Is this mould?!

[gremlin_95]

Hi all,

We've been having an issue in the bathroom recently where some sort of pale yellow growth appears from the edge of the floor, if you spray mould removing spray on it, it turns dark red like this picture shows:

and shrinks a bit.

The above picture is a bit of an extreme example as it had been allowed to develop as we were away for a few days.

Can anyone confirm what it is and how to get rid of it and stop it happening again? The bathroom has an extractor fan which works, trickle vent on the window and a gap under the door. The window is usually left open in all but the coolest weather (and when the shower is in use).

Thank you

[Martin Brown]

It looks suspiciously like some kind of wood rot. I suggest you get expert advice on which sort it is and the right treatment. I am no expert but it looks to me a bit like dry rot (a neighbour had it).

[Harry Bloomfield]

thanks for that.

[John Williamson]

As others have said, it is the fruiting body of a fungus, probably one of the dry rot types. This will be just the tip of the iceberg, and there will probably be a large area behind the bulkhead affected by rot.

If you're *very* lucky, it won't have affected the floor structure yet (Assuming it's a wooden floor), but it can affect nearby wood, even on the other side of a wall. The normal method of removal is to remove and replace *all* wood within two or theree metres and treat the rest. While you're at it, you'll need to improve the local ventilation behind the panel.

[Brian Gaff]

From the description, it sounds like fungal growth. its probably one of those that is often called dry rot. the eventual fate of any wood seems to be kind of seperated sinews and dust. Not nice.

Brian

[NT]

Important to sort it out now not later. Remove any floorcoverings in the way to see whats going on and remove infected material. This is the price of lino on wood floors.

NT

[gremlin_95]

Thanks everyone, we have stripped the lino back and there isn't any sort of growth underneath, the wood floor seems to be slightly damp on the surface so we have left it without the lino to allow it to dry out and see if anything happens after this.

[Phil L]

It's Serpula lacrimans, IE dry rot, and the fact that you've seen the fruiting body, means that it's already well established.

The dry rot won't be visible on the surface of the floorboards, but when you take them up, you'll see white 'roots' growing in every direction, over the underside of the floorboards, joists, backs of skirtings and architraves, door frames etc, and the longer you wait, the further it's spreading. If this is a downstairs bathroom, the rot will be spreading to the first floor joists and upwards (it can go through and along brickwork joints for several metres without the requirement of timber) if it's a 1st floor bathroom, the rot will be spreading both upwards and downwards.

It starts off in wet timber but soon spreads to normal, dry timber and leaves it totally dried out and cracked - it resembles a crocodiles back, like a cubic pattern, and you can poke a finger straight through what was originally a 8 X 3 timber joist.

[Martin Brown]

It is the sort of thing that you really need to get specialists in to deal with if you want any kind of guarantee. They can use far more aggressive chemicals than are available to DIYers.

Basically though it is physical removal of large amounts of affected wood, plaster and possibly even bricks to zap every last trace and then powerful chemical antifungals. ISTR they come with a 25 year guarantee.

The neighbour ended up with their entire ground floor ripped out and replaced. Everything under the floor had a layer of mycelium on it. They only realised there was a problem when the fruiting bodies appeared. It appears that putting down parque flooring had trapped enough moisture in the wood to allow the rot to get a foothold.

Yes. It is scary stuff and not something you want to leave untreated. Question is where did it get started ?

[gremlin_95]

Oh dear :( looks like we will be taking the floorboards up then. This is bathroom on the first floor right next to a small toilet on the left of where this fruiting was seen/

[gremlin_95]

No idea tbh, will have to do some further investigation on the wall outside where the soil pipe and other waste water pipes are. A very long time ago, probably 15-18 years now, we had some sort of problem in a room downstairs, think it was wood worm or something. The whole floor was replaced then! Still have the certificate to show it had been I think.

[gremlin_95]

We've removed the toilet and stripped back the floor, got a specialist coming in the week :)

Thanks for the help guys.

[Owain]

This thread has now attracted the attention of Period Property-ers

[gremlin_95]

Oh dear, well this thread needed updating anyway, the cause of moisture is a leaky pipe just under the floor, the water has been shut off temporarily to that area while the floor dries out. The pipe supplies the small toilet just next door to the bathroom