What is Dry Rot?

Unfortunately, you can’t really “treat” dry rot like mold or other fungi. Once dry rot has taken hold of a wooden structure, the strength and durability of that structure is lost. However, certain techniques like sistering or replacement are one way to deal with rotted wood. Sistering involves placing an identical floor joist next to the damaged one and securing them with a screw or nail.

That way, the new floor joist helps support the weight of your floor. But because dry rot can spread to other pieces of wood easily, you’ll likely want to completely replace the damaged wood instead.  Keep in mind, these repair options don’t actually stop the underlying cause of dry rot, which is excess moisture in your crawl space. Once damaged wood is replaced, its important to install moisture remediation tools with help from a crawl space specialist.

You might be wondering, “If dry rot is a fungus, is it similar to mold?”

They have similarities, but ultimately, they are two different species of fungi. Mold comes in many varieties and each with a slightly different physical appearance.

Mold may be green, black, white, or yellow. Furthermore, while mold does eat away at organic material like wood, it differs from dry rot because it generally lives on the surface of organic material, eating it from the outside in.

Dry rot is different in that it refers to one specific species of fungi. Dry rot thrives inside wooden structures rather than on the surface and eats from the inside out.  Moreover, dry rot spreads much quicker than mold which is why it is so detrimental to your crawl space. Neither mold nor dry rot are fun to deal with; generally, the presence of one leads to the other.