the.com/wet rot
the slow-motion drowning of timber, dignified enough to stay where it died.
means A form of fungal timber decay caused by persistently damp (rather than dry) wood, where the fungus breaks down the timber while it stays moist, often leaving it soft, dark, and crumbling in place.
from A plain compound of "wet" and "rot," both among the oldest stock of English: "wet" traces to Old English "wǣt" (from a Germanic root tied to water), and "rot" to Old English "rotian," meaning to decay or putrefy. The pairing is descriptive carpentry-and-builder's speech, naming the condition by its cause — moisture — to distinguish it from its drier, more notorious sibling, dry rot, which despite the name also needs damp to start.
- chief culprit
- the fungus Coniophora puteana, a moisture addict
- staying power
- unlike dry rot, it rarely spreads beyond the damp
- telltale sign
- wood darkens, softens, smells faintly of swamp
- needs
- timber moisture above fifty percent to thrive
- cure
- fix the leak and the fungus starves out
serpula lacrymans — fungus species causing structural decay in buildings across europe and north america since medieval times
windsor castle — required extensive wet rot remediation after 1992 fire exposed moisture damage in wooden structures