How To Spot Dry Rot Before Standing On A Balcony

The remaining wood from the Library Gardens apartment building balcony that collapsed in Berkeley, California. Make sure you know how to spot dry rot before cleaning windows on a balcony.

Balcony report issues rot warning: New safety rules for buildings in a US university city have been drawn up after investigations found severe dry rot in a balcony that collapsed killing six students a week ago. As the first funerals of the five Irish victims took place on home soil, city officials in California confirmed suspicions that the exterior wooden beams on the fifth-storey apartment had been extensively weather-damaged.

Emergency orders have been set out to enhance the safety of all new and existing buildings in the city, officials said. The Irish students who died were all from south Dublin - medical students and friends Lorcan Miller and Eimear Walsh; Olivia Burke, who went to school with Eimear; Niccolai Schuster, who was at the same college at Lorcan and Eimear, and his friend from school Eoghan Culligan.

Irish-American Ashley Donohoe, who lived in California and was a cousin of Olivia's, also died. Seven others were badly injured, with one of them being released from hospital in the US today and others expected to undergo treatment over the coming weeks.

The City of Berkeley released the findings of dry rot and included a memo by inspectors to senior management. Among the new rules set down are for new balconies and other sealed areas exposed to weather to face stricter regulations on the type of materials which can be used and ventilation.

Regular maintenance inspections all also being ordered. In the memo on the inspections, which began within two hours of the tragedy last Tuesday morning, Alex Roshal, manager of the city's building and safety division, reported dry rot on the joists which propped up the cantilevered balcony. "From this location, the supervising building inspector observed that the joist ends protruding from the exterior wall appeared to be extensively rotted at the failure points," he told director of the city's planning and development department Eric Angstadt.

The City of Berkeley officials remained in contact with investment house Blackrock, which owns the building, property managers Greystar and others involved in removing material and safety checks in the wake of the accident. The new inspection regime will enforce maintenance checks on buildings within six months of the rules coming into effect and then once every five years.

During inspections after the accident a second balcony was found to have suffered dry rot and was declared unsafe and a collapse hazard. City safety officials said the plans for the building, completed in 2007, complied with all requirements in place at the time and inspections of the work were carried out.

Both of these balconies, which showed evidence of dry rot, were removed from Library Gardens last week. Make sure you know how to spot dry rot before cleaning windows on a balcony.

How to Identify Dry Rot: Dry rot, also known as brown rot, is a wood-destroying fungus that affects soft and hard woods. Mostly found in damp and humid conditions, dry rot depletes the moisture from dry wood, sometimes causing extensive structural damage. If not identified early, dry rot seeps through bricks and mortar to wood located in poorly ventilated areas. It cannot affect the masonry but dry rot strands carry the moisture needed to spread.

Signs of Dry Rot How to Stop Dry Rot From Spreading;

• Search for wood that is sunken or shrunken.
• Determine whether the affected area is black and covered in mildew.
• Look for affected wood that has flat "skin-like" growth. The skin may have a mushroom-like growth with shades of silver and gray. It may be patterned with patches of light purple or yellow and peels easily.
• Check wood with damp and musty odors. Watch for white "cottonball" growth on the wood. This is very important if you suspect water damage.
• Examine any dust around the rotted area. Dry rot dust is a rust red color.
• Inspect any area with wide, soft and fleshy wide spores. The spores may have an orange and green surface. Look for thick gray strands, up to three millimeters in diameter, growing within the cracked section of wood. These strands may be found alone with out any other symptoms of dry rot. The strands make the wood brittle and crack easily and can grow over other damp wood, possibly leading to dry rot.
• Verify dry rot with an ice pick inserted in the middle of the affected area. If it goes through the wood easily, you have may have dry rot. If the wood seems solid and dry, you may not have any major problems with the wood. However, you should look for cracks and rips in the wood that are susceptible to water damage.