A mushroom has grown in the corner of the house. True house mushroom (Merulius lacrymans)

There was a case, he moved into an apartment in a "Finnish" house for two families, entrances from opposite sides, post-war construction. Everything would be fine, only the walls are filled up and a regular cellar is not allowed. But people before me lived, got out as best they could; they dug a cellar between the foundations of the ovens and stored vegetables, pickles and jams there. Foundation with ventilation windows, black floor 50 centimes from the ground, that is, natural ventilation under the floor was present.

When, after the main arrangement, my hands reached the cellar, I was in a state of shock for a week! Descending into the underground, I discovered the kingdom house mushroom! Everywhere where the beam of the lantern rested, a white blanket of mold hung, lay, and, in my opinion, even stirred. Under this layer were older layers of multi-colored mold. In some places, the thickets were so dense that it was difficult to guess the boundaries of the cellar. Individual threads were a finger thick! It became clear that the cellar had not been used for a very long time. Some strange-looking insects were crawling, mosquitoes were flying and something else! The air was poisoned by mold, rotting (somewhere a rat died), high dampness (although the ground under the house was completely dry, even dusty!), My patience was only enough for 5 minutes and I flew out of there, and they even shouted from the room to shut me down as soon as possible. basement hatch - stinks!

The beginning of the struggle was to remove the thickets of the fungus - from one square meter I tore off a bucket of mold with a rammer! It angered me that I couldn’t remove the bulk - I couldn’t reach it, and I couldn’t tear off the mushroom cleanly from the wooden surfaces - there were roots in the cracks, and this is already seedlings!

The posted photos of the house mushroom were not made by me. I didn't find anything on the internet that came close to what I encountered! At the time, I didn't care about photographs. And now I have nothing to photograph on this topic!

Having more or less cleared the place for potatoes, I did not look into the basement for a month. When it came time to lay the blanks, again a shock - the mushroom started up new shoots, systematically filling the space I had conquered!

During this month, I, a city dweller, learned from literature that my house should be burned down 🙂 or systematically flooded and smoked with all kinds of chemicals. True, they didn’t write anywhere how to continue to live in the ashes or not poison yourself and your family with chemistry!

Since in the past he was directly related to chemistry, he immediately categorically refused the services of her dear one. But the score in hand-to-hand combat was not in my favor! The house mushroom is not terrible for its creepy appearance, but for the fact that it quickly destroys the tree. And if in my case you don’t fight it, then you can soon be left without sex, and the house has already been for many years!

I found a way out in the barn while unpacking the remaining boxes that had not been opened since the move. In one of them there was an experimental setup (fun in your free time), which, in addition, used a powerful source of hard ultraviolet radiation in the form of a DRL lamp without a bulb (well, where else could you get such a source in Soviet times, besides powerful?). I ripped the cartridge and choke out of it, lengthened the wires and hung this miracle in the basement.

After turning it on, about twenty minutes later, the well-known unpleasant smell of ozone with an admixture of nitrogen oxides crept out of the slots in the hatch - I had to cover the hatch with rugs to reduce the penetration of the smell. Left the device on all night. In the morning I turned it off, and after returning from work I immediately climbed to check the result. Immediately noted - clean air and a draft, which was not there before! The whole fungus turned brown, thinned and looked like a dirty cobweb. For the first time I saw gaps from ventilation windows! Significantly reduced the smell of decay!

Another week I fried the basement at night with ultraviolet light, as a result, the fungus disappeared completely even from the neighbors! I specifically checked with the help of a long pole with a fixed mirror all the places hidden for direct rays - the fungus died! Together with the fungus, the number of insects also sharply decreased.

What damaging factors led to this result?

