Mushroom house (Serpula lacrymans). House mushroom on wood and methods of dealing with it White house fungus methods of destruction

The house mushroom belongs to tinder fungi, 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 is especially easy to spread in softwood buildings (pine and oak wood has been noted to be less susceptible to fungus infestation).

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 stains on the walls, the appearance of white cotton-like accumulations 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 for complete decay of the floor. Subsequently, fleshy fruiting bodies are formed on the lower surface of rotten wood.

Protection against fungal infection

Protection against contamination of wood with house fungus is to create conditions that would prevent its appearance and development. The main preventive measures are above all avoidance of excessive moisture and dampness indoors simultaneously with the obligatory constant ventilation.

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

An important preventivemeasure is also covering the wood surface with a protective layer of resin or oil - It has long been known that resinous, oiled or salted wood is better preserved.

What to do if the infection has already occurred

If the fungus has already appeared on 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 the house fungus should remove and burn immediately, replacing them with new ones so that they do not infect the remaining wood.

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

3. Prepare antifungal composition (mix 950 g of table salt with 50 g of boric acid and dilute this mixture in 5 liters of boiling water) and then carefully grease 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 apply anthracene oil - it penetrates into the very depths of the wood, completely destroying the fungus.

Mold is a common name for a fungus, which, in turn, is moldy (grows on stone, concrete, paint), a blue fungus (grows in the fiber of a tree), a rotting fungus (bacterial, white, brown rot growing on wood), yeast (on food). Molds are common almost everywhere. They are found both in a person's home and in the external environment.

WHAT DOES IT HAPPEN?

Blue discoloration, greening of surfaces, peeling of walls, terry or growing "beard", black dots indicate the presence of mold.
It is not difficult to notice fungal damage to wood: dark spots, grayish bloom, damp wood.
As for the color of rot, it can be red, white, gray, yellow, green. Red rot affects conifers, white and yellow - oak and birch, green - oak barrels, beams and cellar ceilings.
Dry rot on wood is gray in color and forms a fluffy, cotton-like mass; sometimes this fungus resembles flat gray leaves with areas of lemon and lilac. The affected wood turns brown and cracks along and across the grain.
Wet rot resembles thin ropes or dark streaks. In some places (for example, behind skirting boards), it looks like grayish sheets. The affected tree darkens and cracks appear.

CONDITIONS FOR THE APPEARANCE AND DEVELOPMENT OF MOLD

Mold spreads through the air as microscopic spores. When it hits a damp surface, it grows in the finest threads.

Mold and mildew love moisture. Unfortunately, all the materials around us contain moisture to one degree or another. In facades made of stone and concrete, moisture is formed as a result of condensation, that is, it settles on the wall surfaces in the form of small droplets. Condensation can occur during the cold season due to insufficient wall thickness. In bathrooms (not to mention baths and saunas), condensation is a common occurrence - the result of the temperature difference between the surface and the air adjacent to it. Rain has a beneficial effect on mold growth. Moisture penetrates through pores, holes, cracks or leaks in buildings. Groundwater and sediment water have a bad property to be absorbed into the basement of the building or into the walls. The appearance of mold on unprotected materials in this case is inevitable. Constructive moisture is initially present in new structures and can accumulate even at the stage of production of building materials, as well as during the construction itself. The accumulation of moisture is possible due to unbalanced air exchange in the room.

In addition, mold feels great at low temperatures. She, like trees in winter, does not "live an active life," but does not die either. As the temperature rises, mold begins to spore again. High temperatures can kill mold, but some species require exposure to temperatures of + 100 ° C for 1-2 hours.

An unfavorable condition for wood decay is dry wood with a moisture content of no more than 20% (with a wood moisture content below 15%, rot does not develop at all). Sawn timber can achieve this moisture content with natural drying from January to July in the middle zone. But moisture can be contained not only in the original wood. The main sources of wood moisture in the structures of various buildings and structures include ground (underground) and surface (storm and seasonal) waters. They are especially dangerous for wooden elements in the ground (poles, piles, etc.). Atmospheric moisture in the form of rain and snow threatens the above-ground part of open structures, as well as the external wooden elements of buildings. Wood is also threatened by operational moisture that occurs inside living quarters during cooking, washing, drying clothes, washing floors, etc. This moisture condensing on the surface or in the thickness of structures is dangerous primarily because it is usually detected even then, when irreversible changes have occurred in the enclosing wooden structure or its element, for example, internal decay.

