Wet Rot

There are mainly 4 kinds of wet rot these are Stands, Sheets and Mushroom

Coniophora puteana – the ‘cellar fungus’ - dark brown to black strands in fern-like patterns, olive brown fruiting body (rare).

Fibroporia vaillantii – white strands in fern like growths, white fruiting body with pores

Asterostroma – brilliant white, fine strands, fruiting body has no pores, mycelium has tiny star structures, visible only under magnification.

Phellinus – Phellinus is probably one of the most common white rots found in buildings. Indeed, it caused significant problems in softwood window and door joinery in houses built in the 1950's and '60's.

Wet Rot can attack both softwood and hardwoods

Where spores can germinate the usual result is decay to timber by wet rot. This is a localised fungal infection only to those areas of the timber that are damp. Wet rots are not aggressive fungi and will die when moisture is removed from their environment. Treatments for wet rot usually rely on physical exclusion of moisture and the removal and replacement of decayed timbers. Chemical treatments are not usually required, but are employed to provide protection to new timber materials or where fungal growth has been particularly heavy. They would also be used as a stop-gap measure if a rotted, but still serviceable, timber had to remain in place.