First, it is hard ultraviolet radiation. As is known from physics, ultraviolet radiation is dangerous for organic life in large quantities. What gets under direct radiation quickly loses the meaning of life!
Secondly, it is ozone, poisonous in large quantities, very aggressive triatomic oxygen, which is formed from the attack of oxygen molecules by ultraviolet radiation. Ozone actively tears all organic matter to shreds, especially if it is in a gaseous state (the smell of rot is organic matter). Ozone is heavier than air and the living thing that escaped from direct ultraviolet rays is poisoned by ozone (crawling insects). Also a big plus of ozone is that it does not live long. Due to the instability of the ozone molecule and the always huge number of objects that are ready to be oxidized by atomic oxygen, its concentration quickly disappears!
Thirdly, these are nitrogen oxides, which are formed due to ozone and, again, ultraviolet radiation. Nitrogen oxides have practically no effect on plant organic matter - the concentration is too low. But there is “organic” in the basements and cellars, for which nitrogen oxides are not the last reason to leave their homes. Read about this "organic" below.

I was prompted to write this article by infa from one of the forums where the question was asked about the fight against mold and house fungus. I was amazed that the answer was the same that I read back in Soviet literature, when few people knew about the Internet! Googling a specific question, I became convinced that all the information on the Internet is a complete reprint of Soviet articles without any reflection, analysis, taking into account modern realities, with virtually no warning about precautions when using chemistry. In a rare case, this chemical attack has been reported to have a short-term effect and must be repeated periodically (for the chemical industry to flourish!).

On the wave of demand, our chemistry (and some garages :)) launched the production of special compounds to combat mold and house fungus, making money on the insufficient education of our people. Along with the struggle for the ecological cleanliness of the environment, we are offered to flood our homes with chemistry, in which we and our children spend most of our lives!

The mistake in the fight against mold by chemical methods is that we forget that mold is the first plant substance that quickly populated our planet at a time when it was impossible to live on it by our standards! Also, the mold will be the last to die before the dying Sun burns our planet! For mold after a billion years of hardening while surviving in extreme conditions, our chemistry is like pellets to an elephant! So why waste money poisoning yourself and your children?

I leave the choice to you, everyone will have their own reasons for using this or that method in the fight against this evil.

What is this simple device?

Everything you need to assemble this device is sold in electrical stores. We will need a DRL lamp for 125 (or 250) watts, a choke also for 125 (or 250) watts (for each lamp power, there is a corresponding choke with the same power, if the power of the lamp and the choke do not match, the lamp will either not light up or fail). A ceramic socket for an E40 lamp is also required. The cable is sufficient for 1.5 squares, determine the length at the installation site.

I draw your attention to the fact that everything (except for the cable) listed is considered industrial goods, therefore, not every electrical store can have them! If you are unlucky with shops, then with the help of "liquid currency" all of the above can be purchased from a familiar electrician.

For reference, I will give prices in the store closest to me:

DRL lamp 250 watts - 330 rubles.
Choke 250 watts - 890 rubles.
Cartridge E40 - 70 rubles.

Accordingly, a lamp and a 125-watt inductor are cheaper!

When purchasing a lamp BOO inspect the internal burner through the transparent section of the glass of the flask in the area of \u200b\u200bthe base, it should not be black or smoky - this is a sign of a burned out bulb.!

There is a type of DRL lamps - which work without a choke, they are not suitable for our purposes!

We assemble the circuit, hang the cartridge in the right place and check whether the device works. If the lamp burns steadily after 7 - 10 minutes after switching on, then everything is fine with us. Unplug from the outlet and proceed to the preparation of the lamp itself.

To do this, we unscrew the lamp, let it cool, wrap it in a rag and gently break the flask (preferably at this moment be wearing goggles!), being careful not to damage the internal device! We remove the broken glass, carefully remove the remaining glass in the base area with pliers, so that in the future, when screwing the lamp into the cartridge, you do not cut yourself. Now the lamp can be screwed into the socket. You will have to twist by holding on to a glass pin glued into the base, from which a wire armature comes out holding the burner and supplying voltage to it, so without fanaticism - do not turn off the burner and do not close the wire armature to each other!

I repeat — screw the lamp into the socket and unscrew it only when the device is completely de-energized! The wire fittings in the lamp are bare conductors and if there is a connection error, for example, a switch, they may have a phase, so remove the voltage from the device completely!

Now it remains to wipe the quartz tube of the burner stained with fingers with alcohol or acetone from fatty traces and you can turn on the device.

