Treating dry rot - help! Damp can be a major issue in the home. Find answers to questions or post your own here.

[magpie61]

We’ve recently discovered dry rot in our house. It’s infected some timbers & moved through the brickwork of one wall of our main bedroom. Our builders – who seem to know their stuff – are recommending taking down the whole wall, removing all brickwork & rebuilding the wall: they say this is the only way they can guarantee removing the dry rot (this would obviously be combined with fungicidal treatments/identifying water source etc).

But all the advice I read online, seems to suggest that using fungicidal sprays will be enough to treat the brickwork, and it’s only the wood/plaster that needs to be removed & replaced.

Can anyone help? The cost for the major rebuilding work is £5k more expensive than spraying/treating…but I really want to get rid of this damned damp!

Thanks!

[welsh brickie]

You dont need to rebuild the wall but need to remove all traces of the rot and spray with funicide.also all tools used to remove the rot need to be treated aswell.
I would suggest calling a specialist damp company to assess the job before letting the builders loose

[willraff]

When you say you have "discovered dry rot" have you taken steps to eradicate its return in the future? It is imperative that the damp/unventilated conditions in which it thrives are eradicated.
As for rebuilding walls - unless they have been structurally compromised there is no need to rebuild but as already advised all timber and plaster work should be removed prior to treating - all timber removed should be double bagged and / or burned as dry rot spores can become airborne.