Help Identifying Substance

[joko]

I short while ago, i set about the nightmare task of sorting out my junk room.

i noticed there were some things that appeared to be covered in the rust/terracotta coloured fine powder.
based on the angles of where it is etc whatever it is had gone up a landed on the stuff.

i wiped it all down but now a few weeks later its happened again - and cannot figure out at all where its coming from, why its happening and what it is!

its mostly towards the back of the room, i have looked all over and just cant see a source

one corner of the room has had a leak and there was fungus growing up through the skirting boards - i wiped it all away and bleached the hell out of the area.

i did wonder if it was from that - from the fungus, mushroomy type things that were growing -but as i say i wiped them all away and bleached and they havent come back.

can anyone give me any idea of what this stuff is?

thanks

[waterboatman]

I would think it is coming down, not up. Have a look at the upper walls and ceiling. Look for any cracks, gaps etc. It could be brick dust.

[joko]

thanks - i have looked all over the room but there is no sign of anything coming down at all - i assumed there'd be some all over some area - but no
also its not brick dust - its very fine powder - like flour fine, but a rich terracotta rust colour - there are no little chunks etc its a very uniformly fine powder

[MallyJ]

Woodworm sprang to my mind immediately......very fine dust but colour depends on what wood is being chomped on.

[joko]

thanks - but theres no wood there - and its all over the place

imagine if i walked into a room with a handful of flour and threw it up into the air and just let it land... thats what its like

the stuff is very fine, like flour or talc fine - on the things its landed on you'd almost think itd been spray painted its so fine

it is also a very vibrant colour a rich rust/terracotta colour not like any wood ive seen

im truly baffled

[bhg481]

Do you have red roof tiles? Is there any chance the roofing felt has a gap and dust from the tiles rubbing together has come down into the room?

[Barmaid]

Dry rot? I seem to think that red dust could be a symptom.

It might be worth getting a specialist out to have a look if it is the case.

[donny48]

The life-cycle of dry rot can be broken down into four main stages. Dry rot begins as a microscopic spore which, in high enough concentrations, can resemble a fine orange dust. If the spores are subjected to sufficient moisture they will begin to grow fine white strands known as hyphae. As the hyphae germinate they will eventually form a large mass known as mycelium. The final stage is a fruiting body which pumps new spores out into the surrounding air.

[dannyk13]

https://www.wisepropertycare.com/services/dry-rot/what-is-dry-rot/signs/
Tell tale sign 2.

[Chinajan]

Sounds very much like spilt face powder. I can't imagine why that would be the case in your junk room though.

[joko]

thanks all

yep its dry rot, i've found the mushroomy stuff behind the skirting boards too :/

[muska1996]

It does sound like dry rot! If it's an underlying cause of damp/rot in your room then it's going to keep coming back until the source of the moisture is found & repaired!

Source: http://www.brunel.org/damp-proofing-bath/