What can not be done with this device?

You can't carry it on ( high risk of electric shock)!
You can’t admire how the burner flares up and works ( radiation power is approximately equal to the power of manual arc welding - a quick burn of unprotected eyes occurs)!
Cannot be used for tanning skin peeling the next day)!
Do not stay in a room where this unit is turned on for a long time ( Possibility of poisoning by ozone and nitrogen oxides)!
It cannot be turned on if there are fuels and lubricants, oily rags, cans of paint, gas cylinders, vegetables rotting in large quantities in the room, there is flammable dust (flour, powdered sugar, sawdust, coal, peat, etc.) ( possible flash from ozone oxidation)!
Do not place close to wooden objects and structures ( burner heating temperature too high)!
Do not leave your favorite animals and plants indoors ( sad consequences)!

Provide for the possibility of turning the device on and off from the outside, so as not to pick up the "bunnies" once again and not inhale the ozone!
After turning off the device for about an hour or two, do not go into the room, let it ventilate!
If you didn’t save yourself and grabbed the “bunnies” ( the appearance of pain in the eyes, during sleep, the eyes festered, it hurts to open them, it hurts to look at a bright light) - drip eyes (2% solution of albucid, digitalloxacin - akos, 2% solution of lidocaine, sodium sulfacyl, riciniol base, or carefully introduce tetracycline eye ointment under the eyelids; you can use folk remedies - a bag of sleeping tea, crushed raw potatoes ...) and be sure to see a doctor.

The second enemy is mice!

Another opportunity to use this homemade product!

After defeating the house fungus, I hurried to put the lamp in the barn, but in vain!
Autumn was coming to an end and one day, before the frosts, my basement was attacked by rats and field mice. This night will be remembered by my family for a long time! There was a continuous squeak in the basement, some kind of showdown took place, glass jars rattled, you could hear how they were eating my potatoes in the basement! Along the entire perimeter of the floor of the apartment, this gray bastard furiously gnawed new holes, trying to break into our living space! The dog scraped the floor and ran around the apartment with a roar and bark, the children squealed! Cursing, screaming, screeching, barking - the city people collided with wildlife :)!

In the morning to work, children to kindergarten and school, 4 am - Corvalol is drunk completely, and we have a war going on, we are under siege! Neither knocking on the floor with a stick, nor turning on the light in the basement gave any result! We were simply ignored, we were superfluous at their celebration of life! I remembered about the lamp, flew after it into the barn, hung it in the basement under the malicious glances of rodents, closed the hatch, turned it on, I'm waiting! You can hear how the "spectators" gather closer to the lamp to look at the "gift". After 15 minutes, a weak and alarming squeak gradually grew into a panic one! Again the dog rages, a child's screech, but without swearing and screaming! Some kind of race began in the basement, which quickly turned into a stampede! Silence has come! The lamp did not turn off all night.

Findings.

In the rules of the experimenter - to draw conclusions! Main conclusion: This device also works against rodents.! How? Not entirely clear! The experiment was carried out dirty, without preliminary preparation, without working out every possible factor :). Yes, and there is no desire to conduct such detailed experiments on mice - not my topic! All conclusions are guesswork!

Ultraviolet- unlikely! In such a short time, pain in the eyes does not immediately occur ( at the person! Tested on myself, although everything can be)!
Ozone- possibly ( I didn’t check it myself, I completely trust the theory)!
Nitrogen oxides- It is also an option!

Although, if we take into account that these rodents lead a mostly twilight lifestyle, then the sensitivity of the eyes to ultraviolet radiation unusual for them should be different from the human eye.

Ozone and nitrogen oxides are quite smelly even for a person who is accustomed to artificial technical and chemical odors. Our sense of smell is weakened by our lifestyle, we don’t hear many smells at all! In animals, the opposite is true; the possibility of survival depends on the sharpness of their sense of smell! And it is quite possible that a smell that is sharp even for a person can cause unbearable pain to animals or lead to a spasm of the lungs!

Now the lamp is firmly registered in the basement, I often turn it on when I hear new guests!

observation.