WHAT IS MOLD DANGEROUS?

The affected material becomes a source of mold spores, so the first sign of mold contamination is the appearance of mold spores in the air. As radiation or heavy metals invisibly affect the body, so mold affects the person, his health and housing.
Here is a short list of diseases associated with mold: migraine, runny nose, otitis media, bronchitis, rhinitis, bronchial asthma, cardiovascular disorders, mycotoxicosis. Sometimes in people with reduced immunity, mold lesions of the internal organs are possible. All of these diseases are chronic and cause difficulties in treatment. Allergic rhinitis, also known as hay fever, affects over 36 million people. In most cases, allergenic mold is the root cause of this disease. Among the huge number of mushrooms, allergenic properties have been found in about 300 species. The number of people who are allergic to mold is increasing every year and mostly people with bronchial asthma. At least 15% of children with bronchial asthma have hypersensitivity to mold allergens. The disease is characterized by a gradual onset and protracted course.
In a hospital setting, even fatal infections can be caused in weakened people.

When mold spores enter the gastrointestinal tract, a food allergy develops.
The most poisonous is the yellow mold, which produces the strongest aflatoxin. Yellow mold affects food (most susceptible to infection are liver, fish, milk, rice, groundnuts).

More than 100 toxic compounds found by scientists in mold may not show their presence in the body for a very long time. But after several decades, it is they who can cause the rapid growth of cancerous tumors.

WOODEN HOUSE AND MOLD.

Mold is the worst enemy of wood. Wood that dries out naturally is under the threat of decay for a long time. It is also threatened by fungi and mold.
Fungal spores and bacteria can get on the wood while still in the forest or during transportation. They only need to get into favorable conditions in order to start developing rapidly. Imagine such a common situation - building materials were bought in spring (which means this is a "winter forest", considered the healthiest), and its use begins only in the second half of summer. For the storage period, the wood was piled up and covered with polyethylene, wrapped as tightly as possible. Everything seems to be correct. Only one thing was not taken into account - the greenhouse effect. And this effect is just grace for the mold. The same wood would be intact if the pile was simply covered with something from the rain from above, but thanks to the open walls, it would be ventilated.
Similar phenomena can occur in finished buildings. Mold and blue fungi mainly spoil the appearance, and also indicate temporary moisture in the wood. The real enemies of wood are myceliums, which destroy fibers and cause wood softening, which causes significant damage to the supporting structures. Mold and blue do not impair the strength of the wood, but rot destroys the wood and eventually makes it unusable (infecting adjacent boards and beams). Wooden houses do not die from old age: the tree is durable enough to serve for centuries, and in suitable conditions it is preserved for millennia. All because the tree got sick ... with house fungus. The blue easily penetrates the varnishes and paints that cover the wood. Blueing occurs at high air humidity and temperatures plus 10-25 0С.
Promotes the development of blue and immobility of the surrounding air. Blue itself does not change the mechanical properties of wood, but is a precursor to decay, and its presence indicates a high moisture content of the material.
Bacterial rot destroys wood cells from the inside and causes cellulose to decompose. Because of this, the tree darkens and turns gray. White rot provokes the decomposition of cellulose and lignin - an organic polymer compound contained in the cell membranes of vascular plants and causing them lignification (deciduous wood contains 20-30% lignin, conifers - up to 50%).
Brown rot splits the cellulose, causing the wood to split. The area of \u200b\u200bthe tree affected by such rot turns brown. Wet rot is more typical for houses with increased dampness, dry rot appears in damp places, but then it can turn to dry wood, brick, plaster. Note that the darkening of the wood does not yet indicate its disease. Any untreated board in the open air changes color. This is a kind of natural oxidation.
The appearance of a house fungus is not difficult to notice: on the logs of the walls, on the floorboards, on the wall cladding, a white fluff or a cluster of white threads, similar to cotton wool, first forms. Then yellow, pink and lilac spots appear, which over time turn into gray films with a silvery sheen. The tree darkens, cracks and crumbles. The fungus grows catastrophically quickly, especially in buildings made of soft wood; pine and oak wood is less damaged by house fungus.
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. The worst enemy of the tree is the white mushroom house. It successfully disguises itself as an ordinary mold. But this is until the fungus shows character. Under certain conditions, in a month, he is able to "eat" an entire oak floor 4 centimeters thick!
Wood is a “living” material that contains moisture. The growing tree is fed with water through the roots and trunk. In lumber and wood products, the structure of the cells of a growing tree is preserved, and therefore the board absorbs water, moreover, through the transverse planes to a greater extent than through the longitudinal ones. Moisture is what fungi need.
In addition to wood, mold can have a destructive effect on almost any material. It easily destroys paint and varnish coatings, crumbles brick, cement and concrete (a concrete slab affected by a fungus crumbles in just a couple of years).

