BONES

[barroca grande]

Mould - is due to condensation which is ultra clean water for the spores to grow on. Not to be confused with wet or dry rot. responds to bleach.

 

Wet rot - nice and easy cut away infected bits that are dangerous ie structurally un sound treat area in particular the cut ends and keep dry. So long as remains dry no further problem.

 

Dry rot - bit of a bugger. It grows on any organic material, wood, plaster, fabric, concrete and can lurk for years. Any infected material must be disposed of properly even the tiniest particle can grow to be a problem. Bad builders have been known to shove everything into the foundations and pour concrete on top. Dry rot appears later for no apparent reason and doesn't need to be linear it can be in pockets.

 

In houses it is normal to investigate thoroughly until you have 2 metres clear around the source but even then there could be a small bit lurking to catch you out.

 

I would contact an expert to actually have a look and advise on how much of your boat you might potentially have to rip out.

 

Basically pray it is wet rot.

 

Good luck

 

See you in Cropredy

 

 

Kath

 

 

excerpts

quote

Dry Rot

Timber, that is, or has been, the host to this organism is altered considerably, both in its appearance and its structural qualities. Where it was once strong and appealing in nature, it becomes brownish in colour and develops an unmistakable cuboid appearance, i.e. it’s consistency changes to that of small cubes of timber, separated around their perimeters by jagged fissures. Furthermore, it now has the strength of a newborn chicken and the consistency of charcoal. As support for a roof, or the floor above, it’s pants.

 

 

Other ‘brown’ rots, so called because they only attack the cellulose of the timber and leave the brownish coloured lignin behind, also create a cuboidal condition but these often leave an outer skin, which is superficially untouched. Dry rot doesn’t do this; it starts from the outside and goes all the way in. The cubes are also usually bigger in size.

end quote

 

So cuboidal doesn't necessarily mean dry rot just check what type of cuboids you have.

 

quote

Good ventilation interferes with the organism’s ability to spread, and thus it’s seldom seen in well-lit, airy places; and virtually never outside in the open air. If it does show itself where light and air are in abundance, this is often in the form of a fruiting body, and can often mean the organism is struggling for survival. The fruiting body enables it to propagate its spores so that it can continue its life cycle somewhere else. But that’s another story.

 

 

Perhaps the main reason this fungus is so feared is because of its ability to spread with commendable rapidity; other rots generally do not have this gift; they are slow growing and relatively meek in comparison. Given enough time, common ‘wet’ rots will also render timber structurally unsound but the damage they cause is usually confined by their slow progression into other areas of timber that share a high moisture content.

end quote

 

if you deprive any rot of it's main requirements, damp, food etc it will dry out and die.

 

So cure all leaks, ventilate the sub floor etc etc

[Bones]

Finally I have taken the floor up (the laminate and the boards underneath) it didn't take too long in the end. I have cleaned up, cleared up and danced around the place with my new best friend Cuprinol 5star and the new boards are currently on the wharf 'airing'. I will put them back, and then I have to decide what to put on top. I STILL can't decide whether to use laminate, bamboo or real wood. I think that if I were to go for the real wood option I really ought to get someone who knows what they are doing to fit it. I am also not so sure how eco friendly bamboo actually is in real life, or how suitable for boats although I have seen some good reports from people who have had it a couple of years.

 

Taking up ones floor is a very exciting thing to do - I would recommend emptying the boat first... now, that WOULD have been a good idea.

[NB Alnwick]

Finally I have taken the floor up (the laminate and the boards underneath) it didn't take too long in the end. I have cleaned up, cleared up and danced around the place with my new best friend Cuprinol 5star and the new boards are currently on the wharf 'airing'. I will put them back, and then I have to decide what to put on top. I STILL can't decide whether to use laminate, bamboo or real wood. I think that if I were to go for the real wood option I really ought to get someone who knows what they are doing to fit it. I am also not so sure how eco friendly bamboo actually is in real life, or how suitable for boats although I have seen some good reports from people who have had it a couple of years.

 

Taking up ones floor is a very exciting thing to do - I would recommend emptying the boat first... now, that WOULD have been a good idea.

 

We had some odd floorboards made from a bamboo laminate in our garage - they went mouldy - very mouldy - so I threw them out. The garage was otherwise quite dry and kept at a temperature of more than 15^oC. You can't beat Oak for flooring but it is expensive and those 'Bordeaux Pine' floor boards sold in the big DIY shops looks very interesting. Alternatively you could lay down a few inches of topsoil and grass seed for a nice lawn. It would be great for Croquet or Polo on Summer afternoons . . .

