Timber surveys a must to avoid "catastrophic failures"

Timber decay is a common problem that can stay undiscovered for years, but which could lead to "catastrophic failure" of structural timbers if not addressed.

That is the warning from Nick Clifford, managing director of Checkwood, a new company set up to provide specialist timber condition assessments.

“Wood-rotting fungi thrive in poorly maintained buildings, and given the right environmental conditions, may rapidly destroy all the timber it encounters,” said Clifford. “It is a real problem for the UK construction industry.”

“Rotten timber usually discolours, and frequently there are obvious signs of water ingress on the wood and surrounding areas. However, timbers can appear to be in good condition, with no signs of rot, but may contain decay pockets which reduce the structural capacity by 80% or more.”

Clifford said that a particular difficulty with timber decay is that it frequently occurs in the most inaccessible areas of a building, such as built-in bearing ends of roof trusses and floor beams, or behind timber panelling and lath and plaster finishes.

“Built-in bonding timbers and timber lintels can be highly vulnerable to fungal decay, such as wet-rot or dry-rot, but may be completely hidden from view,” he said.

“Specialist surveying techniques, such as decay detection drilling, hammer sounding, probing and fibre-optic examination are therefore required, and moisture content surveys will determine whether the decay is still active, or an historic problem that is no longer on-going.”

Clifford warned that refurbishment/restoration projects for buildings that have been unused for prolonged periods, or buildings with poorly maintained rainwater goods, are especially vulnerable to timber decay.

“Serious consideration should be given to a specialist timber condition survey in these cases,” he said. “A timber survey at the start of a contract will often prevent expensive and unnecessary delays and avoid repairs that are not required.”
 
Further details are available by ringing:  0208 393 7997, or via: info@checkwood.co.uk