| The Dry Rot fungus, known as SEPULIA LACRYMANS is a fungus which attacks timber in buildings and the result can be both dramatic and costly. The dry rot fungus grows best on wood with a moisture content of 30-40 per cent. The fungus may spread rapidly to drier areas for, once established, it can create its own conditions by transporting water to new sites of infection. |
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The fungus causes a typical brown rot, which as the wood dries, cracks into characteristic cube-shaped blocks. The rotten wood has considerable reduced strength and readily crumbles to powder. The presence of such decay can sometimes be recognized by the cracking of paintwork and by the warping of skirting and panels.
| When the fungus is growing vigorously its mycelium can be seen fanning out over the surface of the wood as a luxuriant, cotton like mass. In slightly drier conditions, the mycelium forms a rather silky, skin-like layer and is usually tinged yellow or lilac. It also produces white strands which may be as thick as a pencil. |
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These enable the fungus to grow away from its original base and establish itself elsewhere. It is these strands which make the fungus such an insidious pest and very difficult to eradicate. They can extend for long distances over or through plaster, stone, brick work and even metal. If these strands are frustrated in their search for a suitable wooden beam, they stop growing and form a grotesque, fleshy, pancake-or bracket shaped fruiting body. These can be many hundreds of centimetres across and have a minutely corrugated upper surface upon which the rusty red spores are formed by the million.
| Frequently it is the appearance of a fruiting body on a plaster ceiling or wall which first heralds the presence of this unwelcome intruder. The minute spores are spread by air currents, and their arrival through cracks in the floorboards as a reddish brown dust may be another indication that dry rot is at work underfoot. |
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In spite of its unpleasant appearance and smell the Dry rot fungus does not harm man himself, although some people may be allergic to the spores. However, the humid conditions which favour dry rot are also conducive to human disease. To combat dry rot it is essential that the source of dampness is traced and eliminated. All timber and plasterwork showing visible evidence of the infestation must be removed for at least a metre beyond visible signs of infection, and then destroyed. Wood to replace the damaged timber should be treated with an antifungal preservative.
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