A treatise on the origin, progress, prevention, and cure of dry rot in timber

by Thomas Allen Britton

We have seen many instances of dry rot in passages, where oiled floor-cloth has been nailed down and not been disturbed for two or three years.

In ordinary houses, where floor-cloth is laid down in the front kitchen, no ventilation under the floors, and a fire burning every day in the stove, dry rot often appears. In the back kitchen, where there is no floor-cloth, and only an occasional fire, it rarely appears. The air is warm and stagnant under one floor, and cold and stagnant under the other: at the temperature of 32° to 40° the progress of dry rot is very slow.

And how does kamptulicon behave itself? The following instances of the rapid progress of dry rot from external circumstances have recently been communicated to us; they show that, under favourable circumstances as to choice of timber and seasoning, this fungus growth can be readily produced by casing-in the timber with substances impervious, or nearly so, to air.

At No. 29, Mincing Lane, London, in two out of three rooms on the first floor, upon a fire-proof floor constructed on the Fox and Barrett principle (of iron joists and concrete with yellow pine sleepers, on strips of wood bedded in cement, to which were nailed the yellow pine floor-boards) kamptulicon was nailed down by the tenant’s orders. In less than nine months the whole of the wood sleepers, and strips of wood, as well as the boards, were seriously injured by dry rot; whilst the third room floor, which had been covered with a carpet, was perfectly sound.

At No. 79, Gracechurch Street, London, a room on the second floor was inhabited, as soon as finished, by a tenant who had kamptulicon laid down. This floor was formed in the ordinary way, with the usual sound boarding of strips of wood, and concrete two inches thick filled in on the same, leaving a space of about two inches under the floor boards. The floor was seriously decayed by dry rot in a few months down to the level of the concrete pugging, below which it remained sound, and could be pulled up with the hand.

We will now leave oil-cloth and kamptulicon, and try what “Keene’s cement” will do for an “air-tight” partition of a house.

At No. 16, Mark Lane, London, a partition was constructed of sound yellow deal quarters, covered externally with “Keene’s cement, on lath, both sides.” It was removed about two years after its construction, when it was found that the timber was completely perished from dry rot; so much so, that the timbers parted in the middle in places, and were for some time afterwards moist.

It is still unfortunately the custom to keep up the old absurd fashion of disguising woods, instead of revealing their natural beauties. Instead of wasting time in perfect imitations of scarce or dear woods, it would be much better to employ the same amount of time in fully developing the natural characteristics of many of our native woods, now destined for decorative purposes because they are cheap and common; although many of our very commonest woods are very beautifully grained, but their excellences for ornamentation are lost because our decorators have not studied the best mode of developing their beauties. Who would wish that stained deal should be painted in imitation of oak? or that the other materials of a less costly and inferior order should have been painted over instead of their natural faces being exposed to view? There are beauties in all the materials used. The inferior serve to set off by comparison the more costly, and increase their effect. The red, yellow, and white veins of the pine timber are beautiful: the shavings are like silk ribbons, which only nature could vein after that fashion, and to imitate which would puzzle all the tapissiers of the Rue Mouffetard, in Paris.

Why should not light and dark woods be commonly used in combination with each other in our joinery? Wood may be stained of various shades, from light to dark. The dirt or dust does not show more on stained wood than it does on paint, and can be as easily cleaned and refreshed by periodical coats of varnish. Those parts subjected to constant wear and tear can be protected by more durable materials, such as finger-plates, &c. Oak can be stained dark, almost black, by means of bichromate of potash diluted with water. Wash the wood over with a solution of gallic acid of any required strength, and allow it to thoroughly dry. To complete the process, wash with a solution of iron in the form of “tincture of steel,” or a decoction of vinegar and iron filings, and a deep and good stain will be the result. If a positive black is required, wash the wood over with gallic acid and water two or three times, allowing it to dry between every coat; the staining with the iron solution may be repeated. Raw linseed oil will stay the darker process at any stage.

Doors made up of light deal, and varied in the staining, would look as well as the ordinary graining. Good and well-seasoned materials would have to be used, and the joiners’ work well fitted and constructed. Mouldings of a superior character, and in some cases gilt, might be used in the panels, &c. For doors, plain oak should be used for the stiles and rails, and pollard oak for the panels. If rose-wood or satin-wood be used, the straight-grained wood is the best adapted for stiles and rails; and for mahogany doors, the lights and shades in the panels should be stronger than in the stiles and rails.