One morning in the yard I found a dead rat on the path. Judging by the trail, she dragged herself with the last of her strength away from home. But I was struck by the state of her eyes: they were white, like those of boiled fish! It turns out that even while dying, she tried to leave the place that was dangerous for her! This observation confirmed my hunch that poisoning rodents in such houses is to your own detriment!

I'll try to explain.

Any animal in case of poisoning or illness understands that for some time it will not be able to stand up for itself, so it needs to find a secluded place where it can lie down without fear that it will be eaten! What could be safer for a house mouse or a rat than the basement of a house, with numerous dug and gnawed passages?

But we poison rodents precisely in order to destroy them! And now the poisoned rat dies under the house or in the passages inside the walls, in the floor and begins to decompose, poisoning the air and making our life unbearable for 2-3 months! Where to look for it? To go through the whole house on the boards in search of a corpse?

The lamp does the opposite: all its damaging factors let rodents know that this place is very dangerous for them. A stinking mixture of gases easily passes through their passages, driving everyone out. The second time the rodents do not return! Of course, then new rodents will come to the "free territory", but it's easier for me to plug the plug into the outlet than to look for a new victim of poison!

One more observation.

When he moved in, he discovered that several floorboards had been turned into dust by some kind of insect. The carpenter who came to the rescue determined that it was a grinder beetle. The damaged floorboards were replaced, and when he left, he was “delighted” that I might have to completely change all the wood in the house! You can't just take the beetle out! And I have not from wood only two stoves and slate on the roof!? However, after using the lamp, I replaced only one floorboard myself, which I hadn’t noticed before and I don’t see any more traces of the grinder! Whether it's the lamp or not, I'm not sure! But anything is possible!

Business is possible!

I give the most enterprising idea for a small business - the destruction of house fungus in basements, cellars, garages.

Most of these places have been electrified by the owners, and the technical knowledge and technical curiosity of the population has recently been tending to zero. As a percentage of the entire population, there are now fewer and fewer people who, having actually seen the device described in the article, will be able to determine what it was before and what can be done with it! Thanks to the modern school exam (which teaches guess answers from several possible options) and for the most part " nominal» higher education graduating « conditionally educated specialists"now it becomes possible to profitably use" ancient secret technical knowledge«!

At the end of the article, I can safely say: TESTED - WORKS!

The house fungus belongs to the tinder fungus, it develops exclusively in buildings and does not occur in nature. First of all, it infects the wooden parts of basements and lower floors, which are most exposed to moisture and, at the same time, poorly ventilated. Temperature 18-23 C and humidity 90-95% contribute to the most intensive development of the fungus.

This insidious destroyer spreads especially easily in buildings made of soft wood (it has been noted that pine and oak wood are less susceptible to infection by house fungus).

Signs of the presence of a fungus

Infection with house fungus can be easily identified by a musty smell in the room, wet, non-drying spots on the walls, the appearance of white cotton-like clusters of thin threads on the surface of the wood, which later becomes dark and soft. Yellow, pink, lilac spots appear on the surface of the wood. Gradually, they turn into gray films with a silvery sheen. The tree darkens, cracks, crumbles.

The action of the fungus is very intense: if the house fungus is not destroyed in a timely manner, then in 6-8 months it can “eat through” the wood through and through, six months are enough to completely rot the floor. In the future, fleshy fruiting bodies form on the lower surface of rotten wood.

Protection against fungal infection

Protection against infection of wood with house fungus consists in creating conditions that would prevent its appearance and development. The main preventive measures are avoid excessive moisture and dampness indoors at the same time as the mandatory constant ventilation.

Also, so that the wood does not become infected with house fungus, wooden structures should securely isolated from the foundation, when building houses comply with all basic ventilation requirements premises.

Important preventive measure is also coating the surface of wood with a protective layer of resin or oil- it has long been known that resinous, oiled or salted wood is preserved better.

