Written by Torben Lindegaard Jensen
To the association magazine STRAATAG for the association Straatag, Nr. 63, Volume 16, February 2018.
On 5 December 2017, we held a very successful event in the evening at Odder Parkhotel. The event differed from our normal events and excursions in that it took place in the evening and indoors.
The topic was mould, wood-decomposing fungi and wood-boring insects, where we had invited John Lundsgaard, who is a chemist, biologist and employed as a technical manager in the company Protox ApS, which deals with the development, production and sale of pesticides.
John Lundsgaard entertained for a good few hours about these creepy subjects, and we were taught what fungi are, how they live and under what circumstances they can seriously become dangerous threats to our houses and to the indoor climate. Along the way, we learned a lot more about these mushrooms, which come in many varieties and thrive in very different conditions.
The rightly feared "real house fungus" occurs e.g. typically in connection with leaks in the roof in the roof covering, worn down gutters or when ground moisture penetrates. Once it has started, it can, with the help of its special stringy mycelium, pick up and transport water over long distances and thereby moisten new parts of the structure and then spread from basement to branch. The house fungus thrives best in moist and stagnant air and under temperatures well below freezing to around 25 degrees, after which it weakens and dies at 37 degrees. There are several methods for combating real house fungus, but it is very important to carry out the control at an early stage, as it can develop violently aggressively, and it is very important that you do not overlook infested areas during the control.
Boring beetles and the fight against them were also on the agenda, and here some myths were dispelled, e.g. on fighting with petroleum and diesel oil.
An important weapon in the fight against mold is, as we should all know, ventilation. This is done efficiently by making drafts by opening doors and windows for a few minutes several times a day - and perhaps looking a little big at the heat consumption in that context. Warm air absorbs moisture, and by getting the warm and moist air out and
replaced with new air, the humidity decreases.
Another and probably much underestimated danger is over-insulation. Many houses are like plastic bags, and this is a real threat to the house.
Despite the macabre subject matter, we had a very nice evening and we intend to repeat the success elsewhere in the country during 2018.
Protox ApS has developed and produced a number of pesticides that can be bought in a large number of hardware stores etc
You can read more about this at www.protox.dk, from where you can access the Protox Handbook with a single click, where you can read much more about how to identify these pests and combat them.