AND A FEW MORE facts:

For the first time, the fungus Stachybotrys atra, which attracted the attention of scientists several years ago and is associated with the deaths of several babies in Ohio, was seeded from the lungs of a seven-year-old boy. This mold, one of hundreds of thousands of naturally occurring fungi, can cause serious health problems if it grows at home. Inside living quarters, it turns into a dangerous enemy of the human body, especially it harms babies and children. The fungus Stachybotrys atra (Stachybotrys atra) produces poisonous spores that are easily inhaled. In the open air they deteriorate relatively quickly, but in a damp, poorly ventilated room, on heating pipes or on cellulose coverings, mold grows quickly. In the house where the fungus was later discovered, the children suffered from migraines, coughs, watery eyes and constant fatigue, which led them to visit a pediatrician frequently. The mother fell ill with hormone-dependent asthma. None of the family members were tested for the fungus, but their Rocky Scottish Collie, who was suffering from vomiting and diarrhea, was tested. He was found to have a fungus that settled in the gastrointestinal tract. Later, scientists at Case Western Reserve University discovered a link between Stachybotrys atra and an unusual rate of infant mortality from pulmonary haemorrhage. The 10 babies who died from this cause lived in poor, water-damaged homes in Cleveland, with all homes concentrated in one area. Since then, there have been 160 reported cases in the United States.
The cause of death of those who opened the tombs of the Egyptian pharaohs was a yellow mold that secretes aflatoxin. Aflatoxin causes severe pneumonia and liver cancer.
The African Bantu people deliberately store food in such a way that they become moldy for taste. This nationality suffers from liver cancer more than anyone else in the world; they die before they reach 40 years of age.
India has ideal conditions for mold growth. Here cirrhosis of the liver is common in children who are fed yellow rice. It's all contaminated with aflatoxin.
In the old days, a hut, infected with a white house fungus, was immediately burned so as not to infect neighboring buildings.
In 1997, the American astronaut Michael Fole, who was visiting the Mir station orbit, claimed that the inside smelled of mushrooms and dampness. And its walls in many places are covered with multi-colored mold. They say that the eyes are watery from the spores of the fungi and the skin itches. Only recently have Russian scientists from the Institute of Biomedical Problems confirmed this information. It turns out that our astronauts and ground scientists knew about mold even without Foul. Moreover, they tried to fight it with a special antifungal cream. But without much success. Fungi spoiled plastic, metal and even glass - they almost gnawed through the porthole. According to Alexander Viktorov, head of the department of sanitary, chemical and microbiological safety, mold became especially voracious in response to solar activity. It is not surprising that there is a version in which mold is the main culprit for most of the problems at the Mir station. Including with an on-board computer. Recently, the situation could have deteriorated catastrophically, and the mold has grown so much that further operation of the station in habitable mode was ruled out. Perhaps it was precisely the defeat in the battle with the fungi that forced Mir to drown.

1. The most vulnerable in terms of mold damage are walls and corners of buildings. They must be biocidal.

2. Take a closer look at the arrangement of furniture: if bulky objects are placed close to the walls, limiting air circulation, then soon condensation droplets will appear on the walls, and then mold.

3. A common cause of decay in exterior window frames is loose or cracked putty on the bottom of the frame. Make sure that the putty does not lag behind the glass and that rainwater does not seep into the inside of the frame.

4. The appearance of mold on the wall with a balcony is usually associated with improperly installed gutters and poor waterproofing. Make sure that the external drain is not clogged and there is no water in it. Having frozen in winter, the drain can break at the seam and in the spring a fungus will settle in the wall next to it.

5. Active ventilation of the premises reduces the risk of mold. An unfavorable microclimate for fungi is created. When airing in the cold season, it is better to completely open the window window (balcony door) for a short time for a short time. The vents, slightly open for a long time, help to cool the walls.

