fungi breaking through asphalt

[spill50]

I moved into a new house about 7 months ago and in the past 24 hours the oddest thing has happened. Just next to my kitchen wall some fungi has kind of erupted through the asphalt (see attached photos).

The second photo the crack is about 12" long and the grey triangle in the top right corner is my kitchen wall.

According to my neighbour the road surface has been down for seven years and he's never seen anything like this.

So I was wondering if anyone could Identify it or give any advice. Could this spread and come up through my kitchen floor (which is concrete).

Kind regards,

Richard

[Chris Yeates]

hi

this fungus looks very like common ink-cap Coprinopsis atramentaria (Coprinus atramentarius in most older books)

this phenomenon is not that uncommon, I would suspect that concrete would defeat it - it's surprising what can force its way through tarmac, and is a testimony to the power of slender fungal hyphae . . .

we have an architect on the site - perhaps Sheffield Lass could give you some free advice if you ask nicely!

best wishes

Chris

[SheffieldLass]

I think it was Chris who wrote very recently that in the gardens of new houses or newly refurbished houses these fungi often pop up where the builders have buried wood building waste and then just covered with top soil.

I've not heard of fungi like this coming up through concrete house floors. The concrete is usually far thicker than that asphalt for starters, with hardcore underneath that. Also the fungi would have to get through the wall too, and the buried wood from which the fungus is growing is very unlikely to continue under or through your wall. It is not the sort of fungus that has mycelium that goes on a search through masonry in search of more food in the way that dry rot does. So I'd think very unlikely indeed to happen.

Melanie

[charlieb]

Tarmac is also surprisingly pliable (and not very thick if the roads round here are anything to go by...), even more so on sunny days.

[fairplay]

Hi Richard and welcome to the fungi forum.

I don't quite understand when you say your neighbour reckons the 'road surface has been down for 7 years'. Is this a private road and the surface comes right up to your kitchen window ?

What I find strange is if the surface was done 7 years ago, why should any fungus come up now after all this time ?
I should think any dead wood would be mostly rotted by now, but as I see it, this is likely to happen again next year, so before paying to have this patched up, dig below the fungal clumps and any other raised cracks, to try to remove the discarded wood the Ink Caps are possibly/most likely feeding from.

Also I'm wondering if it's worth making a claim against the people who laid the surface - maybe Melanie could advice again ?

Neil.

[david156]

hi.

I wouldn't worry too much about it coming through your kitchen floor. Your wall footings probably go into the ground a minimum of 2 to 3 feet and will probably be a minimum of a foot thick if not a lot bigger. Its got to get through this which is normally concrete or block / brick construction (normally a combination of both) before it gets under the floor.

[spill50]

Thank you all very much for your replies.

My house is on the end of a block fairly old buildings I'm not sure of the exact date its quite a complex setup as it's near the center of Beverley.

Anyway one of the buildings in the block is a vets and the shared access to the vets car park and my parking runs down the side of my house. I dont have any windows on that wall luckily.

My neighbour has lived in the area for 15 years and informed me that the access and car park was re-surfaced 7 years ago.

So I'll have to have a look what's under them and yeah I agree it is strange that it only just decided to come up.

I dont know anything about these thing but maybe it has only just become the perfect conditions to spark the growth.

Again thank you all for your advice.

Richard

[Chris Yeates]

Originally Posted by spill50

its quite a complex setup as it's near the center of Beverley.

it would be unfair to mention his name here, but there is a Beverley-based mycologist who is also a quantity surveyor . . .

an article in the local paper - Beverley Bugle? Wolds Pink 'Un? would attract his attention if you don't already know who I mean . . .

cheers

Chris

[Doggle Avaddit]

Originally Posted by spill50

I moved into a new house about 7 months ago and in the past 24 hours the oddest thing has happened. Just next to my kitchen wall some fungi has kind of erupted through the asphalt (see attached photos).

The second photo the crack is about 12" long and the grey triangle in the top right corner is my kitchen wall.

According to my neighbour the road surface has been down for seven years and he's never seen anything like this.

So I was wondering if anyone could Identify it or give any advice. Could this spread and come up through my kitchen floor (which is concrete).

Kind regards,

Richard

Well you seem to have jumped to a conclusion here, namely that the Fungus has "erupted through the asphalt".

It could be that a crack appeared in the asphalt which allowed the fungus to grow in the crack.


Is there any other evidence to support either assumption?

[fairplay]

That would account for the surface having been laid 7 years ago and fungi suddenly occurring, (meaning it is expanding/spreading tree roots) but it is well documented about fungi pushing their way through a 'solid' surface like this, unless people have got it wrong all the time.

So yes, a valid point.

Neil.