I spent an hour or two with Andrew Rimmington and the engineering staff of ARC engineers, in Morley, Leeds earlier today . Andrew is a keen supporter of continuous professional development and as he said to me today “We don’t do damp and timber surveys, but we need to know what’s involved and what […]
Wet rot and X-ray vision, with wall tie corrosion thrown in too.
24 Jul 11 by
If want to know what we scurrilous damp, timber and wall tie specialists do all day, here’s a snapshot of a typical day in and around Leeds (apart from the tyre puncture, which meant one survey was dropped; I’d usually do at least four). I’ve chosen this day because it has a nice bit of […]
Wet Rot Dry Rot White Rot Brown…confused? Don’t be; it’s easy really
15 May 11 by
A post or two ago I gave some guidance on how to recognise Dry Rot, without sight of Dry Rot’s very specific fruiting body. Since then I’ve been asked to go a little deeper on rots in construction timbers. This post will enable you to quickly tell a white rot from a brown rot. Don’t […]
Common Furniture Beetle (woodworm), infestation; Quick guide for consumers and surveyors too.
29 Apr 11 by
WOODWORM! oh dear, it is a scary name for sure. Fortunately it’s not usually as big a problem as first appears, however, there are exceptions. In severe cases the damage this tiny insect can cause is quite shocking. This year I’ve already been involved in several pretty extensive repairs, including a complete renewal of a […]
Micro-drilling construction timbers. How and why it works.
12 Mar 11 by
Wet Rot. Dry Rot, beetle infestations. All real problems in construction timbers. In most cases diagnosis and estimation of the extent of the problem is easy; a torch and a screwdriver being all the tools needed, by any half-decent timber infestation surveyor. However, when large section timbers, valuable historic members or restricted access is concerned, […]