What to do if the infection has already occurred

If the fungus has already appeared on the wood, then, in addition to special chemical antifungal drugs that are sold in every store, the following methods can also be used to combat it:

1. If possible, building materials affected by house fungus should be immediately remove and burn, replacing them with new ones so that they do not infect the remaining wood.

2. Try to warm up the affected parts of the wood (for example, with an electric reflector).

3. Cook antifungal composition(mix 950 g of sodium chloride with 50 g of boric acid and dilute this mixture in 5 liters of boiling water) and then carefully lubricate the parts affected by the fungus with it (with a brush or sponge), so that the composition penetrates deeply into all cracks and cracks.

4. Finally, as a last resort, it is advised to use anthracene oil- it penetrates into the very depths of the wood, completely destroying the fungus.

There is such a terrible misfortune - house mushroom (Latin name: Serpula lacrymans). It is also called "wood sponge" or house mushroom white. Popular rumor ascribes to him the ability to gobble up a house in a matter of weeks. And for good reason. Once in my life, many years ago, I observed this miracle of nature in my own village house. The fungus multiplied. An unforgettable sight!

On a deep and clear July night, in just a few minutes, the wallpaper on the ceiling swelled and burst. In the resulting cavern, seething and stirring, something appeared that resembled the yellow-pink hostile flesh of a monstrous monster from a horror movie. Having increased to the size of a soccer ball, the intruder began to fall to the floor with a heavy thump, and in a few hours he filled the heavy two-bucket basin that had been set up. By morning, the "eruption of protoplasm" had ceased, and everything that was alive and heavy at night, gathering in the basin and on the ceiling, dried up and became weightless. I touched the remains of the night "alien" with a poker and jumped back: a myriad of tiny spores - that's what it consisted of now. From any touch, the dried mass without a trace soared into the air and circled in an orange suffocating cloud with the smell of sour mold ... A section of the ceiling infected with spores of white house fungus - a meter by meter had to be removed with a chainsaw and replaced with fresh boards.

And you may not be. People have learned to impregnate a tree with special salts for a long time. Most often, pesticides based on arsenic, antimony, lead were used for these purposes ... Now there are high-quality impregnations that are completely non-toxic to humans. These substances penetrate deep into the tree, protecting not only from the house mushroom, but also from less exotic, but ubiquitous molds, wood blue, carpenter insects and their larvae, from fire, water and solar ultraviolet radiation. Special impregnations can not only secure a new house, but also “cure” an old one, rid a dear home of mold, fungus and bugs, and remove the characteristic smell of an old house. Impregnations are useful not only in the estate and in the country, but also when repairing a city apartment with wooden floors, for the restoration of antique furniture.

In the photo - an excellent impregnation for the fight against porcini house fungus Prosept (Prosept). At a certain stage, it can significantly restrain and suppress the development of white house fungus. Impregnation Procept 50 has a wide and powerful tool in the containment of the development and destruction of white house fungus. Buying it is not difficult at all. The condition for a successful purchase of a remedy to combat this type of fungus is to contact us.

Wood impregnations vary in purpose: from decorative to deep penetration protective compounds. The consultant of the trade network of building materials "Ideas for Home" will help you choose the impregnations necessary for a specific task, explain the procedure for their application.

The general scheme is as follows: Prosept deep penetration impregnation opens the pores of the wood and fills the microchannels, it does not wash out and lasts for years. Next is cosmetics.

Expert Experience

What is the best and most effective way to destroy white house fungus?

Hello! In residential buildings, white house fungus began to appear more and more often on wooden surfaces. It is especially dangerous for wooden houses, because the tree affected by it will soon collapse. Many do not even pay attention to its appearance or do not know how to deal with it. Therefore, I decided to talk a little about the dangers that this mushroom brings and advise on how to get rid of it based on my own experience. .

The consequences of the appearance of white house mushroom

White fungus is a mold that consists of unicellular fungi. They are always in the air and only under favorable conditions for their life they begin to develop and multiply. They love dark, damp and warm places. They mainly appear in bathrooms or in basements, in other rooms it is not easy to achieve the right conditions for their development. But if there are no ventilation systems, vents, and thus the rooms are not ventilated, then it will not be difficult to achieve a high percentage of humidity. You can detect the fungus in the initial stages of its appearance. To begin with, the porcini mushroom will be a small cluster of cotton-like white thin threads. Then they turn into ash-gray films.

