Mysterious loft staining

[w00tman]

Evening all

I first noticed the above staining about 15 months ago, when I noticed my loft had a condensation problem. This is all sorted (lack of ventilation and bad habits re: drying washing etc) and the staining has never changed - neither better nor worse. It appears as in the above picture on perhaps one tenth the exposed wood in my loft space - nothing on any of the items actually stored in the loft (of which there are only a few remaining - another previously poor habit).

Any ideas what this staining could be, and is it serious/concerning? if not concerning, how do I tidy it up, or is it worth bothering with?

Thanks!

w00tman

 

[w00tman]

Sorry - the picture appears to be huge - I apologise for the size of it.

Also, one thing to note - wood appears to be just as strong - a nail will not penetrate the wood without significant force, and absolutely no different than the wood that does not have this bloom/stain on it - no signs of cracking, splitting, crumbling etc.

 

[theprinceofdarkness]

I would not worry about it. It could be where condensation did wash of some of that white stuff (what is that?), or the white stuff was scraped of by a badly planted boot. Have another look in a years time.
My previous house suffered from loft condensation for about 20 years timbers were OK, old school notes stored up there did suffer though!
Frank

 

[w00tman]

Thanks. I was worried that the White stuff was dry rot or something like that. It doesn't appear to have damaged the timber whatever it is and it hasn't changed shape in any way. To be honest it looks like mortar or concrete that has spilled onto the timbers - but I am a relatively new house owner so this stuff scares me .. Witless!