How to Detect Dry Rot?
I’m looking into buying a house that has a serious water damage. I’m looking into the possibility of getting it inspected for dry rot. For some reason it seems difficult to find inspectors who specifically look for that. I could only find mold and termite inspectors, and the general inspector I used last time did…
I’m looking into buying a house that has a serious water damage. I’m looking into the possibility of getting it inspected for dry rot. For some reason it seems difficult to find inspectors who specifically look for that. I could only find mold and termite inspectors, and the general inspector I used last time did not analyze those things in depth at all. Can anyone recommend an inspector who looks at dry rot, mold and termites?
Hi,
You are searching an expert’s advice to treat Dry Rot. Just like to give you an introduction about Dry rot. Dry rot is the decay of timber in buildings and other wooden structures caused by certain fungi. Dry rot as the name suggests is decay of substance without water. The fungus digests the part of the wood that gives the wood strength and stiffness. If it is not treated sometimes the results are so harsh that it may disintegrate the wood. My prior advice to you is that, treat the house before shifting into the house so that you can be relaxed from such problem. The best part to avoid dry rot is to prevent water from entering the wood. This water affects window sills in poorly ventilated rooms like kitchen, bathroom and bedrooms. So we have to treat this problem as soon as possible. For an experts advice you can visit http://www.pro-tech.ie
Even water damage and dry rot to the joists can be successfully addressed; we removed a second-floor tub to discover huge rot from years of leaks, and the contractor “sistered” the joist (nailed a new one alongside the rotted one, onto healthy wood). Of course, we were doing a gut job on the room anyway. As for mold, be careful of quacks with scare stories. The whole issue of “toxic” mold is highly unscientific; people with a mold allergy react badly to certain molds they’re sensitive to, but the claims that certain molds are inherently “toxic” are highly suspect (and usually put forward by folks with a financial interest in litigation, abatement, etc.)
mold is an over-rated issue. Especially in plaster, where it doesn’t grow. Fix the leaks and you can clean off the mold. Don’t fix it, you’ll have it. BTW you can get a moisture meter off ebay for under $30.
Is the house empty? Maybe the owners should turn off the water for now.
From what you describe, it doesn’t sound hugely serious. For example, you can just replace the portion of the floor that’s rotted out. Maybe figure $10 to $20 a square foot or so. Though I guess if the plaster on the ceiling below fails, you’ll have to re-do that and possibly the batten underneath of it’s all rotten. A repairman will probably use dry wall. I’m not sure how much that will cost — anyone want to chime in? Maybe $1,000 to $3,000 depending on size?
The biggest issue is you have to stop the leaks, whether that means fixing or replacing the roof, flashing, the brownstone facing, the heat pipes, etc. That could be pricey, depending.
I once saw a house whose entire top two floors appeared to have been soaking wet for years — now that was a problem, since you’d have to rebuild them altogether.
As for mold, it doesn’t sound like you could possibly have very much of it, since it will only grow where wet for more than three days in a row. If you do open up the area, and you find any, you can suck it out with a $129 HEPA vac from Bed Bath & Beyond. (Assuming you’re not highly allergic — then you’d want to use a slightly more particular procedure.) Also, if the house is plaster, that limits mold growth somewhat. Mold does love particle board.
Do get an inspection by a structural engineer, of course, before signing any contract.
Good luck.
Is there wall paper on the walls with water stains? I bought a house that had water damage and while some wall areas showed water damage it turned out once the many layers of paper were off, there was no discoloration of the plaster (not drywall) underneath or other evidence of damage or mold. Other areas were in worse shape than they at first appeared and some wall and ceiling areas had to be replaced.
Typically inspectors only inspect what they can see externally, they don’t guess (on paper at least) at what might be going on behind the walls or in the floors or with the hidden plumbing. Keep in mind the cost to replace or fix what’s causing the leak and the cost of repairing the walls,floors, ceilings etc. that those repairs might lead to. Mold spores are all around us, mold only spreads if there’s an ongoing source of moisture. I dont know what the answer is on the dry rot question specifically, but bring along an ice pick or a screw driver to test if visible wood is solid. If not, you’ll need to replace it regardless of the cause, and there is likely more problem area hidden behind the walls and floors.
Thanks for your comments.
The house does not smell musty. There is a huge water stain in one of the rooms, which apparently comes from the bathroom above. We flushed the toilet and ran the sink and it started dripping, so the source has not been fixed. Judging by the size of the water mark it looks like this has been a problem for a while.
Then there are some additional water marks (smaller ones), in other rooms, that seem to have come from the roof. I’m not sure whether the roof is still not waterproof, since it didn’t rain when we saw the place.
In case of renovation, we would probably open up the walls that have stains in order to see if there is dry rot or mold. But obviously we can’t do that before signing the contract and closing.
The house in general doesn’t look like any renovation has been done in a log time, but our contractor said the structure is good. We’re willing to put some money into renovating the place, fixing the roof, redoing plumbing and electricity etc.. But we’re not sure if something like dry rot and mold is a good idea in general, because it might just cause more and more problems (since it can spread) in the future, and it is therefore not worth it. I’m trying to figure out whether there is any way of detecting dry rot before buying the house.
Or does anyone get a sense that dry rot is not that bad entirely, and OK to get fixed?
Does the house have a strong musty odor that could be mildew or mold? Are there signs of water damage and what and where are they? Is the roof new or leaking now?
This is a brownstone, and not a wooden Victorian house for instance.
It seems like a lot of places haven’t even heard of dry rot, and that most buyers aren’t concerned about it as a possible problem. Is that reasonable? Should one buy a place at all that shows signs of a substantial water damage, if you can’t see what’s going on behind the walls (mold, rotten wood etc.)? Is it reasonable to try to negotiate the price down enough for there to be the possibility of fixing whatever needs fixing AFTER opening the wall? Or is that too risky?
This is a brownstone, and not a wooden Victorian house for instance.
It seems like a lot of places haven’t even heard of dry rot, and that most buyers aren’t concerned about it as a possible problem. Is that reasonable? Should one buy a place at all that shows signs of a substantial water damage, if you can’t see what’s going on behind the walls (mold, rotten wood etc.)? Is it reasonable to try to negotiate the price down enough for there to be the possibility of fixing whatever needs fixing AFTER opening the wall? Or is that too risky?