How to Take Care of Wood Rot and Dry Rot in Your Home

Discover How to Take Care of Wood Rot and Dry Rot in Chesterfield, MO & Surrounding Areas

Wood rot and dry rot can be caused by numerous exposures in your home from moisture, dry rot spores, poor timber, water damage, and more. It’s important to keep an eye on where this can occur in your home and what you can do to locate, maintain, and fix these damages.

High-risk Areas

Areas in your home such as decks, damaged roofing, wet rooms, basements, bathrooms, windows, exterior doors, and more can all let in or build up moisture.

How to Locate Damaged Wood

Locating dry rot and other damaged wood should be a yearly chore before the winter season sets in. Use a flashlight to look around your siding, windows, basements, crawlspace, perimeter wood, walls and floors around sinks, tubs, and showers, and more. The screwdriver can test if the wood is soft—which it should never be. Soft wood, swelling, discoloration, an odor, and more are all signs of rotting wood. Dry wood can experience these as well as be very brittle, easy to break, and with cracks.

How to Treat Wood Rot

Decide if the wood needs to be repaired or replaced. If replaced, this will be a job for your local handyman, but repairs can be done by repairing the leak or where the moisture has come in. Then dry the wood out before sealing it with a copper or borate based wood preservative.

How to Prevent Damage

Think ahead and remove old caulk as it begins to break and replace it with fresh caulk. Seal all cracks, windows, exterior doors, and more. Clean out your gutters regularly, install an exhaust fan in the bathrooms, and have a dehumidifier in the basement. If it rains, clear all standing water from your deck.

With these tips, you will be ready to prepare and maintain your home from dry rot or rotted wood. If you need assistance with any step of the project, your local handyman is just a call away to lend a helping hand.

Contact Handyman Connection

Contact our professional handymen at Handyman Connection in Chesterfield, MO, and surrounding areas to schedule an estimate today.