Wood expert?

[ruffrecords]

A few years ago we had a nice verandah built at the back of our bungalow. Its main structure is made from French oak. We noticed recently that a small area on the corner of one upright has become powdery. You can rub it and get a cloud of dust. The only possible cause I can find online is woodworm. We are familiar with this as we used to live in an old foundry with oak beams a couple of hundred years old. However, the verandah wood so know signs at all of woodworm (no holes). All I can think of is that the upright was cut from a piece of infected oak such that none of the holes remain. The question is what do I do about it? Online advice seems to be just to leave it alone.

Cheers

Ian

 

[sahib]

Hi Ian,

I am not a wood expert but I would not leave it alone. Wash it with anti-fungal liquid or even a spray. Also monitor it periodically.

 

[JohnRoberts]

Do you see any evidence of termites or carpenter ants? (Not an expert, but I spray for both).

JR

 

[ruffrecords]

Hi Ian,

I am not a wood expert but I would not leave it alone. Wash it with anti-fungal liquid or even a spray. Also monitor it periodically.

Yes, I check it on a regular basis. When we were at the old foundry I did up an outbuilding as a home studio. The beams there had woodworm so I treated them with a suitable killer. Seemed OK at the time but this time there are no woodworm holes which is puzzling. Do you think it might be fungal?

Cheers

Ian

 

[ruffrecords]

Do you see any evidence of termites or carpenter ants? (Not an expert, but I spray for both).

JR

To the best of my knowledge there are no termites here in the UK. There was one case years ago i Devon which resulted is a successful? termite eradication program to prevent them spreading.

We do however have carpenter ants, through you never really hear about them. They can be very destructive but again I can see no exit/entry holes so I am not sure.

Cheers

Ian

 

[john12ax7]

Could be white mold or efflorescence (mineral deposits). I would suggest posting a pic on a wood forum or even a wood subreddit

 

[sahib]

Yes, I check it on a regular basis. When we were at the old foundry I did up an outbuilding as a home studio. The beams there had woodworm so I treated them with a suitable killer. Seemed OK at the time but this time there are no woodworm holes which is puzzling. Do you think it might be fungal?

Cheers

Ian

Hi Ian,

As you have mentioned before it might be that it was cut-away from an infected log. Otherwise a healthy wood would not crumble like that. Can you post a picture?