There are many components of your roof that need to be in top condition to keep your home in good shape. When most people think of their home roof, they think about the shingles, trim, boot pipes, chimney, and other more notable features. However, the integrity of the wood on your roof is very important, and should never be overlooked. You wouldn’t want to be unaware of something like dry rot.
What is dry rot? We’ll get into this and more in this article. Let’s look at how it affects wood, how it can jeopardize your roof, and finally, what can be done about it.
What Is Dry Rot?
Dry rot is a condition that can occur with any wood but is generally understood in the context of construction materials. Any wood exposed to the right conditions can become compromised by naturally occurring fungi. This airborne fungus is around us all the time, but wet and dark conditions allow it to adhere to wood and thrive.
Once fungi become intertwined with the wood fibers, it’s very difficult to remove, and the wood becomes weakened over time. The fungi begin to digest the wood, and in particular, it eats away at the compounds that make the wood strong and stiff.
Wood that has visible dry rot has been suffering from wood decay for quite some time, and it can no longer be trusted to maintain strength and integrity. Wood that is suffering will look mangled, discolored. It will also be cracking and splitting. Dry rot is a hazardous condition and should be removed/fixed as soon as it is detected.
Why Does it Happen?
It doesn’t appear overnight. The conditions must be ideal for the airborne fungi to adhere to wood and continue to spread.
Funny enough, dry rot is an old term used by shipyard workers who would dry dock ships for repair during winter months. When the ships would dry out, the rotten wood became exposed. The shipyard workers thought that removing the ships from the water would cause the wood to get “dry rot,” but in reality, the wood had been rotted out by fungi before being on land.
Any form of wood rot requires moisture for the fungi to spread. But, wood rot becomes “dry rot” when the fungi’s moisture has dried up, and nothing is left but the decrepit remains of the wood it infected.
So, when you the wood used in construction rotting, it means the wood has been in a high-moisture area without proper ventilation or sun exposure to kill the fungi before it grows and spreads.
The Dangers it Poses On Your Roof And Home
Dry rot is incredibly unsightly. If you can see dry rot on your roof shingles or your home, chances are you’re going to want it removed. But it’s not just visually unappealing.
Dry rot can jeopardize the integrity of your roof and home. Remember, when fungi adheres to wood it eats away at the nutrients and fibers that keep the wood strong. Wood suffering from dry rot is very compromised and should not be trusted to support your roof or other components of your home.
Most of the time when roofing companies find wood rot on a residential or commercial roof, it’s because the roof was vulnerable to leaks, and the supporting structures under the shingles became exposed to fungi spores.
For example, if a roof has a hole in its shingles, even a small hole, moisture can get under the shingles to rot out the plywood of the roof under the underlayment. This is a common example of what roofing companies will see as they perform roof inspections on residential roofs.
When wood is rotted on your roof, it leaves your home exposed to the elements. Rotten roofing materials or even rotten support joists will cause lots of damage to your home.
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What Can Be Done About Dry Rot?
Fortunately, professional roofing experts will be able to spot dry rot as it’s occurring or areas around your roof where it could become a problem. The best solution against dry rot is preventing the conditions that allow it to cultivate in the first place.
Wood rot, in all shapes and forms, needs high-moisture areas to thrive. Ensuring your home and roof have proper ventilation is the first step to preventing. A properly vented roof is unlikely to suffer from dry rot. By keeping the moisture levels low in your attic and crawl spaces, the rot will have a much harder time spreading.
Remember, wood rot doesn’t happen overnight, so keeping up with routine roof maintenance and inspections will dramatically decrease your chances of dealing with this.
Roofs can be repaired, to a certain extent. But if the rot is too pervasive, it can cause much nastier and more costly damage to your home.
Contact us to ensure that your roof is healthy and that your home is not vulnerable to dry rot!