The fungus grows very quickly, the wood affected by it can completely collapse within six months. It cracks, loses its strength and becomes more dark.

Also, people's health can suffer from house fungus. It can cause asthma, conjunctivitis, laryngitis, allergies and other respiratory diseases. Therefore, when it is detected, it is necessary to immediately begin to eliminate it.

How to destroy white house mushroom

Dealing with house fungus is not easy. In the initial stages of its appearance, antiseptic agents can be used.

The most effective of them are Neomid 430 Eco and Neomid 400. The first antiseptic is recommended for application to external wooden surfaces, the second - to internal ones. They will cope with the already developing white fungus and prevent its return for many years.

If the wooden material has changed its color under the influence of mold, then it is recommended to use Neomid 500 bleach. It will return the old appearance to the wood without making changes to its structure. It will also provide additional biosecurity to the processed material.

If the wooden material is severely affected by the porcini mushroom, then the most effective is to remove and burn it. At the same time, the infected wood must be taken out of the room carefully so that as few spores as possible scatter around the room, and it is necessary to prevent even slight contact with healthy wood.

Do not forget about preventive measures. It is constantly necessary to ventilate the premises, periodically treat wooden materials with protective compounds. After all, white house fungus appears not only in old houses, it can also appear in a completely new, only rebuilt building.

A photo: the best compositions for pest control of wood.

Semyon Shifner, 48 years old (Tomsk).

Systematics:

Division: Basidiomycota (Basidiomycetes)
Subdivision: Agaricomycotina (Agaricomycetes)
Class: Agaricomycetes (Agaricomycetes)
Subclass: Agaricomycetidae (Agaricomycetes)
Order: Boletales (Boletales)
Family: Serpulaceae (Serpulaceae)
Genus: Serpula (Serpula)
View: Serpula lacrymans (House mushroom)

This fungus belongs to the category of harmful fungi that destroy trees.

Its other names:
house sponge (Merulius destruens Pers)
nostril destroyer (Merulius vasitator Tode)
tree fungus
house mushroom

It settles on felled dead trees, and is especially dangerous when breeding in various buildings. Once settled in a tree, it can easily and quickly destroy wooden parts.

It has a well-developed ability (to varying degrees inherent in all mushrooms) to form a powerful mycelium even in completely unsuitable conditions for fruiting. Such conditions include stagnant stale air, high humidity, lack of light. In the presence of these factors, the fungus develops very abundantly and quickly in the form of a barren form and actively conducts destructive activity.

As a rule, this fungus spreads in basements and cellars, where it is humid and stuffy, on the bottom of the floorboards, at the base of the beams. He feels especially good if the floor is directly on wet soil.

At the beginning of the development of the fungus, small white dots appear on the tree, which eventually merge into slimy spots or woolly tender plaques, then a plexus appears, similar to a silver web. Gradually, it spreads more and more over the surface of the tree, thickens, acquires a leafy structure, a silky sheen and an ash-gray color.

Along the edges of the fungus, thin threads are formed that pass through the spurs, with the help of which the fungus, as it were, crawls in search of food through small cracks and holes in the walls. Thus, he moves from one part of the house to another. Sometimes such destructive work can lead to the destruction of the entire house and its fall.

May sometimes act in conjunction with other representatives of fungi, such as Polyporus vaporarius, Polyporus destructor and others. Most often, house fungus affects conifers, but can also damage deciduous trees, such as oak.

Effect on wood

When conducting research, R. Hartig found that the fungus secretes special enzymes that are capable of dissolving organic wood compounds at a great distance from the fungus. As a result, the tree turns into a form that the fungus is able to assimilate. In addition, these enzymes are capable of dissolving ash constituents in cell membranes upon direct contact with hyphae. As a result of all these processes, the destruction of the tree occurs.