[alan_fincher]

Alternatively you could lay down a few inches of topsoil and grass seed for a nice lawn. It would be great for Croquet or Polo on Summer afternoons . . .

I know you are one for the traditional materials, Graham, and don't like the modern alternatives.

 

But in view of the rot problems Bones is trying to solve, personally I'd forget the topsoil & turf, (and hence the need to pour water on it), and compromise on Astroturf, (if on-board Croquet or Polo is your bag, of course).

[Janet S]

Taking up ones floor is a very exciting thing to do - I would recommend emptying the boat first... now, that WOULD have been a good idea.

 

Now, why doesn't that surprise me?

 

Bones, you are absolutely priceless...!!!

 

Janet

[Bullfrog]

........ personally I'd forget the topsoil & turf, (and hence the need to pour water on it), and compromise on Astroturf, (if on-board Croquet or Polo is your bag, of course).

 

 

Since we are all going off topic here I think I should tell you about a pub near us (Punch and Judy, Tonbridge) where the management turf the floor and thatch over the top of the bar (both indoors) every St Patrick's day. One year they famously got it wrong when it grew very quickly and had to mow it before the big day!

 

david

[Bones]

astro tuft isn't a bad idea... but the dog might think I have extended the lavatory indoors which would give him another reason not to get out of his basket!

[drunkensailor]

Is this boat moored up at Thrupp? I think I might be moored up along the towpath from you. I'm the man the little scruffy narrowboat towing a canoe. Might go and say hello in a bit.

 

Anyway, I just thought I'd share my experience with you. I scraped the worst off my floor with a scraper, then waxoyled. Above that is a floor with a loose bit of lino (£4 at a car boot sale) floating over the plywood floor, no glue and a couple of inches smaller than the floor area. Still OK after 3 years, but I am paranoid so regularly have it up.

[Alan Saunders]

Mould - is due to condensation which is ultra clean water for the spores to grow on . . . <snip>

Fascinating! Similar to the lichens that invade the outside of my boat except where the exhaust from the gas-boiler deters them. I treated my shower compartment with a silicone polish (maybe 'Cockpit Shine'?) expecting that it would make it easier to keep it clean. The melamine and the silicone sealant soon grew a huge, almost continuous black mould colony.

 

I believe black moulds can survive in porous substances without damaging the structure but their air-borne spores can be a problem for asthmatics.

 

Alan

[Bones]

well, having turned my boat into the most unpleasent place to be I have been trying to work out what to do with the flooring and have decided to resort to Laminate after all, mainly because I have got it. I would really like wood, but if I were to spend the money on the wood I think it is worth paying someone to fit it.

 

I had been trying to fit the wood from front to back but after talking to 8ch and Alnwick I think I might try doing it form side to side.

 

I am using 6mm ply on the walls and I hope it is dry over the weekend so I can paint them outside and thus get rid of most of the fumes before bringing them in.

 

I have totally stunned myself at how unpleasent a boat can be when it is in pieces, every time I come in my heart sinks!!! The good news is that I have electric on tap. Yay.

Edited September 3, 2010 by Bones

[bottle]

The good news is that I have electric on tap.

 

It would be better on a switch, less shocking.

 

With that I shall leave the room.

 

You know this

[Bones]

It would be better on a switch, less shocking.

 

With that I shall leave the room.

 

You know this

 

 

You are NORTY! I know that too... anyway electric on tap does wonders for my hair.

[NB Alnwick]

You are so fortunate to have electricity while we sit here with candles and a computer screen that is getting dimmer and dimmer

 

And a boat across the water from us has been giving a fair impression of Blackpool Illuminations . . .

[RLWP]

You are so fortunate to have electricity while we sit here with candles and a computer screen that is getting dimmer and dimmer

 

And a boat across the water from us has been giving a fair impression of Blackpool Illuminations . . .

 

How romantic!

[Keeping Up]

My Dear Bones it is not good to read of your heart sinking. May I recommend a few of the aforementioned fumes to restore it?

[Bones]

You are so fortunate to have electricity while we sit here with candles and a computer screen that is getting dimmer and dimmer

 

And a boat across the water from us has been giving a fair impression of Blackpool Illuminations . . .

i thought you might like all my lights lights lights but they are from solar. I just use the land plugs for my drill. Must do some drilling this weekend!

