Everything You Need to Know About Rotting Wood

Sometimes rot may be easily visible and other times it may take some investigating to find. Right off the bat, if the wood is soft, brittle or crumbly it likely has rot. Other common signs are cracked, peeling and blistering paint and wood that is damp, discoloured or green with algae.

Wood can easily be tested for rot by probing with a screwdriver, wood with interior rot will feel soft and sound hollow when tapped. If your screwdriver can easily poke into the wood, it more than likely has rot.

There are three common types of wood rot to look for:

• Brown Rot – With brown rot, wood typically shrinks and turns brown in color, it cracks and separates into cube size pieces and becomes very weak and easy to crumble. This type of rot is also commonly referred to as dry-rot as it deprives the wood of it’s nutrients which creates a dry powdery appearance.
• White Rot – As the name implies, this type of rot will turn wood white or yellowish and will make it feel and appear moist, soft and spongy and is commonly seen in hardwoods.
• Soft Rot – This type of rot is rare and less aggressive than white and brown rot. Soft-rot fungi creates cavities and cracking inside the wood and sometimes causes discolouration similar to brown rot.

Keep these common places at the top of your check list when checking for wood rot:

• Wooden window frames
• Outer door thresholds, door frames, jams and trims
• Outdoor decks – specifically the stairs and areas connected to the house
• Roofs and seals around chimneys
• Discoloured fascia below the roof line
• Corroded flashing
• Base of toilets, sinks and bathtub corners
• Floors around water heater, washing machine and dish washer