I've gone off fungi ...

[SheffieldLass]

I went down to my cellar today (which I do very often) and discovered an extensive area of dry rot (Serpula lacrymans), fruiting away merrily and speading like no body's business along some stacked timber and had started up the wall and across the floor .... so I didn't even have to venture outside to do a fungi foray ...

Luckily it it was not on structural timber but just on timber I had stacked off the floor, but I had at some stage inadvertently knocked a piece which had blocked the air flow under one section of the stack, which was where it had got going. I've had timber stacked there for many years without any problem, so I think it was only the blocked airflow under that had given the right conditions for it to develop. Or maybe the little field mouse that made its home in my cellar during the winter had been weeing there and had raised the moisture levels .... Interestingly for me, there was none of the typical crumbly blocked timber, and nearly all was really superficial. What was also interesting was how it modified the environment where it had spread superficially by making the timber and wall moister than the bits that it hadn't got to. But it had certainly spread fast.

Anyway I've now removed it all, and all the infected timber ... And luckily it hadn't reached my spalted beech ... Also the closest was 1.5m away from any structural timber so I don't expect any recurrence, though will be keeping a close eye on things ... And I'm not going to treat the walls or floor, irrigation (making it wet) always seems the wrong thing to do ... With a good airflow and without food it shouldn't be able to survive ... well that is the theory. Fingers crossed ... And luckily it was on the passage wall side, not a shared party wall, so won't have crossed to my neighbour and found more food and be waiting to move back.

I did check the spores, just to make sure it was dry rot .. what I did notice is that mine fit Roger Phillip's description, size (8-10 x 5-6um) and colour (rust brown), but Michael Jordan has rather larger spores listed (11-14 x 5.5-8um), and yellowish in colour ...

Melanie

[Chris Yeates]

hi Melanie

(ouch!)
when you say you checked the spores to ascertain the species, did it not look immediately like dry rot?

the only reason I ask is that when I bought my first little house in Rotherham, I stacked up loads of folded cardboard boxes that new furniture had come in in the cellar; months later I popped down there and thought that I had dry rot - it was all over the cardboard and heading up the walls . . . I was mortified, but it turned out to be wet rot Coniophora puteana (spore size and shape are rather similar); but if it has that classic wrinkled surface . . . (clamped basidia is another thing that separates the two)

don't be put off mycology though - you are probably (unbeknownst to you) a fungus goddess and they just want to be near you! and I suppose this isn't really the time to point out what a fascinating fungus Serpula is . . . . and that it is a bolete!

thought not - good luck with it

best wishes

Chris

[Alantb]

Hi Melanie - re your dry rot. If you have any nearby brickwork it may be a good idea to CAREFULLY! run a blow lamp over the surface just to be on the safe side - likewise concrete floor adjacent to the affected area. Also apply a spray-on fungicide to any house timbers in the area. This thing can loiter around for ages if untreated.
Good Luck ! Alan

[SheffieldLass]

Here is the culprit ... very pretty it is too! I looked more carefully at the timber I removed today and did find one with the tell-tale cuboid pattern of rot.



Luckily I've dealt with rather a lot of dry rot in refurbishment architecture jobs I've done, and so far it has never returned, so I'm not panicking with this. Though I'm glad it hadn't got anywhere near the structural timbers, so no remedial works needed. Or near my neighbours wall, so no embarrassment. You do have to treat it with respect, but it is not quite the extreme devil it is often made out to be, provided you isolate it from its food, and reduce moisture levels sufficiently.

Alan - high heat is a good idea. I thought I might use my hot air stripper on the wall, particularly three spots where the hyphae had started to penetrate. It went for the most recessed bits in the mortar, the quickest route to the outside ground water.

But for anyone who is at risk from dry rot, the most important thing to do is make sure that there is very good ventilation (where you can't do anything about moisture, as in an untanked cellar), and keep its potential food dry and out of reach ... So big note to me ... keep the cellar neat and tidy and the timber off the floor and good air circulation around ...

I will also check out the DIY superstores, see if they stock boron, in water or powder form to add to water, and brush over the part of the floor and wall that it had travelled over. This is considered the best secondary measure available to kill off the mycelium, (good ventilation/moisture reduction is the primary measure), and the most benign to us, in case I get sloppy again with my cellar housework. I keep a small stock of boron rods already, which are good to insert into any timber that is at risk, but I don't think I need to use them here. If it had got close to the floor joist ends then I would do it as a precaution.

But I agree it is an interesting fungus ... when it is in other people's buildings! And I thought I might as well look at it with the microscope seeing that I had a perfect sample.

Melanie

[Chris Yeates]

OMG

ignore anything I said about Coniophora . . .

Chris

[Alantb]

Hi Melanie;
"I keep a small stock of boron rods already..........." !! - you been working in nuclear power plants then? - or are you planning to set up as forum moderator for West Cumbria?

Seriously, these things sound interesting, I presume they aren't radioactive, but what do they do for dry rot &c?

Intrigued, Alan

[SheffieldLass]

Originally Posted by Alantb

Hi Melanie;
"I keep a small stock of boron rods already..........." !! - you been working in nuclear power plants then? - or are you planning to set up as forum moderator for West Cumbria?

Seriously, these things sound interesting, I presume they aren't radioactive, but what do they do for dry rot &c?

Intrigued, Alan

They are just like dowels but of boron which you insert into a drilled hole in the timber. As it is soluble in water if the timber moisture content rises to a certain level it spreads through the timber where it is moist and is there waiting to kill any adventurous fungal mycelium (apparently). I think mine came from B&Q. I've used them at the base of my external door frame. You can now also get timber pressure impregnated with boron, though it is very hard to find as there are still not many companies doing it. Ecologically aware window/door suppliers use it as it isn't a nasty chemical to us, unlike copper chrome arsenic, or the other usual preservatives.

I do know that sodium bicarbonate also kills some fungi, but don't know if it works on dry rot though. Maybe I should keep a bit and try - I could always store it outside in my blue paper bin, add a bit of water and sodium bicarb and see what happens!

Melanie