[Daftmare]

Bones, just seen this thread - sorry you are having trouble with the floor - presumably this has put paid to your trip down the River Wey this summer?

 

Jo

[Bones]

Jo - I won't make it up the Wey this year, not just the boat but family stuff too. Next year maybe and hopefully earlier in the year so I can do the Basingstoke too.

 

I have a new floor, pictures are on my blog http://mortimerbones.blogspot.com/2010/09/new-floor-oh-yes-new-floor.html

I chose Laminate from B&Q in the end, despite the bad reviews it had! I didn't want to go for carpet, and the only real contender was Vinyl but I decided against that too for no logical reason other than I had purchased the laminate already. A friend gave me a hand with it and it went down well. We had to replace a few other bits of flooring that were dogier than I originally thought, but overall it looks quite good. The dog likes it and he hasn't been skating on it ... yet.

 

 

[NB Alnwick]

Jo - I won't make it up the Wey this year, not just the boat but family stuff too. Next year maybe and hopefully earlier in the year so I can do the Basingstoke too.

 

I have a new floor, pictures are on my blog http://mortimerbones.blogspot.com/2010/09/new-floor-oh-yes-new-floor.html

I chose Laminate from B&Q in the end, despite the bad reviews it had! I didn't want to go for carpet, and the only real contender was Vinyl but I decided against that too for no logical reason other than I had purchased the laminate already. A friend gave me a hand with it and it went down well. We had to replace a few other bits of flooring that were dogier than I originally thought, but overall it looks quite good. The dog likes it and he hasn't been skating on it ... yet.

 

Super job - isn't it nice when a project reaches a satisfying conclusion?

[Keeping Up]

The new floor looks great. I hope it passes the parental inspection this weekend!

[Daftmare]

Jo - I won't make it up the Wey this year, not just the boat but family stuff too. Next year maybe and hopefully earlier in the year so I can do the Basingstoke too.

 

I have a new floor, pictures are on my blog http://mortimerbones.blogspot.com/2010/09/new-floor-oh-yes-new-floor.html

I chose Laminate from B&Q in the end, despite the bad reviews it had! I didn't want to go for carpet, and the only real contender was Vinyl but I decided against that too for no logical reason other than I had purchased the laminate already. A friend gave me a hand with it and it went down well. We had to replace a few other bits of flooring that were dogier than I originally thought, but overall it looks quite good. The dog likes it and he hasn't been skating on it ... yet.

 

Glad the floor is sorted, it will make all the difference to how you feel when stepping on board, I'm sure.

 

Sorry you did not make it this year, but next year is fine - we will still be there waiting, and so will the Basingstoke!

 

Taking Nickhlx out on his boat on Sunday - he is still not walking too well, so we are going to do the locks, etc for him. Will take pics.

 

jo.

[Dorman]

Finally I have taken the floor up (the laminate and the boards underneath) it didn't take too long in the end. I have cleaned up, cleared up and danced around the place with my new best friend Cuprinol 5star and the new boards are currently on the wharf 'airing'. I will put them back, and then I have to decide what to put on top. I STILL can't decide whether to use laminate, bamboo or real wood. I think that if I were to go for the real wood option I really ought to get someone who knows what they are doing to fit it. I am also not so sure how eco friendly bamboo actually is in real life, or how suitable for boats although I have seen some good reports from people who have had it a couple of years.

 

Taking up ones floor is a very exciting thing to do - I would recommend emptying the boat first... now, that WOULD have been a good idea.

 

Passed you a few weeks ago with your "best friend" on the front deck. Nobody visible--havent plucked up the courage to speak to forum members yet when seen out and about--except Victoria at Banbury but stayed icognito

[Bones]

Passed you a few weeks ago with your "best friend" on the front deck. Nobody visible--havent plucked up the courage to speak to forum members yet when seen out and about--except Victoria at Banbury but stayed icognito

 

 

"best friend"? Who on EARTH was that? Or did you catch Boots about to escape? You should have said hello!

Edited September 10, 2010 by Bones

[Dorman]

"best friend"? Who on EARTH was that? Or did you catch Boots about to escape? You should have said hello!

 

danced around the place with my new best friend Cuprinol 5star

 

Next time promise to

[Bones]

danced around the place with my new best friend Cuprinol 5star

 

Next time promise to

 

Oh! my NEW best friend!!! You should have said. I hope it was polite....