Dry rot treatment in Huddersfield

The dry rot experts at Peter Cox can survey, treat and provide long-term guarantees for dry rot problems in Huddersfield. The case study below details our dry rot treatment at a commercial building in Huddersfield and will give you an idea of the types of dry rot treatments we have to offer.

If you want one of our experts to inspect a dry rot problem in your property just click the button below to book a survey online.

Timber repair specialists Peter Cox were invited to carry out a survey on a commercial solid brick building with a stone front suspected of having an outbreak of dry rot. The building had been unoccupied for many years and because of this there hadn’t been maintenance of the roof allowing rainwater to enter the building. This is common when guttering gets blocked and overflows, or when roof tiles are loose or missing, allowing rainwater to drip inside the building.

Dry rot is caused by this moisture and a lack of ventilation, which allows for a damp habitat to form that is perfect for the fungal growth. Dry rot will attack timber with a high moisture content using the wood as a food source before spreading further across the premises. Once taken hold it is essential to treat the affected timber and remove any timber that has been severely damaged.

The surveyor conducted an internal and external inspection and found evidence of moisture penetration through the defective roof coverings and flashings and an outbreak of dry rot in the roof rafters allowing for the germination of wood destroying fungi spores.

The first step to prevent further damage is to fix the leaking roof and make sure all guttering is working correctly and moisture is draining away correctly.

Dry rot can be identified in several ways, from dry and brittle timber, the existence of rust coloured spore dust, hyphae which can group together to form long strands, or mycelium and mushroom like fruiting bodies.

Dry rot has the ability to survive in mortar layers within masonry so therefore walls can often be full of dry rot strands.

As the dry rot was isolated to the end of the beam, much of the timber could be kept, with the affected area cut off and refitted with a timber resin splice unit. The first step was to secure the full load of the beam by using propping.

The beam would need to be cut back to unaffected timber with two slots drilled long enough for the timber resin splice to be fitted. The timber bearing areas would be lined with damp proof material to prevent moisture migration. The timber resin splice unit is then installed and resin is poured into the slots, securing the new timber unit with the existing timber beam. The area of the resin can then have a cosmetic finished applied to disguise the repair and to match the original timber colour.

With this type of repair 28 days is needed for the resin to harden before moving the supporting props.

The surveyor who inspected and oversaw the treatment said “When moisture gets into a building it can do significant damage to both structural and decorative timber so it's important to make sure that the roof void is water tight. The resin repairs Peter Cox carried out is a cost effective way to repair structural timber, with only the affected areas needing to be replaced. Once decorated the area will match the original timber frame and it removes the need to either replace the whole timber or fit traditional bolt on steel plates. The work also comes with a long term guarantee to protect the premises.”

Our structural repairs and wood rot treatment team in Huddersfield are ready to get started solving your property preservation problems.

Contact the Huddersfield branch of Peter Cox by completeing the enquiry form below and our teams of experts will be in touch.