How Do I Fix Dry Rot?

What are your options when it comes to fixing dry rot in a wood floor? Unfortunately, dry rot can be very difficult to deal with, and for the most part, it’s not a DIY fix. If you do have dry rot in your floor joists, you’ll want to contact an expert.

This expert may recommend a variety of fixes. These are some of the most common fixes for dry rot.

Removal and Spliced-In Replacements

It can be extremely difficult to avoid the recurrence of dry rot unless you remove all the decayed wood and remaining spores left behind. In most situations, that means removing the wood infected with dry rot and all wood within about a three-foot radius.

Once the wood has been removed, an expert can then splice in replacements for the wood they just removed. These replacements may have an anti-fungal treatment on them to discourage wood rot in the future.

Obviously, this is an extremely intensive process, and it’s not something you can do on your own. Contact a JES expert for more information regarding how you may be able to fix dry rot and similar problems in your crawl space. 

Fungicide and Sterilization

Once you’ve removed all pieces that could convey dry rot, including pieces outside the immediate area of infestation, it’s common for the next step to be making sure any brickwork and stonework doesn’t carry the fungus.

Even though dry rot typically can’t grow in brickwork or stonework, that doesn’t mean it’s completely safe. You still need to make sure it doesn’t carry over to the new wood. That’s where fungicide and sterilization options come in.

These options can include treatments that can be toxic in large quantities or if someone applies them improperly. That’s why if you have stonework or brickwork in the areas surrounding the dry rot, you need to talk to a JES expert about your best options. 

Additional Antifungal Treatments

It’s also important that you invest in antifungal treatments, typically for the entire crawl space or at least for a very wide radius around the initial dry rot. That’s because antifungal treatments can help keep any lingering spores or other fungal problems at bay.

Antifungal treatments are complicated. Some of them may be able to fix very moderate instances of dry rot without completely replacing the wood, but some of them won’t. Some of them, like sterilization techniques, can also be toxic.

This is definitely a complicated subject, so you should only pursue antifungal treatments if you’re directed to do so by an expert. A free inspection from JES can help you understand your best next move.