When our San Bruno handyman service comes to inspect your home, one of the first things we will look for is dry rot. Dry rot is one of the most insidious of all problems that can happen in a home. It happens beneath the surface of the wood, so if you don't have a keen eye, it can go unnoticed for years.
Being in the Bay Area, conditions are perfect for dry rot. Dry rot is a generic term for any damage to wood done by fungus, mold, mildew and other natural occurrences that leads to the decay of the wood from the inside out. The problem occurs when this rot is allowed to continue for a long period of time and results in a loss of structural integrity in the wood.
Dry rot can happen on the interior or exterior of your home. Inside, it is usually due to humidity building up in kitchens and bathrooms that are not adequately vented or in attics that are poorly insulated or leaky. Homes with concrete slab foundations are the most susceptible because the wood is in direct contact with the concrete, which absorbs water. Outside, dry rot occurs in wooden posts in planting beds and around decks as well as in the underside soffits near eaves.
Preventing dry rot isn't hard. It just requires that you actively reduce the amount of moisture in your home. This can be done through proper venting, sealing leaks, and caulking areas in the kitchen and bathroom that allow hot water vapor to get to wooden supports. The easiest way to test your home for dry rot is to take a long handled screwdriver and press it into the wood. If the screwdriver easily penetrates the outside of the wood and flakes it away, you have dry rot.
Once you've identified it, call in one of or professional San Bruno handymen to replace the affected area. The longer the area goes unrepaired the more likely that termites and carpenter ants will find the damaged wood and start chewing, making the problem exponentially worse.
