New siding before fresh paint.
New siding before fresh paint.
New siding after fresh paint.
New siding after fresh paint.

Dry-rot often comes as an unpleasant surprise. Perhaps you’re having your roof shingles replaced and a roofing contractor lets you know that the decking or rafters are rotted. Maybe your selling your house and during the pest inspection, areas of your home were identified as having dry-rot requiring repair. Or maybe you’re preparing to paint an exterior window sill or trim board and you or a painter notice the wood under the old paint is soft. Worse yet, you or someone is in the crawlspace and notice rot in structural beams and joists!

Left untreated, with the right conditions, wood rot can spread and eventually weaken the structure of your home. Of course, a home with significant dry-rot will also lose its resale value, so it’s imperative to take action.

Dry rot affects many homes. It is likely your home has dry rot if you haven’t preserved the wood over the years with a good coat of paint and kept it up. There are also others things that can cause dry-rot, an example is if you have sprinkler heads pointing at your house, active leaks or bushes that touch and act as damp sponges in the cold and wet weather. The way to prevent dry-rot damage is to get rid of excess moisture. Examples are eliminating wood that is in contact with soil, fixing leaks and making sure there is a good coat of paint on non dry-rotted materials.

 

Note that dry-rot is not limited to the exterior of your home or business, it can occur anywhere there is water intrusion. Examples of that can be found in failure of plumbing or tile installations in bathrooms and kitchens and can result in damage to surrounding areas and finishes.

 

Treating dry-rot is a three step process. First is to stop cause of the moisture, next step is to replace any damaged wood that is weakened and lastly to treat the new and existing wood with a wood preservative to prevent growth of the dry-rot fungus and kill any fungus that already exists.

 

If you are fixing to sell your home or just have it painted, but need to clean up the dry rot damage, then you need to give Robert Calvo, General Contractor a call. I have the experience, tools, and access to quality products to get your home looking brand new again.