FTB: Dry rot or??

[Cubist]

In the space of just a few contributions to this thread we have been treated to a veritable cornucopia of dubious/misleading guidance from so-called professionals and salutary lessons for the unwary. Among these being: -

1. Pictures don't lie - 'Boll**ks!, utter Boll**cks'.
2. The road to hell is signposted by advice and guidance from - Estate Agents, Surveyors and DPC Salesmen (I could go on with this list, I have a Top Ten of such 'Untrustworthy - and never to be relied upon - Experts!'

.... Sorry... almost went off on one.

To be clear, Dry Rot is caused when wood gets wet. This creates an attractive environment for several varieties of fungus that feed on wood. They consume the internal elements of the timber that give it its strength and durability and ultimately the wood will crumble to dust. It is pernicious and, when it's consumed the nourishment immediately available, it will spread to colonise other nearby timbers. During these migrations the fungus and its spores can attack and contaminate plaster and other materials. The only truly effective treatment is to evict it entirely from the premises - so any already infected timbers, plaster, etc. MUST be removed and disposed of.

To my mind the lasest pictures from Happy provide clear evidence of some fungal infestation and I would strongly urge that a specialist is engaged asap and certainly before the final contracts are exchanged!

 

[malcolm]

Is this about the feet on the bathroom cabinet? It looks like it needs replacing. Doesn't matter what kind of rot it has if you throw it away.

There is damp on the walls. An extractor fan would be helpful. Probably something needs to be done to contain water from the shower to stop everything else getting wet.

It's possible water has gone into the floor below. That would normally show as damage to the decoration in the room below is there has been enough to cause damage.

 

[Cubist]

The first photograph Happy shared with us appeared to me to be a severely damaged wooden post next to a window frame. The further floor of the building above the bathroom concerned is also a timber structure, possibly a mansard roof, that may be supported by or connected to that post.

 

[HappyClappy]

The first photograph Happy shared with us appeared to me to be a severely damaged wooden post next to a window frame. The further floor of the building above the bathroom concerned is also a timber structure, possibly a mansard roof, that may be supported by or connected to that post.

Thanks for your help Cubist, we have a damp specialist hopefully coming to take a look today. In your experience, if it is dry rot, should we walk away from this purchase?

 

[HappyClappy]

Guys....

The plot is getting even more confusing. Just had a damp specialist come in and he took one look and was really confused why we kept asking if it was dry rot because he said it was coming from the outside and was penetrating damp!! Not even sure what to do as this point ...

 

[Drayton]

What treatments does the 'damp speciaist' sell??

It's an old, poor bathroom with no ventilation. That will create a damp issue all by itself, so it might be all be solved by sorting the ventilation and fittings etc out.

Does it have any heating at the moment?

How would you descibe the smell in there?

 

[HappyClappy]

What treatments does the 'damp speciaist' sell??

It's an old, poor bathroom with no ventilation. That will create a damp issue all by itself, so it might be all be solved by sorting the ventilation and fittings etc out.

Does it have any heating at the moment?

How would you descibe the smell in there?

Hi Drayton, to be fair to this specialist, he did not sell us anything as we told him we wanted to buy the property, were concerned with dry rot and were told not to purchase. He looked confused, knocked on the wall a bit and said it could not be dry rot and was most likely penetrating damp and could be fixed if we decided to proceed with the purchase and if we then decided to refurbish the bathroom. He then questioned the age of the surveyor we had initially and left.

The bathroom has no ventilation, no extractor fan etc nor any heating. I would describe the smell as damp and musty when you initially walk in. I guess we are still a bit unsettled by the surveyor saying it was dry rot and to not purchase and at a loss as to who to engage with or how to proceed. Any advice on that would be appreciated! As FTB we were kind of anticipating being wary of estate agents and lawyers etc but we thought we could at least trust the surveyors!!

 

[malcolm]

It's worth confirming if the dark colour under the window is plaster. The photos do make it look like wood but I'm assuming it is plaster.