6. There are three basic rules in the fight against mold - to reduce the humidity inside the dwelling (no unheated rooms in the building in winter, no drying clothes in the room, repair of current taps, fewer indoor plants), to ensure good ventilation (more frequent opening of windows, increased ventilation of the bathroom rooms) and eliminate foci of mold.

IN CONSTRUCTION AND REPAIR

1. Downpipes must be installed in such a way that the vertical joints are away from the wall and at a distance of at least 3 cm.

2. To protect the balcony floor from moisture, you need to lay a dense epoxy or polyurethane coating on it, and the floor must have a sufficient slope. Then the water will flow down smoothly.

3. It is advisable to build houses from dry materials in order to avoid the appearance of structural moisture.

4. The best protection against moisture is provided by synthetic putties, which retain their elasticity for a long time.

5. The more cement in the plaster, the stronger it is. Therefore, lime-cement plasters are considered more resistant to water than lime.

6. All wood building materials during construction must be treated with antiseptics.

7. If the fungus has already appeared, waterproofing the material will not lead to its "clogging". The fungus must be destroyed before waterproofing.

Provide good ventilation. Thoroughly ventilate areas where mold can form - attics, basements, bathrooms. If the bathroom is very wet after a shower or bath, it should be ventilated.

Do not allow water to leak from the taps, this increases the humidity.

Wipe wet areas with a dry cloth.

It is possible to reduce the humidity in the room by using an air conditioner. But remember that the conditioner itself can be a source of fungi and fungi spores. Use an air conditioner with fungicidal filters or other techniques that prevent mold from growing inside. The use of air purifiers is recommended. The most effective are cleaners with HEPA filters.

It is necessary to provide good heating if there is no central heating (in the country). And if it is not central enough, it is possible to additionally heat the room. Do not turn off the heating at night. The formation of dampness on the walls is much greater when the room cools down.

Rooms should be ventilated for a short time, but intensively. All windows and doors must be open. Short and intense ventilation will not dissipate heat from the walls, so there will be little heat loss. Slightly ajar windows are not an adequate alternative to opening them wide for a short period of time.

If your home is seriously infected with mold, the only solution is to call experienced help. In many cases, the positive effect of moving from damp and “moldy” dwellings to premises without such problems has been recorded.

Ventilate damp clothing before storing it.

Do not keep dried flowers and wreaths in the room, which often contain mold.

REMEMBER that preventing mold growth is much easier and cheaper than removing mold and eliminating the consequences of such damage!

Systematics:

Department: Basidiomycota (Basidiomycetes)
Subdivision: Agaricomycotina (Agaricomycetes)
Class: Agaricomycetes (Agaricomycetes)
Subclass: Agaricomycetidae (Agaricomycetes)
Order: Boletales
Family: Serpulaceae (Serpulaceae)
Genus: Serpula (Serpula)
View: Serpula lacrymans (Mushroom house)

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)
wood mushroom
homemade 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 (inherent in all mushrooms to varying degrees) to form a powerful mycelium even in completely unsuitable conditions for fruiting. These conditions include stagnant stale air, high humidity, and lack of light. In the presence of these factors, the fungus develops very abundantly and rapidly in the form of a sterile 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. It 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 over time merge into slimy spots or woolly delicate deposits, then a plexus similar to a silvery cobweb appears. 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 mushroom, thin threads are formed, passing over spurs, with the help of which the mushroom, as it were, crawls in search of food through small cracks and holes in the walls. Thus, he moves from one area of \u200b\u200bthe house to another. Sometimes such destructive work can lead to the destruction of the entire house and its fall.

It can sometimes act in conjunction with other representatives of fungi, for example, Polyporus vaporarius, Polyporus destructor and others. Most often, house fungus infects conifers, but it can also damage deciduous ones, for example, oak.

Effect on wood

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

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

The fact that such a mushroom has appeared on the wood can be understood by the black spots appearing 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 you knock on wood infected with a tree fungus, you get a dull sound, and when pressed, it breaks easily. The affected tree absorbs water very actively, becomes too hygroscopic, so moisture from below can pass even to very distant 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 another unpleasant moment: the fruiting bodies of the fungus, when decomposing and decaying, emit a characteristic and very unpleasant odor, which is also harmful to health.

According to Polek and Geppert's research, woody mushrooms can contain 48 to 68% water.

