How to treat wet rot

Wet Rot is essentially timber that is decaying naturally in the presence of high volumes of moisture. It is often to describe as a variety of fungal species which is responsible for rotting wood.

It can be very confusing how to differentiate the difference between wet rot and dry rot. Despite the name, dry rot does require some moisture to grow, although the moisture content doesn’t tend to be over 20% and the source of the water doesn’t necessarily have to be in the immediate location of the rot.

Traditionally, most cases of dry rot tend to occur in places that cannot be seen by those living in the property – this can affect areas such as attics, around window casings, behind wall panelling’s and underneath flooring.

Dry Rot can be present on brick, stone and masonry walls but can also occur on all types of wood too. Wet rot tends to have higher levels of moisture and in most cases, the source of the water is within close or immediate proximity. Generally, once the moisture is removed and moisture levels drop, well rot will decline.

Wet rot will not develop into dry rot as they are two distinct types of rot and require different methods to grow and process.

Wet Rot is caused by exposure to excess moisture than unfortunately provides the ideal breeding ground for wet rot spores. They can occur for a multitude of reasons,for example a leaky roof, a faulty washing machine, burst pipes etc. If a timber has been exposed to damp for a prolonged period, then it is most likely that wet rot will occur.

You can easily identify wet rot by looking out for localised fungus growing on timber, but there may be some instances where there is no obvious fungus present. However wet rot can be identified by the differing colour compared to the surrounding timber. Sometimes, the affected areas will look darker than the surrounding timber. It will often smell musty and damp and will feel spongy to the touch, however in some instances, wet rot can cause the wood to bleach too.

At Croft Preservation, we are experts in wet rot elimination and have over thirty years’ experience in providing wet rot solutions to countless properties all over Dorset and Hampshire. Croft can provide efficient solutions to eradicate your wet rot problem and we will remove and replace the affected timbers and treat the area with an appropriate solution. 

If you are suffering with wet rot in your Dorset home, please contact us today.