HELP! - Wood Fungus? What's Up With That?
Dan & Jan Hollenbaugh
we had "wood fungus" eating away at the joists in our crawlspace. He said
this could be more damaging than termites. Another Terminix guy came by the
next day, looked at it, and told us the crawlspace had an adequate vapor
barrier, but that the vents were too small. He quoted us $400 to treat the
fungus, and about $900 to put in "temperature controlled vents". I'm a
Yankee, and this is something I've never heard of. Some questions:
1. Is this for real?
2. Is it really worth worrying about?
2. Is this something I can treat myself? Is there a commercially available
fungicide I can get in there and spray myself?
Any help would be appreciated.
Dan Hollenbaugh
holle...@mindspring.com
Greg Bacon
Dan & Jan Hollenbaugh <holle...@mindspring.com> wrote:
: The Terminix guy inspected the house for termites the other day, and
: told us we had "wood fungus" eating away at the joists in our
: crawlspace. He said this could be more damaging than termites.
: Another Terminix guy came by the next day, looked at it, and told us
: the crawlspace had an adequate vapor barrier, but that the vents were
: too small. He quoted us $400 to treat the fungus, and about $900 to
: put in "temperature controlled vents".
You didn't mention the size of your foundation in terms of square
footage, but Cook's installed vents around the perimeter of the
crawlspace beneath my house (~1200 sq ft) for significantly less than
$900. Think about seeking a second opinion.
Greg
--
In an intellectually equal society, who will be the busboys?
-- Lenny Bruce
Ron Hammon
>
> The Terminix guy inspected the house for termites the other day, and told us
> we had "wood fungus" eating away at the joists in our crawlspace. He said
> this could be more damaging than termites. Another Terminix guy came by the
> next day, looked at it, and told us the crawlspace had an adequate vapor
> barrier, but that the vents were too small. He quoted us $400 to treat the
> Yankee, and this is something I've never heard of. Some questions:
>
> 1. Is this for real?
> 2. Is it really worth worrying about?
> 2. Is this something I can treat myself? Is there a commercially available
> fungicide I can get in there and spray myself?
>
> Any help would be appreciated.
>
> Dan Hollenbaugh
> holle...@mindspring.com
"Temperture-controlled vents" are the way to go IF you are VERY
forgetful or don't like the idea of any effort on your part to prepare
for a change of seasons. The Temperture controlls automatically close
the vents when the weather is too cold to leave them open. Those vents
sell, at retail, for about $24 each. Plain vents, with manual closures,
sell for about $7 each. It takes about 15 minutes to chisel a nice
opening and install a single vent. Rule of thumb is about one vent per
15-20 feet of foundation, more-or-less one under each room, per outside
wall.
Houses around here are notoriously undervented. The extraventing even
protects you from radon gas buildup. Think of a foundation, in the
summertime, as being little more than the old block piers that houses
used to sit on. (Well, they were like that around here anyway.) When
very cold weather comes, you trade the advantage of good ventilaton for
the extra warmth of a closed crawl space. On a warm day, you should
still go bacck to good ventilation. That's where the automatic units
shine.
I would suggest that you go with the very best vents that you can find,
use as many as you can, but install them yourself. The entire task
should only cost $250 for a dozen added vents. Then, any fungicide
treatment is unneeded. Use the extra money to insulate the floors.
They sell steel wires to hold the insulation up, but I prefer stapled
chicken wire. Otherwise, it soon turns into a sagging mess. With good
insulation against the floor, the crawl space can be vented for all but
the very coldest times when pipes are in peril.
Incidentially, the fungus that typically eats the soft wood is black and
very noticable, but basically harmless to the strength of the wood. The
other kind, the one with white stuff that you see in damp, rotting logs,
eats the hard cellulose and turns structural wood to something akin to
balsa wood. Any wood that has been so attacked can be quickly verified
by s hammer blow. If it falls apart, replace it. If it doesn't, don't
worry about it.
Another thing to check is crawl space "rivers". I have one that I am,
even now, deciding how to deal with. The front of one house is so low
that the vents are almost against the ground and invite ponding from a
severe drenching to run right underneath the house, leaving a sloppy
mess. I found this only by seeing the dry river bed. I had been
perplexed as to why I had evidence of fungus when everything was so
well-vented and dry. Also, check for leaky plumbing in the area. You'd
be supprised how often this goes on, unseen, for months.
Even termites need moisture to survive! Dry is the enemy of ALL bugs.
Eliminate all dripping faucets, standing water in dishes, leaks, etc.
and even roaches CANNOT survive! A bug without water for a few hours is
a dead bug. Believe it!
--
Ron Hammon. Remove "y" from "nyet", if present, from my address to
reply.
Ray Rowley
Good advice. Any suggestions on getting rid of mildew under house as well?
I've used diluted bleach - it works, but mildew comes back next year. I'm
sure it's too damp in crawl space, usually only after a rain, but will extra
vents help enough to prevent mildew? Most moisture comes from poor drainage
around foundation. I've considered adding more vents, but we have an
L-shaped house on a hill, so inside of legs have no vents and there is very
little cross ventilation through vents on outside of legs. I'm not sure more
vents will help.
Also, anyone know if there's a correlation between mildew and wood fungus or
termites? If we have a mildew problem, does that mean we should be more
concerned about potential fungus or termite problem?
Ray Rowley
Ron Hammon <ham...@hiwaay.net> wrote in message
news:399C7E...@hiwaay.net...
Ron Hammon
>
> Good advice. Any suggestions on getting rid of mildew under house as well?
>
> I've used diluted bleach - it works, but mildew comes back next year. I'm
> sure it's too damp in crawl space, usually only after a rain, but will extra
> vents help enough to prevent mildew? Most moisture comes from poor drainage
> around foundation. I've considered adding more vents, but we have an
> L-shaped house on a hill, so inside of legs have no vents and there is very
> little cross ventilation through vents on outside of legs. I'm not sure more
> vents will help.
>
> Also, anyone know if there's a correlation between mildew and wood fungus or
> termites? If we have a mildew problem, does that mean we should be more
> concerned about potential fungus or termite problem?
>
> Ray Rowley
>
Diluted bleach works best to eliminate the EVIDENCE of mildew. Some
preparations actually contain a fungicide to prevent it. But, until the
moisture is handled, it is an uphill battle. And, once it is handled,
the problem disappears.
Mildew IS fungus. The black fungus, that I described, eating soft wood,
is a sort of mildew. From what I've seen, the white, serious stuff
doesn't take hold until the black is finished. So, a little mildew
discoloration is harmless. But, eventually, the same moisture problem
invites the nasty stuff.
The reason that I mentioned bugs and moisture is that termites must have
ready access to moisture and cannot attack fully dried wood.
If it will take awhile to install berms and drains in front of the
foundation to reroute rainwater, I would try a small fan. A nice fan
should only cost about $30 and use less than $1 per month to run
constantly. Or, try one of those $12 Wal-Mart box fans. Stick it in
the doorway and dry away. Been there, done that.