If the mycelium goes 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 consistency. At the beginning of development, the fruit bodies are white, then they become reddish-yellow, and at the end they are rusty-brown. From above they have writhing worm-like folds on which spores are located, and from below they have a fibrous-velvety structure with white swollen edges. The edges of the fruit bodies secrete transparent drops of liquid, which later becomes cloudy, acquires a milky color (therefore, this mushroom is called crying). The spores are elliptical, small (0.011 mm long and 0.006 mm wide), brown or rusty-brown in color. Spore germination is possible only in the presence of substances with an alkaline reaction. It can be potassium carbonate, salts, or ammonia itself. These substances provoke swelling of the spore membrane. 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 a house mushroom, R. Gartig recommends using the following preventive measures:

- After completing repairs in buildings infected with woody fungus, workers must thoroughly clean and rinse all their tools before using them again. You should also wash your clothes and boots thoroughly.

- if the old wood has obvious traces of fungus infection, then it cannot be used for new buildings. Old destroyed wood taken out during repairs must be burned as soon as possible, and fresh wood must not be stored next to damaged wood.

- 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 occur indirectly.

- Use coarse washed sand or crushed bricks as a cushion under the floor. Various raw 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 should dry out properly, and only after that the floors can be painted with oil paint.

- it is necessary to build in such a way that the floors do not adhere too tightly to the walls.

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

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

Control methods

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

If the fungus has not yet spread very much, then a good result can be obtained by carefully removing the damaged parts of the tree and replacing them with new ones.

There was a case, moved into an apartment in a "Finnish" house for two families, entrances from opposite sides, post-war construction. Everything would be fine, only walls - backfill and a regular cellar is not laid. But people before me lived, got out as best they could; they dug a cellar between the foundations of the stoves and stored vegetables, pickles and preserves there. A foundation with ventilation windows, a sub-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, my shock state did not let go for a week! Going underground I found the kingdom mushroom house! Wherever the beam of the lantern rested, a white blanket of mold hung, and, in my opinion, even moved. Under this layer were the 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. The individual threads were 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 the rat died), high dampness (although the soil under the house is completely dry, even dusty!), My patience lasted only for 5 minutes and I flew out of there, and even shouted from the room to close basement hatch - stinks!

The beginning of the struggle consisted in removing the thickets of the fungus - from one square meter I tore off a bucket of mold with a rammer! It angered me that I could not remove the bulk - I could not reach it, and I could not pick the mushroom clean from wooden surfaces - roots remained in the cracks, and this is already seedlings!

The posted photos of the mushroom house were not taken by me. I have not found anything on the Internet close to what I encountered! At that time, I had no time for photographs. And now I have nothing to photograph on this subject!

Having more or less cleared a place for potatoes, I did not look into the basement for a month. When the time came to lay the blanks, there was another shock - the mushroom sprouted new growth, systematically filling the space I had conquered!

During this month, I, a city dweller, learned from literature that my house should be burned 🙂 or systematically flooded and fumigated with all kinds of chemistry. True, they never wrote how to continue living on the ashes or not to poison yourself and your family with chemistry!

Since in the past he was directly related to chemistry - he flatly refused the services of her darling. But the score in hand-to-hand combat was not in my favor! The mushroom house is scary not for its eerie appearance, but for the fact that it quickly destroys the tree. And if, in my case, you do not fight him, then you can soon be left without sex, and the house has already been for many years!

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

After switching on, twenty minutes later, the unpleasant smell of ozone with an admixture of nitrogen oxides, well known to me, crept out of the cracks in the hatch - I had to cover the hatch with rugs to reduce the penetration of smell. Left the device on overnight. In the morning I turned it off, and after returning from work I immediately started to check the result. I immediately noticed - clean air and a draft, which was not there before! The whole mushroom turned brown, thinned and looked like a dirty cobweb. I first saw the openings from the ventilation windows! The smell of decay has been greatly reduced!

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

What damaging factors led to this result?

