Timber Treatment in North London
Dry rot, wet rot and woodworm all need the same accomplice: moisture. We treat the outbreak you have — and fix the damp that invited it, so it doesn't return.
What causes timber problems in houses? Every significant timber problem is moisture-enabled: dry rot (Serpula lacrymans) establishes in timber persistently above ~20% moisture and can then spread through masonry to dry areas; wet rot decays whatever stays wet but remains confined to it; and woodworm larvae develop fastest in damp wood. Treatment therefore always has two parts — dealing with the decay or infestation, and repairing the moisture defect behind it (leaks, bridged DPCs, blocked subfloor ventilation). Indicative North London costs: timber surveys £280–£450, woodworm treatment £400–£1,200, wet rot repairs £150–£2,500, dry rot eradication £1,000–£10,000+ depending on spread.
Our timber treatment services
Dry Rot
Dry rot is the most destructive timber problem a building can have — a fungus that spreads through masonry hunting for wood. Fast, correct treatment protects the structure of your home.
Learn moreWet Rot
Wet rot is the commonest timber decay in British homes — softened, darkened wood wherever timber stays wet. It's serious, but contained: fix the moisture, repair the wood, done.
Learn moreWoodworm Treatment
Flight holes in floorboards don't always mean live woodworm — and live woodworm doesn't always mean drama. We establish what you actually have, then treat exactly that.
Learn moreTimber Preservation
The joists, rafters and plates in a Victorian house have already lasted 120 years. Preservation is how they last the next 120 — dry, treated where justified, and detailed to stay that way.
Learn moreSubfloor Ventilation
Under every suspended timber floor is a void that must breathe. Block its airbricks and the ground's moisture has nowhere to go — except into your joists.
Learn moreLocal stock, local problems, local answers
The structural timber in North London's Victorian and Edwardian houses — joists bearing into solid external walls, plates on sleeper walls over clay, rafters behind parapet gutters — has survived a century where it stayed dry and decayed where it didn't. Unventilated subfloors, chronic parapet leaks and damp cellars are where we find dry rot; window sills, frame feet and leak-adjacent joists are where wet rot lives; and woodworm concentrates wherever timber moisture runs high.
Correct identification drives everything, because the treatment scopes differ enormously: dry rot demands tracing and eradicating the full spread including through masonry; wet rot needs localised repair; historic woodworm holes may need nothing at all. Our surveys identify the species and the moisture path, specify proportionate treatment — no blanket spraying of dry, sound timber — and pair every eradication with the ventilation or damp repair that makes it permanent.
Our process
Tell us the problem
Call or use the contact form — describe what you're seeing and where. Photos help.
Survey & diagnosis
An independent qualified surveyor inspects the property and identifies the true cause, with a written report.
Clear written quote
You receive a costed scope for exactly what the property needs — no more, no less.
Treatment & verification
Works are carried out by vetted independent specialists, with guarantees where applicable and verification that the fix worked.
Frequently asked questions
Dry rot shows cuboidal cracking, cotton-wool mycelium, rust-red spore dust and spreads beyond the damp source, including across masonry; wet rot is darker, softer, spongier decay confined to persistently wet timber. The distinction changes the treatment scope dramatically, so professional identification comes first.
Usually not — most period properties carry historic, inactive flight holes. Treatment is only justified where activity is confirmed: fresh pale frass, clean-edged new holes, or beetles in the May–September season. A survey distinguishes live infestation from history before you pay for spraying.
Surveys £280–£450. Woodworm treatment £400–£1,200; wet rot repairs £150–£600 per joinery item and £300–£2,500 for structural work; dry rot £1,000–£3,000 localised and £3,000–£10,000+ where spread — always plus the moisture repair. Our estimator gives a tailored range.
Only if the timber gets wet again — neither rot fungus can live in dry wood. Recurrence virtually always traces to an unfixed or new moisture defect, which is why we treat the leak, DPC or ventilation problem as part of the job, not an optional extra.
Not always — loose boards, undersized joists and past notching cause bounce too. But springiness near damp walls, with musty smells or concentrated woodworm, deserves prompt investigation: joist bearings lose strength invisibly, and probing them is quick and cheap compared with discovering the answer through a floor.
Worried about damp, mould or a wet basement?
Speak to us today or book a survey — we'll arrange the right independent specialist for your property.