Would really appreciate the sharing of a little knowledge if you guys would be so kind! I am new to owning a home and a complete novice when it comes to DIY etc, not that I will be tackling this myself. I think this is going to be an expensive thing! Also if anyone can point me towards a more specialist forum for this stuff that would be appreciated.
6 months ago I bought an Edwardian Terrace house, built around 1910, lots of original features including timber frame single glazed windows. Got a full structural survey done who found no issues and said he had not seen one of these houses in this area in this good a condition in many years! Fantastic... No sign of damp, certainly no sign of dry rot! Anyway...
Shortly after we moved in the missus said there was a funny smell in the upstairs main bedroom she could sometimes smell, not there all the time but when it was it smelt a bit like off milk. I could never smell it. Fast forward a few months and I can definitely smell it, getting worse and seems particularly worse on warm days. Seemed to be coming from the bay window (see pic below). Best way I can describe it is it smells like a hoover bag that is long overdue a change (university digs stuff).
The wood that I have now removed from the bay window was apparently "uncovered" by the previous owner when he removed a radiator and some plaster, he liked the look of the wood so kept it.
The smell clearly looks like it was some kind of manky process going on with this wood, maybe mould? Wet or dry rot? What do you think? Some patches of white fluffy bits and some areas of what look more like typical mould I guess.
Obviously very concerned for my lovely timber framed windows above this rotting mess and also the potential cost of all this to fix...
Please, if you have time, take a look at the pics and let me know what you think. My plan was to get hold of a timber rot specialist on tuesday and get them round asap to assess. In the mean time stick an air filter and dehumidifier in the room.
Also if you have any good recommendations in the plymouth area that would be invaluable!
Please try to avoid fear mongering, I am a tad anxious about this!
Just after I started removing the wood:
and after i have removed it all
the bad bits
How damp is the area where you removed the wood? Do you see any strands that look like thin roots creeping across the surface of masonry behind where you removed the wood or anywhere else? Is there any damp ingress from any of the usual culprits ie high exterior ground level, faulty gutters/down pipes or leaking roofs?
A few of the pieces of wood seemed very mildly damp, but I may have been convincing myself of that. The masonry doesn't feel damp. No root-like strands that I can see.
Have been into the roof and to my untrained eye it all seems very dry up there, and no sign of any rot/mould that I can see. Have not noticed any drains or gutters playing up, but also not been up there to look directly. The survey we had done on the house did point out some blistered paint on the front of the house which is near to where this situation is, potentially a route of water ingress I guess.
This could be a build up of condensation or a leak or previous leak from the window cill /window !
This would never have been in your original survey as its non destructive ( they wont start removing stuff ). I always look on wood paneling as hiding something!
Rip off all the wood and get a dehumidifier and some heat against the wall , check out side if there are any gaps cracks around the window frame /cill , any cracks to render/ motar missing from brickwork in this area?
Check any guttering is not leaking or blocked. If not then its a build up of condensation over many years of warm air getting behind the cladding, then hitting the cold sand cement walls and due point forming! then this will not dry out because there is very minimal air flow behind the panels
To solve the problem remove all the paneling and plaster and re do with insulated plasterboard or Hard wall and re skim not a big job and not alot of money by the pics. You can then either replace the paneling ( you may need some really thin insulation ) to stop this happening again or leave as painted wall
Good advice above - the panelling May have been fitted as an alternative to repairing the plaster/wall behind it. It not a big job to sort out and several ways to do it ! Perhaps get someone to assess for possible leaks on the exterior/round the windows.
These things are usually pretty obvious to someone who knows where to look. Not sure a wood rot specialist is what you need as the wood is gone now ! Would look for recommendations for a general builder/decent multi skilled
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Thank you for that advice guys. All makes sense! There are a couple of cracks to the masonry outside the window so that may be where some moisture has gotten in.
We were going to get the front of the house repainted anyway, I guess small cracks are easy enough to fill in? And then can be painted over?
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It looks worse than it is. Remove all the vertical internal timbers and let it all dry out either with a dehumidifier or naturally. Look at the gutters and down pipes above this elevation. Water ingress finds its own natural path.
In my opinion there is no evidence of dry rot so don’t let these so called rot experts lead you down this route unless they can categorically prove it.
Once the woodwork has dried out, insulate the walls with a modern board type product, not wool...
Remove and replace local floor boards.
Those sash and case period windows are notorious for letting water in, so get a good joiner to inspect them and tweak them up, so they slide correctly and obviously fill in any external cracks local to the perimeter of the window.
And finally look at adding an air vent Local to this bay window.
I’ve experienced all of the above, once the source of the water ingress is found and dealt with the rest is cosmetic
Yes to both of your questions above - just be aware that it appears you're walk is single skin of masonry, so you need to be conscious of condensation to.
I would suggest that you repair minor cracks outside, then apply a paintable DPC (https://www.toolstation.com/damp-pro...xoCs68QAvD_BwE)
Inside the wall, followed by either thin insulation and re clad, or if you don't insulate then ensure it is ventilated to behind to allow condensation out.
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Are you working where wood and nails are involved.. in your socks?
I’m not not doing that...Originally Posted by sish101
Are you working where wood and nails are involved.. in your socks?
A farmer I once treated in ED told me that my hands were softer than his wife’s. That gives you some idea of how little of this I have done before!
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It looks to me like that boarding has been fitted to cover over a known problem.
Is that the original skirting board behind the battens and boards (see photo 4 and 6)?
As has already been said, dry rot has fine spider-web-like rootlets. What you have there looks like damp and a bit of wet rot.
Uncover it, let it breath. Resolve the issue where the moisture is coming into the building from (if that is the cause) and then repair it.
It may also just be 'interstitial condensation', so you may want to incorporate some insulation and a vapour-check around the bay window brickwork if that is the case. Hard to advise without seeing the full picture though.
Looking at the photos it does not look like dry rot; good news! But obviously timber decay due to water ingress or condensation or some such water source. A great book is Surveying Buildings by Malcolm Hollis. Worth renting from the library for some extra info and understanding.
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