Yes, we burnt some suspect skirting boards last year. I will take the rest off when we go back down. In the meantime I will see whether I can email the Mairie and get some info. I also have my Pages Jaunes with me so I will look in there.

Many thanks

Julie

[Ian Hoare<br>All the best<br>Ian<br>La Souvigne Corrèze<br>http:www.souvigne.com]

Hi,

Sorry to use the forum for a private message. To whoever it was that sent me a private email with a 13 Mb attachment, I'm afraid that due to a false manoeuvre I didn't keep your address. I'm afraid that I junked the file, as with dial up, it would have taken me around 3 hours to download, during which time I'd not have been able to do anything else. Hopefully I'll be on broadband soon. It was a kind thought of yours, but please don't repeat it!