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Even a well-built raised timber ground floor, with dpcs under its wall plates, can suffer from woodworm attack. This softwood joist has woodworm damage along its underside, i.e. to its outer sapwood. Old suspended floors are often built directly off damp lime sprinkled earth. The void can often be humid - making the softwood damp enough to suit wood-boring insects, say 16-18% moisture content. Timber close to or built into very damp masonry will commonly become much damper and suffer rot and wood-boring weevil damage. Suspended floors with a concrete 'oversite' can suffer a worse fate if water ingress creates a pond on top of the slab and timber becomes covered in moulds. |