The first is harsh ultraviolet radiation. As is known from physics, ultraviolet light is dangerous to organic life in large quantities. What gets under direct radiation quickly loses the meaning of life!
Secondly, it is ozone, poisonous in large quantities, a very aggressive triatomic oxygen, which is formed from the attack of oxygen molecules by ultraviolet light. Ozone actively tears all organic matter to shreds, especially if it is in a gaseous state (the smell of rot is organic). Ozone is heavier than air and that living thing that is saved from direct ultraviolet rays is poisoned by ozone (crawling insects). Also a big plus of ozone - it does not live long. Due to the instability of the ozone molecule and always a huge number of objects ready to be oxidized by atomic oxygen, its concentration quickly disappears!
Thirdly, these are nitrogen oxides, which are formed thanks to ozone and, again, ultraviolet light. Nitrogen oxides have practically no effect on plant organic matter - the concentration is too low. But there is “organic matter” in 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 combating 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 was convinced that all infa on the Internet is a complete reprint of Soviet articles without any comprehension, analysis, taking into account modern realities, practically without warning about precautions when using chemistry. On a rare occasion, it has been reported that a given chemical attack has 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 :)) has launched the production of special formulations to combat mold and house fungus, making money on the lack of education of our people. Along with the struggle for the ecological purity 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 combating mold with chemical methods lies in the fact 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 die last before the dying Sun burns our planet! For mold after billions of years of hardening during survival in extreme conditions, our chemistry is like grain to an elephant! So why waste money poisoning yourself and your children?

The choice is yours, everyone will have their own reasons for using this or that method in the fight against this evil.

What does this simple device consist of?

Everything you need to assemble this device is sold in electrical stores. We need a 125 (or 250) watt DRL lamp, a 125 (or 250) watt choke (for each lamp power, there is its own choke with the same power, if the lamp and choke powers do not match, the lamp either will not light up or fail). An E40 ceramic lamp holder is also required. The cable is sufficient for 1.5 squares, the length is determined by the installation site.

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

For a guide, I will give the prices in the nearest store to me:

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

Accordingly, a 125 watt lamp and choke are cheaper!

When purchasing a lamp BOO inspect the inner burner through the transparent area of \u200b\u200bthe glass of the flask in the area of \u200b\u200bthe base, it must not be black or smoked - this is a sign of a burnt out lamp!

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. We unplug it 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 safety glasses!), being careful not to damage the internal structure! We remove the broken glass, carefully remove the remaining glass in the area of \u200b\u200bthe base with pliers, so that in the future, when screwing the lamp into the socket, you do not cut yourself. The lamp can now be screwed into the socket. You will have to twist holding on to the glass pin glued into the base, from which the wire reinforcement comes out holding the burner and supplying voltage to it, so without fanaticism - do not turn the burner down and do not short the wire reinforcement together!

I repeat — screw the lamp into the socket and unscrew it only when the device is completely de-energized! The wire reinforcement in the lamp is bare conductors and in case of a connection error, for example, a switch, there may be a phase on them, so remove the voltage from the device completely!

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

What cannot be done with this device?

You cannot transfer it while it is on ( high probability of electric shock)!
You cannot admire how the burner lights up and works ( the 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 peels off the next day)!
Do not stay for a long time in a room where this unit is turned on ( the possibility of poisoning with ozone and nitrogen oxides)!
It cannot be turned on if the room contains fuels and lubricants, oily rags, cans of paint, gas cylinders, vegetables that rot in large quantities, there is easily combustible dust (flour, sugar powder, sawdust, coal, peat, etc.) ( possible flash from oxidation by ozone)!
Cannot be placed close to wooden objects and structures ( burner heating temperature is very high)!
Do not leave your favorite animals and plants indoors ( the consequences are sad)!

Provide the possibility of turning on and off the device from the outside, so as not to pick up "bunnies" once again and not breathe in ozone!
After turning off the device for about an hour or two, do not enter the room, let it ventilate!
If you did not protect yourself and grabbed the "bunnies" ( the appearance of cramps in the eyes, during sleep the eyes fester, it hurts to open them, it hurts to look at a bright light) - drip your eyes (2% albucide solution, cypherloxacin - acos, 2% lidocaine solution, sodium sulfacyl, basic riciniol, or carefully inject tetracycline eye ointment under your 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 possibility of using this homemade product!

After defeating the mushroom house, I hurried to remove the lamp in the barn, but in vain!
Autumn was coming to an end and one day before the frost my basement was attacked by rats and field mice. My family will remember this night for a long time! There was a continuous squeak in the basement, some sort of disassembly took place, glass jars rattled, you could hear how they were eating my potatoes in the basement! Along the entire perimeter of the apartment floor, this gray bastard was furiously gnawing new holes, trying to break into our living space! The dog scrubbed the floor and ran around the apartment roaring and barking, children screeching! Swearing, screaming, screeching, barking - urban people faced wildlife :)!

