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Fungal Decay

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Most fungal decay is fairly obvious. It is where the timber has worn away and is opening up. It is often where the weather side of the building is in Canberra. In Canberra, the worst fungal decay can be thought to be termites and it is not. The decay eats away at the resin and opens up the timber and in the winter it is worse as the water gets in, freezes overnight, expands, then thaws and repeats the cycle. Then in the summer, the timber is open for the resin to leave the timber, fungal spores enter more and so on. This is its worst on the barge boards on the western sides down the bottom end.

Generally, the solution is to remove the timber and replace it. The same happens on pergolas that are twenty or so years old. They are simply what people are calling rotting. They need replacing. One way to delay this cycle from happening is to paint the timber as that prevents the water from entering. Continual maintenance of timber will double its longevity.