There is a plague sweeping across the US, it is invisible to the naked eye until it strikes and leaves its victims crumbling to the ground. Luckily for us, people cannot contract dry rot, but your home is far less fortunate.
Dry rot causes an estimated $17 billion dollars of damage to US homes every year, yet few Americans know anything about the fungus. Here in the Central Coast, dry rot sneaks up on unsuspecting homeowners when coastal winds blow moisture into your home. Dry rot reigns supreme in the art of deck destruction and foundation mutilation.
Despite dry rot having extensive dominion over our homes, there are few known instances of dry rot colonies in the wild. The reasons for this remain relatively unknown, but it is hypothesized that the fungus responsible for dry rot, Serpula lacrymans, either cannot compete with other fungi in the woodland ecosystem or has issues colonizing wood that is alive or was recently living. For the most part, dry rot prefers to live in the comfort of your home.
Dry rot has always been a threat to wood throughout human history, but became a much larger problem in the 18th century due to the increased use of cured timber in naval ships. Because ships were rotting away despite being out of the water for storage, the British Navy adopted the name “dry rot” despite the rot needing moist wood to survive.
Dry rot caused such a severe cost to the British fleet that the Royal Society of Arts would offer handsome rewards for any discovery of a treatment to stop the rot, but to no avail. One ship, the HMS Queen Charlotte was so infected with the rot that the eventual repairs cost more than the warship had originally cost to build. Dry rot continued to damage decks, halls, and masts of ships until wooden ships turned to steel.
It wasn’t until the 1940s that boron solutions were discovered to be somewhat effective at preventing dry rot, but by this time the majority of dry rot colonies had shifted from ships to buildings. Today, dry rot targets buildings affected by moisture, and the war against it has shifted from the sea to land. While boron solutions are still used, it takes a professional application for them to be effective.
The fungus that gained its name and notoriety by destroying the decks of ships has moved on to destroying the decks of our homes, and much more. In the Central Coast, dry rot is in as good of an environment to spread as it was in the shipyards, so paying attention to your home’s health is a good idea if you like your home uncollapsed.
At R+Co., we utilize cutting edge technology to assess dry rot infestations that would have made any 18th century captain wish they had their own google glass. Don’t rely on century old solutions that damage your wood, let the home health experts make your dry rot wish it had never left the docks.
Dry rot has been around since people have been building things out of wood, and is still out to get your home. Don’t be like the captains of old and rely on ancient methods, book a home health consultation today!