In the morning to work, to children in kindergarten and school, 4 am - Corvalol is completely drunk, and we are at war, we are under siege! Neither the banging of a stick on the floor nor the switched on 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" are going to look at the "gift" closer to the lamp. After 15 minutes, a weak and alarming squeak gradually turned into a panic! Again the dog rages, children squealing, but already without the mat and yelling! Some kind of races started in the basement, which quickly turned into a stampede! There was silence! I didn't turn off the lamp all night.

Conclusions.

The experimenter's rules are to draw conclusions! Main conclusion: this device also works against rodents! How? Not entirely clear! The experiment was carried out in a dirty way, 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 based on guesses!

Ultraviolet - hardly! In such a short time, pain in the eyes does not immediately arise ( from a person! Checked on myself, although everything can be)!
Ozone - perhaps ( i have not tested it myself, I completely trust the theory)!
Nitrogen oxides - Also an option!

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

Ozone and nitrogen oxides are rather smelly even for a person accustomed to artificial technical and chemical odors. Our sense of smell is weakened by our way of life, we do not 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 pungent smell, even for a person, can cause unbearable pain to animals or lead to 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 was dragging her last strength away from home. But I was struck by the condition of her eyes: they were white, like boiled fish! It turns out that even when she was dying, she tried to leave the place that was dangerous for her! This observation confirmed my guess that poisoning rodents with poison in such houses is to your detriment!

I will try to explain.

In case of poisoning or illness, any animal understands that for some time it will not be able to stand up for itself, which means that 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 rat in 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 find her? To sort through the whole house on the boards in search of a corpse?

The lamp works the other way around: all its damaging factors let rodents know that this place is very dangerous for them. The smelly mixture of gases easily passes along their passages, driving everyone out. Rodents don't come back for the second time! 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 the poison!

One more observation.

When he moved in, he found that several floorboards had been turned into dust by some 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 “glad” that I might have to completely change the entire tree in the house! You just can't get the beetle out! And I have not made of wood only two stoves and a slate on the roof !? However, after using the lamp, I myself replaced only one floorboard, which I had not noticed before and I do not observe any more traces of the grinder! Whether it's the lamp - I'm not sure! But everything can be!

Business is possible!

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

Most of these places are 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 seen in practice 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: CHECKED - WORKS!

Mold is a fungus that can spread over any surface and over stone, concrete, brick, wood and many other materials.

It is necessary to take measures as early as possible to detect and destroy the fungus.

The mushroom house has many names, for example:

Homemade mushroom
House sponge
Tree mushroom
Nozdrevik the destroyer

Mushroom house likes to settle on a felled, dead tree.Having appeared in the house, it destroys wooden floors and structures with lightning speed, which in turn can lead to the collapse of the structure. It is necessary to get rid of the house fungus because wood mushroom, even in unfavorable conditions for itself, it can develop in a sterile form (i.e., without the fungi themselves), the mycelium begins to grow abundantly, which, as well as in a full-fledged fruitful form with mushrooms, leads to the destruction and decay of the tree.

The mushroom house is a lover of cellars and cellars!

Most often, the mushroom house develops on the inside of the floorboards, on beams that directly rest on the moist soil. It can be extremely difficult to destroy the mushroom house in such places without special equipment. Such an assistant in the destruction of fungus in the house is XILIX GEL and the "Zhuk" microwave installation.

Conditions for the development of a house mushroom

Lack of light
Stuffiness, stale, stagnant air
Humidity, dampness (especially in baths and saunas)

What does a mushroom house look like?

Small light and white dots that you may have noticed on the tree, but did not pay attention to it, over time merge into plaque and slimy spots. Then a spider web-like (this is mycelium) silvery plexus appears. The mycelium grows rapidly and takes up more and more area under the floor on the surface of the tree. As a result, the mushroom becomes very thick, leafy and becomes shiny and ash gray in color.

The mushroom house is increasingly acquiring a brownish color with light spurs, which cling to the slightest roughness and cracks, thereby moving from one part of the house to another.

The mushroom house prefers conifers, but deciduous ones are not insured against it if all favorable conditions for its existence are met. Sturdy oak buildings under the influence of a wood-destroying fungus are crumbling like houses of cards.

Under the destructive influence of a tree fungus, the tree turns brown and turns into dust. It becomes brittle, brittle. Floors painted with oil paint are most damaged by the fungus, as the underside of such a floor is protected from light and from drying out.