Gradually, the wood turns brown, turns into dust, and if it is soft enough in its fresh state, then as a result of the action of the fungus, it dries out, becomes brittle and brittle. Particularly easy tree fungus destroys a floor covered with oil paint, because in this case the underside of the floor is completely closed from light and protected from drying out.

The fact that such a fungus appeared on the wood can be understood by the black spots that appear on the upper surface, and if the wood is covered with glue paint, then yellowish fluffy areas are formed on it, located separately from each other.

If wood infected with tree fungus is knocked on, a dull sound is obtained, and when pressed, it easily breaks. The affected tree absorbs water very actively, becomes too hygroscopic, so moisture from below can pass even to very remote parts of the house. In addition, the mycelium of the fungus itself has the ability to easily conduct moisture and transfer it to dry wood, so even in the driest rooms it can become very damp and it will be impossible to live in them.

In addition, there is one more unpleasant moment: the fruiting bodies of the fungus, during decomposition and decay, emit a characteristic and very unpleasant odor, which is also harmful to health.

According to research by Polek and Goeppert, tree fungus can contain between 48 and 68% water.

If the mycelium comes out through cracks or cracks into fresh air and light, then the fruiting bodies of the fungus begin to form. They are lamellar, plate-shaped, wide, can reach a size of up to a meter, have a leathery fleshy texture. At the beginning of development, the fruiting bodies are white, then they become reddish-yellow, and at the end they are rusty-brown. Above, they have wriggling worm-like folds on which spores are located, and below they have a fibrous-velvety structure with white swollen edges. The edges of the fruiting bodies secrete transparent drops of liquid, which later becomes cloudy, acquires a milky color (therefore, this mushroom is called weeping). The spores are elliptical in shape, small in size (length 0.011 and width 0.006 mm), brown or rusty-brown in color. Spore germination is possible only in the presence of substances that have an alkaline reaction. It can be potassium carbonate, salts or ammonia itself. These substances provoke swelling of the spore shell. Germination is also facilitated by urine, ash, coke and other substances that contain or participate in the formation of substances with an alkaline reaction.

To prevent the appearance of house fungus, R. Hartig recommends using the following preventive measures:

- after repairs are completed in wood fungus-infested buildings, workers are required to thoroughly clean and rinse all their tools before their next use. It is also necessary to thoroughly wash clothes and boots.

- if the old wood has obvious traces of fungus damage, then it cannot be used on new buildings. The old ruined wood removed during the repair should be burned as soon as possible, and fresh wood should not be stored next to the damaged one.

- new buildings must be protected from contamination by their builders, and toilets must be equipped in such a way that contamination of new buildings does not indirectly occur.

- coarse washed sand or crushed bricks should be used as a pillow under the floor. Various wet masses cannot be used, especially ash, coke, and other materials rich in humus should be avoided.

- before starting construction, the tree must be dried as thoroughly as possible.

- the newly built house must dry properly, and only after that the floors can be painted with oil paint.

- you need to build in such a way that the floors do not fit too tightly against the walls.

- it is important to properly organize the draft of air in the lower rooms located under the floor.

- you need to carefully observe cleanliness, and make sure that sewage and water do not fall under the floor. This is especially true for bathrooms and laundries.

Fighting methods

In order to destroy the house mushroom that has already appeared, a lot of means are used, but none of them can be called radical. Fairly good results were obtained by the German arborist G. L. Hartig, who in the 19th century impregnated pieces of wood with carbolineum or creosote.

If the fungus has not yet spread very much, then careful removal of damaged areas of the tree and replacing them with new ones can give a good result.

Consumption ecology. Manor: A fungus that has appeared on the walls of a wooden house can quickly lead to the destruction of wood and damage to the entire building. It also has a harmful effect on the health of people living in the house, causing allergies, asthma and other unpleasant diseases.

A fungus that appears on the walls of a wooden house can quickly lead to the destruction of wood and damage to the entire building. It also has a harmful effect on the health of people living in the house, causing allergies, asthma and other unpleasant diseases. In addition, black or brown spots on external and internal walls, ceilings, beams and other structural elements do not in any way add aesthetic appeal to the structure.

