What is happening here???

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Not exactly sure what thread this belongs in but I pulled back our sofa and seen this... What the hell even happened here? It's like my skirting and disintegrated and dirt particles are coming out from the corner?
 

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Any musty smell? Could be rotten down there too. Is the floor solid concrete, or suspended timber? If it moves when you step into the corner, it'll be rotten timbers.
 
Any musty smell? Could be rotten down there too. Is the floor solid concrete, or suspended timber? If it moves when you step into the corner, it'll be rotten timbers.

Concrete floor. There's a bit of a musty smell and I saw some white spores but only in one part. Could it be dry rot or something?
 
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Like above - ants, we've had it just like that for years in our summer house.
 
The skirting boards are definitely shot so they have to be ripped out and disposed of. Preferably burnt if it is dry rot, wet rot needs to be found where the source is and rectified.
If it's wet rot the possible cause may be your DPC is bridged by plasterwork going to floor level. This needs to be hacked off to the brickwork above the DPC.
If it is dry rot the whole area will need to be treated with chemicals to kill any remaining spores. If it is as simple as ants then after removing the boards see if you can find the nest, watch where the ants run and then treat as required with powder or cream which they carry back to the nest and kill the other ants including the queen. WARNING! Pouring boiling water into an ants nest will not eradicate them. They live in a labyrinth of tunnels and have other exits that the water will not reach.
 
The skirting boards are definitely shot so they have to be ripped out and disposed of. Preferably burnt if it is dry rot, wet rot needs to be found where the source is and rectified.
If it's wet rot the possible cause may be your DPC is bridged by plasterwork going to floor level. This needs to be hacked off to the brickwork above the DPC.
If it is dry rot the whole area will need to be treated with chemicals to kill any remaining spores. If it is as simple as ants then after removing the boards see if you can find the nest, watch where the ants run and then treat as required with powder or cream which they carry back to the nest and kill the other ants including the queen. WARNING! Pouring boiling water into an ants nest will not eradicate them. They live in a labyrinth of tunnels and have other exits that the water will not reach.

Thanks for this. I'll get someone who knows about it to look at is as well to get their take on it. Curious, but could woodlice do the same thing as ants? I've found multiple woodlice in my house over the last few months.
 
Thanks for this. I'll get someone who knows about it to look at is as well to get their take on it. Curious, but could woodlice do the same thing as ants? I've found multiple woodlice in my house over the last few months.

Find the water leak. Woodlice eat the mould on damp and rotting wood, and they have to lay their eggs in damp conditions.

Note that chemical injections do not cure leaks.

Your skirting is clearly rotten under the paint. Rip it out.

Is it a rented home?
 
You get woodlice wherever there is moist decaying/rotted vegetable matter such as wood so this seems to indicate your problem may be damp related, which in itself is a pain but a bit better than dry rot related.
 
You get woodlice wherever there is moist decaying/rotted vegetable matter such as wood so this seems to indicate your problem may be damp related, which in itself is a pain but a bit better than dry rot related.

Yeh I think it's totally damp related. I pulled up some flooring to see if something is linked between them... Not sure if this looks right. Looks like it's wet under these
 

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Looks like possible damp stains but not large enough to rot the skirting boards to that extent.
Tap the floorboards with a small hammer and poke with a screwdriver. If the hammer produces a dull noise there is possibly damp in them. If the screwdriver pushes in quite easily then you definitely have damp in the boards. That my be have been caused by a leak from the radiator though and not related to the skirting board reason.
Is it a suspended floor? i.e. Do you have floorboards resting on joists with a space underneath? If so then it would be an idea to check the support joist ends to see if they are affected as well.
 
If it is, then why has it been disguised as chipboard?

img_20200705_143545-jpg.198021

Hmmm I always assumed it was concrete underneath, it's pretty solid when I stomp. Is that chipboard??? I thought it was some some of screed layer
 
looks like it to me. Scratch it with something pointy.
 

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