Does dry rot continue to grow after the water leak is fixed or does 100% of the wood need to be replaced?

Question

I have some dry rot on a piece of wood on the roof eave cause from water damage; the roof leak has been fixed. The damage is minimal and I will be covering the damage with Bondo and painting the house.
Question, does dry rot continue to grow in wood after the water leak is fixed or does 100% of the wood need to be replaced?

Answer 1

No it is done "rotting".

The wood was damaged in the areas you see but now that it is dry nothing further will happen. Try poking the rest of the wood with a screwdriver to see how far the original damage went. If it is just in one small area you are lucky and no replacement is needed.

Instead of Bondo try going to a store that sells woodcrafting supplies. They have an epoxy designed for that exact repair purpose. Its coefficient of expansion is the same as wood so that the repair will stay in place.

Answer 2

Radiators typically rot from the outside, decay from winter road salts, and old age. If you stay on top of the coolont service, drained and refilled with new coolant every 2-5 years, your radiator will last maybe 15+ years. Factory radiators don't seem to be as durable as aftermarket radiators that give you a lifetime warranty. Water pump seals eventually fail. If the coolant level drops, the engine will over heat and there will be no coolant circulating through the cylinder head(s) and they will warp and then need to be removed and reconditioned at a machine shop and reinstalled. Very expensive. If the cars engine overheated even once and the coolant boiled in the engine block, the weakest links will be compromised. If the radiator was old and weak then it can develop a leak from this excessive pressure. Looks like you might need both. BUT if the water pump and new radiator do not stop the engine from overheating, then you probably have a warped cylinder head. One problem creates the other if not repaired promptly. If the cylinder head warps and combustion gasses get inside the water jacket, the pressures are way too high for the water pump seal, radiator, hoses, and heater core and all can fail very early on or after you fix one problem the others surface soon after. Good Luck!

Answer 3

You can get away with treating the wood section with something, even something as simple as tar - I had an apartment side porch window problem like this, and I just "as a temporary fix" slathered some tar over the rotted parts, and it lasted for years. Painting over tar is not so good, though, and anyway appearance was not a problem, so I never did that.

But. For sure, you should replace the part, as it is in an important place, and damaged wood is susceptible to other damage, as from insects and heat/cold alteration, and is less structurally sound.

Answer 4

Does Dry Rot Spread

Answer 5

Dry rot is fungus disease that attacks both softwood and hardwood timber. Destruction of the cellulose causes discoloration and eventual crumbling of the wood. This frequently results in the collapse of wooden structures such as house flooring, mine shafts, and ship hulls. Because the fungi require moisture for growth, dry rot occurs most often in places where the ventilation is poor or humidity is high or when the wood has been improperly seasoned. One dry rot attacks wood it destroys cellulose and this can not be repaired. If the wood partially destroyed is strong enough for its purpose use creosole type of wood preservative which will prevent regrow of the fungus.

Answer 6

Replace the wood because the old soft wood will never be the same again. Also soft lumber is the most susceptible to mites, wood Beatles, and hornets.

Answer 7

it should be replaced