You don't get dry rot starting in plaster because it is a wood fungus.that grows only in wet wood so penetrating damp sounds more likely. Leaky gutter or badly designed or installed window maybe. Or the roof you mentioned needs work.

In any case dry rot can't survive in dry wood. The focus should be fixing the water ingress.

 

[Cubist]

Ah, I finally see it....after reviewing all the photos again. It's not a wooden post beside and below that window frame, its is indeed plaster and heavily decayed by water damage. Whether external rain-water or condensation arising from frequent bathing in an un-heated, un-ventilated and probably relatively small space is the cause is not clear; but, there is evidence in that bathroom of dry-rot. Happy, that cabinet with the dud leg has got to go. If the floor is ceramic tiles you should be ok but if, as I suspect, its a vinyl linoleum it would be worth checking the state of any floor-boards directly below it and behind the bath/shower panel.

As Malcolm and others have suggested, get the exterior checked to make sure that gutters and drainage pipes are working effectively and that there are no gaps between the window frame and the external wall and get some heating and ventilation into that room.

Its looking likely now that you've dodged the bullet - had that been a wooden post the chance of dry rot spreading to the roof structure does not bear thinking about and would have been good reason for your surveyor to say "run for the hills" - what evidence did he point to to support that conclusion by the way?

 

[stuart45]

Have you got any photos of the exterior?

 

[HappyClappy]

Ah, I finally see it....after reviewing all the photos again. It's not a wooden post beside and below that window frame, its is indeed plaster and heavily decayed by water damage. Whether external rain-water or condensation arising from frequent bathing in an un-heated, un-ventilated and probably relatively small space is the cause is not clear; but, there is evidence in that bathroom of dry-rot. Happy, that cabinet with the dud leg has got to go. If the floor is ceramic tiles you should be ok but if, as I suspect, its a vinyl linoleum it would be worth checking the state of any floor-boards directly below it and behind the bath/shower panel.

As Malcolm and others have suggested, get the exterior checked to make sure that gutters and drainage pipes are working effectively and that there are no gaps between the window frame and the external wall and get some heating and ventilation into that room.

Its looking likely now that you've dodged the bullet - had that been a wooden post the chance of dry rot spreading to the roof structure does not bear thinking about and would have been good reason for your surveyor to say "run for the hills" - what evidence did he point to to support that conclusion by the way?

Cubist thank you for this. Do you think we should get a level 3 structural survey done? I was initially advised against this by another surveying company as they said it was not possible to do a level 3 in a flat. But I am not sure if we would be able to look under the floorboards and know what we were doing ourselves! The initial surveyor literally just looked at the wall that I took pictures of and said it was a 50/50 chance it was dry rot. He suggested we take a multi tool and make a hole and look behind the wall. We asked him how we would know it was dry rot and he said "you'll know" he then suggested we plaster the wall back up!

 

[HappyClappy]

Have you got any photos of the exterior?

Hell Stuart, unfortunately we do not have access to the rear garden where the exterior is located so cannot take pictures unfortunately.

 

[Toby Newell]

Hi all,

I am a new member here. Just looking to get some opinions on whether or not this is dry rot in a property we wanted to purchase. We are in the process of buying it (have instructed lawyers etc.) but had a survey done and the guy said this could potentially be dry rot in the bathroom and to stay away from the property if it is. He was not sure so just wanted to get some opinions here. The property has other issues too but this is the most pressing. Would be grateful for any thoughts!

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Lol at the replies. Unless you can remove large sections of the structure and be lucky enough to see the fruiting bodies or distictive yellow mycelium metabolites a multitool is going to be useless.

Just search for a mycologist, they will take samples and identify any fungus from their spores.

No idea how the surveyor thought it was dry rot, obviously very inexperienced and covering himself, there is a damp issue and no forced ventilation.

I think £20k does not go very far these days if you need at least a new roof, possible remedial damp proofing / gutter work and a new bathroom.