Weird fungus on lintel in porch

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Just bought a house and noticed this very odd dust on a wooden beam in the porch. Thought it was woodworm at first but actually think it's more like a mould/ fungus. It's a bit damp in there. Anyone know what it might be?
 

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Stand back and photo the larger area context of the lintel, and the other sides of the beam, & a pic of the porch roof Flashing?
Does the beam smell of mushrooms - is there a brown dust on the floor below?

"damp in there" - damp in where, the porch?
Examine the walls inside the doorway and house interior - look for something unusual?

Is it an old property?
Is it rendered?

ask the mods to transfer your post to the building forum.
 
It's a modern porch on a mostly 1706 building (part of the house is 16th century).
Doesn't smell damp or mushroomy but there is mildew on the ceiling of the porch and discolouration of the paint either side of the beam.
 

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Outside photo here.
 

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Thanks for the pics.
Please annotate your pics or describe what's being looked at from where, its difficult to tell the viewpoint for instance.

Your cottage is rendered with what i dont know - render composition sometimes depends on where in the UK you are located?
Its difficult to say what material the porch flashing is - it doesn't actually look like lead flashing - it could be a fillet of sand and cement.
A better, closer photo would help.
A S&C fillet is bad news because it can easily crack or degrade, & allow water to enter the wall and/or the porch roof.

That might be whats happened, & moisture has entered the rendering, and moved down the house wall.
Typical water stains can be seen near the lintel, & condensation on the ceiling.
The wood lintel shows beetle holes - but whether the infestation is live or was historic i cant tell.
The odds are that the lintel has some degree of fungal damage due to water exposure.

Unfortunately, only a limited amount of destructive testing will actually show what previously happened and whats happening now.
To detect rot the lintel will need probing with a thin screwdriver say, & the render/plaster will need to be opened up a little to expose moisture ingress damage.
 

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