Rothound Investigation, Birmingham
The Problem
A grade II listed building in Birmingham had suffered from ongoing chronic water penetration issues. This had caused timber decay to panelling in one room to such an extent that the Conservation Officer regretfully agreed to its permanent removal. Due to this unfortunate loss the client requested a full timber decay investigation of the whole building. A major concern was dry rot decay and H+R were appointed to carry out a minimally invasive investigation. H+R provide various non-destructive detection techniques which require no expensive or potentially damaging exposure work.
The Solution
H+R provided a full dry rot sweep of the building using our Rothound, Pip. Pip the Rothound has gone through extensive training to search, detect and indicate the presence and location of dry rot decay in a building. Rothounds are the ultimate in non-destructive detection techniques causing absolutely no damage to the building or structure they investigate. Other H+R techniques such as high-powered fibre optics are minimally invasive but still require small pilot holes to be drilled for access.
As mentioned above, Rothounds are trained not only to detect dry rot but to also indicate the location of the infection. The location of a Rothound indication is noted on floor plans by their handler as either a full indication of the presence of dry rot or an area of interest. An area of interest generally suggests the presence of wet rot decay, old dry rot infection or the conditions for dry rot to occur. This information was all written up in a report including floor plans and photographs of the location of the Rothound indications and recommendations as to what actions to take next. The Rothound in this instance was used to pin-point areas of decay and potential decay which then became the main focus for the surveyors. This saved time, money and damage to historic materials.
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