White fungus in the basement and under the floor: what to do?

The white fungus that can be found in the basement of a wooden house also belongs to the house mushrooms. How to destroy woody white fungus in a wooden house? The best option is to call our specialists, they will help remove the fungus in a wooden house.

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How to tell if a floor has been attacked by a tree fungus?

The presence of a house fungus is easy to identify by black spots scattered on the upper surface.If the tree is painted with glue paint, then separate fluffy areas of a yellowish color appear on the surface. A tree affected by a house fungus easily cracks and breaks and emits a dull sound when tapped. The affected tree begins to strongly absorb water. The mycelium of the fungus can transfer water to the most remote rooms, feeding the fungus.

In the course of its life, the spent bodies of the fungus, when rotting, exude a disgusting specific aroma, which is very harmful to health. Often it is the nasty smell that becomes the reason why people call our specialists.

The microwave heating method is an effective means of combating

For the destruction of the already appeared house and tree fungus, a lot of means have been proposed and are being offered, unfortunately, none of them can be considered radical. Until the mushroom covered the whole house it makes sense to cut out the affected areas and replace them with new ones.

All materials around the affected area are heated by microwave to a temperature of 60 to 70 degrees in order to kill the remnants of mycelium and are impregnated with antiseptic and fungicidal solutions. There is a preventive disinfection of the premises from spores of the house fungus.

XILIX GEL 10-year guarantee against bugs and mold!

HOW XILIX GEL CURATIF FONGI PLUS WORKS

Prevention

Treatment

Absorbability of Xylyx gel into wood. XILIX GEL

Professional destruction of fungus

Our specialists will carry out a professional treatment for the fungus. In order to remove the mushroom house and prevent its reappearance and destruction of wood, you need to approach the problem in a comprehensive manner:

Stages of processing from a house fungus

Mechanical stripping. Specialists remove the visible layer of the body of the fungus and mycelium. I grind and rub the surface.
Deep and surface impregnation. The fungus mycelium is destroyed in the wood structure and on the surface
Disinfection of the premises from fungal spores. To prevent re-germination
Microwave drying of walls. Heating by microwaves to eliminate high humidity and finally destroy the fungus in the house.

Xylix gel treatment. processing of a low basement from a mushroom with a brush using XILIX technology

The main reasons for the appearance of house fungus in the house

Poor ventilation Is one of the most common causes of indoor mold growth. Bathrooms and kitchens are especially affected by this, the humidity is increased by default. Sealed plastic windows, rare ventilation, clogged or walled up ventilation systems are an excellent help for the spread of the fungus.
Current water supply and pipes.Regular leaks under the bathroom or in the walls must be repaired immediately upon detection. Otherwise, after a while the fungus will creep along the walls.
Freezing of walls... Finishing materials do not reliably adhere to walls. Freeze and swell. Black mold often forms under the plaster. Mostly black spots form in the corners.
Roof leaks. In clear, dry weather, this will not cause you problems. But with the first serious rain, drips will appear. The water will moisturize the building materials and give the fungus spores an excellent germination site. And in winter, the icing will melt at the first thaw, and the frozen water will remain in the plaster.
Soil dampness. In such situations, mold and mildew appears at the joints of the walls and baseboards.
Insufficient or absent heating. The freezing room eventually becomes covered with mold.

How much does it cost to get rid of the mushroom house. Prices

Room area	Impregnation	Mechanical stripping	Disinfection from spores	Microwave wall drying	Complex (3 years warranty.)
1-2 sq.m.	from 1000 rubles.	from 1000 rubles.	from 500 rubles	from 2000 rub.	from 3500 rub.
3-5 sq.m.	from 800 rubles	from 850 rub.	from 350 rub.	from 2000 rub.	from 3000 rub.
5-10 sq.m.	from 650 rubles.	from 700 rubles	from 200 rubles.	from 1800 rub.	from 2800 rub.
10-20 sq.m.	from 500 rubles	from 600 rubles.	from 100 rubles.	from 1500 rub.	from 2500 rubles.
20-50 sq.m.	from 400 rubles.	from 500 rubles	for a present*	from 1500 rub.	from 2500 rubles.
50-100 sq.m.	from 300 rubles.	from 500 rubles	for a present	from 1500 rub.	from 2000 rub.
More than 100 sq.m.	negotiable
RUN METER (on the plinth, at the seams, at the joints of the walls)	RUB 1000