Let's add here an unpleasant musty smell and it becomes clear that it is necessary to deal with the slightest manifestations of the fungus, using all available means.

Fungus - what is it

The fact that the fungus has settled in your home and leads a completely comfortable existence is evidenced by the darkened wooden details. Depending on the type of intruder, the process of seizing territories by him may not be very noticeable at first or, on the contrary, swift and irreversible (unless, of course, the fight is started in time).

Wood is afraid of almost all types of fungi that can settle in the house. The most famous and harmful are several varieties.

1. White house mushroom.

The most dangerous and rapidly developing pest that can destroy a house almost to the very foundation. House fungus spores travel great distances through the air, on clothing, and on pet hair. It belongs to the tinder fungus, it does not occur in nature. The appearance and development of the fungus is facilitated by humidity in the house up to 95% with poor ventilation.

The best place for the appearance of white house fungus are basements, cellars and lower floors of houses. From there, he easily moves to other rooms, while especially fond of buildings made of soft wood. Oak and pine houses suffer less from the effects of house fungus.

The beginning of the infection process is easily determined by the appearance of wet spots, the accumulation of white cotton-like threads on the walls. The wood under them becomes soft and darkens strongly, later multi-colored spots appear on it, which then turn into silver-gray films. The wood begins to crack and crumble.

An active house fungus is able to grind through wood in about six months. On the lower surface of rotten logs, the fungus forms large fruiting bodies.

2. Fungi of decay.

They are divided into white, brown and bacterial rot. Each type acts on wood differently, but the result is always the same - the destruction of its structure. The rot can also be wet or dry. Wet rot usually affects raw wood. Very often, elements located close to water pipes, especially leaking ones, located in close proximity to the ground, are affected by it.

Dry rot, despite its name, also occurs in damp places. Its appearance is indicated by spores in the form of reddish dust, which quickly turn into mushrooms. Mushrooms develop rapidly, forming gray stripes on the tree, penetrating deeply into its structure.

3. Blue fungus.

These insidious pests are able to destroy paint and varnish, penetrating inside structures and letting moisture in.

These fungi do not have a destructive effect on the very structure of the tree, but they warn the owner that his house needs urgent protection, giving the wood a gray-blue color.

4. Actinomycetes.

A hybrid of algae and fungi is able to soften the wooden parts of the house, completely destroying the structure.

5. Molds with pleasure they hit not only wood, but also concrete, stone, tile, fabric.

They can develop not only in wooden, but also in brick or panel houses. They spoil the appearance of surfaces, destroy walls and ceilings, and adversely affect the health of the owners of the house.

Why fungus appears and how to remove it

The main reason for the appearance of fungi of all kinds is high humidity. Incorrectly organized heating and poor waterproofing, disturbances in the operation of the plumbing, lack of ventilation in the room - these are the factors that can give impetus to the appearance and development of uninvited guests.

In wooden houses, the floor most often suffers from the fungus. Removing the fungus is quite difficult. Previously, in villages, when a house fungus was found, for example, the affected house was preferred to be burned in order to prevent the infection from spreading further. Now such radical methods, of course, are not used, but quite a lot of efforts will be required to destroy the fungus, especially with advanced forms of damage.

If the fungus has just begun to develop, you can use home remedies such as furatsilin, vinegar, chlorine bleach, hydrogen peroxide. In severe cases, fungicides must be applied. The process of destroying the fungus consists of several steps.

We wash the affected wood several times with water or a weak solution of vitriol with special additives. This is necessary in order to prevent the spread of spores. Usually a larger area is treated than the affected surface.
Visible traces of mold and fungus are removed with a scraper or a stiff metal brush. If necessary, you can clean the wood more deeply, until a healthy layer appears. All removed pieces must be burned.
The surface is thoroughly dried and treated with antifungal agents. All work on the destruction of the fungus is carried out only in personal protective equipment - a respirator, goggles and gloves in order to prevent fungus spores from entering the respiratory system.

The most important thing is to take measures in time and act at the first manifestations of a fungal infection. Otherwise, serious problems are possible. published