Monday, June 10, 2019

Dry rot repair

Dry rot is a very common problem in the Northwest, because we have a heavy rain. Only dry water and air circulation are required to allow dry rot to appear on the wood. Wood rot is particularly dangerous when the wooden structure of the house rots. Once the fungus begins to grow on your structure, it destroys the woody structure, and the structure of the woody tissue is strong and firm. Dry rot can cause the wooden parts of the house to rot, soften, lose shape, and lose the ability to withstand weight. This causes the house to tilt to one side, the floor to fall, the sagging of the open span of the wood [such as the garage door opening], and the deformation of the roof structure. All these signs warn us that something is happening inside the structure of our house and may be affected by decay. Once the problem of decay is determined, it must be dealt with immediately!

If you find a drooping corner on the window sill, it won't stay there overnight. If you can see rotten particles with the naked eye without tearing apart your walls, it means that the decay has been going on for a long time and is at a stage where decay begins to affect the visible surface. A drooping corner of the window sill may not only be a simple repair of a small part of your window sill, but it may mean that the entire sash is subject to dry corrosion and must be repaired. This is why it is very important to fix a damaged area if you suspect a problem.

Repairing dry corrosion damage is not a straightforward process. Most of the time dry rot is related to your structural frame unless it is just the outer siding decoration that rots. But in most cases, dry rot will affect your frame. You must be aware that the decaying part of your wall is actually fixing the wall, so if you just start replacing the new frame with a stud, the entire wall may collapse. The same story as the floor joist system or roof truss. Therefore, dry corrosion repair usually requires the construction of additional support walls or mounting support columns to maintain the rest of the structure as you corrode the walls. Things get more complicated when you deal with two or three floors of houses. Then you have more weight to push your damaged wall and you need extra support to withstand all the weight. Fixed dry corrosion requires not only good carpentry skills, but also engineering knowledge of weight distribution and support.

One of the more important things about dry rot, I should mention, is that it is the steam barrier on the house. Since the steam barrier separates the bottom of the wallboard and frame by attaching a vapor barrier to the wall before installing the panels, it is important to choose a quality product that will "breath" your structure. . This means that the vapor barrier will allow air to circulate behind your siding. Tyvek is a very widely used product brand. In my opinion, this is the worst option you can make when choosing a vapor barrier. Tyvek is actually a plastic-like product that can withstand quite good moisture but does not "breath" well, so if any moisture is trapped behind the Tyvek vapor barrier, there is almost a 100% chance of decaying. The fungus is brought to the wall of your body. Even worse, new homes are built.

Since the construction of the Pacific Northwest did not stop due to the rainy season, houses were being built under various conditions. So imagine that when wet plywood is wetted, Tyvek or other poorly performing steam barriers will be installed and all moisture will not escape. You have basically had the condition of dry rot from the beginning. But when the decay causes serious damage to your structure a few years later, you will find dry decay. Therefore, my advice is to use a rain screen system on your wall or use a high quality steam barrier such as Benjamin Obdyke's HydroGap. HydroGap has plastic bumps that make it an uneven surface that allows air and moisture to move between these bumps and exit the building. HydroGap is made of fabric-like materials for better "breathing".




Orignal From: Dry rot repair

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