Brown Powdery Stuff on Door Frame

[JustMigs]

Hi all, I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice/thoughts on what this brown powdery stuff is that keeps recurring on the lower-inner side of the door frame of our under stair storage room. I wipe it off one day and it starts to gradually come back a few days later until this (see picture attached). Any thoughts on what it is and what we can do would be much appreciated!

 

[foxhole]

Probably one of the many brown molds, try weak bleach solution to kill.

 

[screamer]

wood beetles?
any wee holes appearing?

hard to tell, picture is a wee bit blurry

 

[JustMigs]

Thanks for the thoughts, so far, folks. Here are two more close-up shots of the worst-hit areas. Hope they can shed more light?

 

[sxturbo]

Is there damp getting in from somewhere?

 

[JustMigs]

Hard to know, at this stage. Right outside this room is the utility room where our washing machine and stuff is. But all other wooden door frames in the vicinity are fine, even in the opposite side of the problem door frame pictured above.

 

[Munroast]

wood beetles?
any wee holes appearing?

do you mean small holes or holes the beetles use as a toilet ?

 

[^woody^]

Scrape the paint off. If there are boreholes in the wood, its an infestation

 

[opps]

To me, it looks like it might be wet rot. Is the surface of the timber soft and spongy? If you push a small flat blade in to the timber, does it penetrate further than on the other side of the frame?

In image number 1, the laminate floor seems to have opened up (which can happen when it gets wet/damp).

I was under the impression that woodworm is fairly rare in timber in the part of homes that benefit from central heating. That is to say, you might be more likely to find it in the loft and in the cavity under the house, but I could be wrong.

Personally, I would remove the architrave in the left hand part of the picture so that I could see the unpainted parts of the door liner and the bare plaster on the wall return.

I may well be barking up the wrong tree though. More pictures from further back and the other side of the frame might be useful.