The word "dry rot" is a misnomer; wood doesn´t rot if it´s dry. Dry rot is usually caused by fungi and in some cases ends up dry. (Notice the cubed and powdery dried out wood as well as the tell tale horizontal scaring in the image on the right)One such fungi is called Meruliporia Incrassata or more commonly known as Poria"The House Eating Fungus" part of the Polyporus family. |
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This water conducting fungi, which is naturally occurring, normally eats old dead and fallen trees, cleaning up the dead wood in the forests. Poria will not touch live trees, but when it comes to non living wood, like your home, it´s always hidden, it moves incredibly fast, and can turn an entire house into a dry powder in less than a year. |
Entry Point Photos Basement Photos Window Photos Wall Photos Ceiling Photos |
Do you have an alien living in your neighbors yard? |
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Why do we call it an alien? Poria is one of the strangest naturally occurring fungi known to target and destroy processed lumber. Poria has what some people call a head or brain. The head is a central location, always hidden and buried underground, it´s starting point for the fungi and has roots that spread out in multiple directions looking for two things, water and food. This fungus has many different parts to its colony and varies greatly in appearance, from a large brown thick root, a spider web thin tendril, a substance that resembles pancake batter, a white foam, to a bright orange fruiting body that spews spores twice a year. |
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The head can be in one yard, it´s roots running into a neighbors pool, and more roots running into yet another neighbors house destroying it from the inside out, and its usually never seen until it´s to late. Poria can grow straight down, up to 50 feet in search of water, or hundreds of feet across lawns in search of a leaky faucet. The water-conducting roots known as rhizomorphs, span out in all directions in search of food. The water is brought to the wood and enzymes are produced to reduce the wood into the food it needs to survive. The water, filled with nutrients, is then distributed to all parts of this fungus leaving nothing but dried out cubes of wood that will crumble to powder in your hand. |
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Poria cannot survive out in the open, it must stay in the dark, it creeps along just under the surface of your lawn, it sends out tendrils, some as thin as spider webs to gain access to the inside of your walls where it eats all of your wood framing leaving just the outside shell of the wood. It can spread across a beam several feet in a day, moving throughout an entire home, sacrificing itself in places to provide cover for it to spread even farther. |
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Poria, luckily for us, is delicate in many ways, it´s both light and temperature sensitive, and will die without food (dead wood) and water. In addition, believe it or not, if you cut off the head from the roots (if you can find them all) the rhizomorphs, hypha, orange fruiting body, etc... will all die without the head. |
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Look for warning signs, the points of entry along the base outside your home, the fungi smells surprisingly like store bought mushrooms, or have your property properly inspected but what ever you do, don´t wait till you see the orange mold coming out of your door jambs preparing itself to spew spores into your kitchen, by then it will most likely be to late! |
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Poria photo albums (note:all of these albums were photographed at the same house!) |
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Additional sites for more information. |
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This site is being designed and built by WTaylorConsulting |
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