WORSE THAN TERMITES; MYSTERIOUS WOOD-EATING FUNGUS TAKES DESTRUCTIVE TOLL ON HOMES.

Byline: Jenifer Hanrahan Daily News Staff Writer

Joe and Sharon Howard first noticed the strange, orange growth in the corner of their daughter's bedroom.

They thought it was something left by their cat and wiped it up.

But two days later, the growth was back - this time oozing brown liquid.

``I knew something weird was going on,'' Joe Howard said.

The Howards called a pest-control expert. They gasped when he pulled back the carpet to reveal warped, rotted floorboards.

They soon discovered their Sherman Oaks residence had a case of Poria incrassata - a fast-moving, house-eating fungus with a voracious appetite for wood.

The termite inspector told them to call Luis De La Cruz, a Van Nuys pest-control expert who is rapidly becoming known as the man to call in Southern California when Poria strikes.

De La Cruz broke through the sheetrock with a screwdriver, reached in and pulled out a piece of wood. It crumbled in his fist.

``We were totally shocked,'' Sharon Howard recalled. ``He told us it was spreading, like a cancer. It's silent and odorless, and you don't know it's there. It was frightening.''

Poria incrassata is one of many decay fungi that feed on dead wood. Unlike most fungi that depend on moisture in the wood, Poria supplies it's own water through rootlike tubes called rhizomorphs, enabling it to move more quickly than other decay fungi.

If conditions are right, Poria can destroy a room in less than a year.

Even worse, most homeowners have no idea the fungus is feasting on their house until it's too late. The rhizomorphs grow from the soil, usually entering the house from hidden, dank areas such as crawl spaces and continuing unseen behind the walls and under linoleum.

By the time a homeowner notices the fungus in a cabinet, under a sink or seeping from a carpet, the house has sustained severe structural damage.

In the past, Poria was confined mainly to the Gulf States. But lately, increasing numbers of Poria cases have been reported in Southern California, said Wayne Wilcox, a wood pathologist studying the fungus at the University of California Forest Products Laboratory in Richmond.

In the past 25 years, De La Cruz has handled nearly 200 cases of Poria - nearly 25 of them in the last year from Agoura to Encino to Venice.

Wilcox has found a similarity among houses with Poria: major landscaping was done within two years of Poria's onset.

He speculates that the soil dumped on these suburban lawns originated in various forests around the world, where Poria occurs naturally and helps in the process of decomposing fallen trees. Poria may have come along for the ride.

Although there is no practical way for a homeowner to make sure the soil used in landscaping is not contaminated, homeowners can eliminate the conditions that favor Poria - darkness, stagnant air and a water source.

Common mistakes in new homes or with new landscaping that give Poria an avenue of attack include improper grading that leaves too little distance between the soil and the siding or the wood frame, said Mark Savel, a Sherman Oaks architect who has investigated homes with Poria problems.

For instance, if stucco descends into the soil, rhizomorphs can grow behind it.

Other entry points for Poria include porches, decks and trellaces that provide direct contact between wood and soil, or planters that are built up against the siding of a house.

Poorly ventilated crawl spaces, or those with remnants of tree roots or construction debris, can also give Poria a point of entry.

The Howards got off relatively easy. They lost a bedroom and a portion of the bathroom to the fungus. Other people have lost entire houses.

Mathias and Kathy Mayer thought they had bought their dream home, a 3,900-square-foot ranch-style house built in 1922.

Less than two years after they moved in, Kathy Mayer noticed a white and brown, mushroomlike substance on the carpet of her daughter's room.

Like the Howards, the Mayers of Chula Vista in San Diego County thought it was something the cat left and wiped it up.

A week later, there it was again - in the same spot, and now, also underneath the bed and along the baseboard.

Her husband pulled back the carpet. As he stepped onto the hardwood floor to get a closer look, it collapsed beneath him.

``We had no idea what we were dealing with,'' Kathy Mayer said.

They called the insurance company, which sent out a claims inspector. When he leaned against the wall, he left an indentation. They called a termite inspector, who told them to call De La Cruz.

``When I saw what was happening, I advised them to move out immediately,'' De La Cruz said. ``I was afraid they were going to be injured.''

That weekend, the Mayers put their belongings in storage and, with their two young children, went to live with her parents.

It was the beginning of a two-year nightmare. Their insurance company refused to cover the claim, so the Mayers filed a lawsuit.

Mounting legal bills - and the knowledge they were paying for a home that was fast becoming unrepairable - made it increasingly difficult to pay the mortgage. The bank began foreclosure proceedings, later joining the Mayers in the lawsuit. The insurance company eventually settled for an amount the Mayers have agreed to keep confidential.

``Our whole lives were turned upside down and inside out,'' Mayer said. ``It was emotionally and financially devastating.''

The Howards' insurance company also turned down their $15,000 claim four times, even though their policy covered ``collapse due to hidden decay.''

The Howards filed a complaint with the state's Department of Insurance. In arbitration, the judge sided with the Howards when she saw a piece of Poria-infected wood fall apart to the touch.

``She said, `You don't think this constitutes collapse?' '' Joe Howard recalled.

Since his ordeal, Howard has helped other Poria victims weed through their own insurance and legal battles.

``In most cases, the insurance company is going to say `no,' '' Howard said. ``People have to be willing to fight. You have to show them the light.''

Indeed, most insurance policies exclude damage due to fungus because it is considered the homeowner's responsibility to maintain the house, said Kenneth Adams, a spokesman for Western Insurance Information Service, an insurance industry-funded nonprofit organization.

``Now is a good time for homeowners to get out and look at their homes since we've had all that El Nino rain,'' Adams said.

In a darkened room in his office in Van Nuys, De La Cruz cultivates Poria in a glass-enclosed case that he uses during presentations to other pest control experts.

De La Cruz never intended to become Southern California's Poria expert. But through word of mouth, contractors, insurance companies and even his competitors in the termite business started referring cases to him.

``It just snowballed,'' he said.

In the glass case, a sheet of mycelium, made of tiny strands of fungus thinner than hairs, fan out over a piece of drywall and wood.

When De La Cruz is called to investigate a case of wood decay, it takes only a few minutes to determine the tell-tale signs of Poria.

``But it may take me three or four hours to explain to the homeowner why the recommendations we make are so drastic, to demolish or break open major parts of the house.''

Often, homeowners break down in tears.

To eradicate Poria, De La Cruz begins by finding the point of entry.

Uncovering it is not pretty. He tears open walls and floors. With a paintbrush and a few gardening tools, De La Cruz spends hours digging around the foundation of a house, looking for rhizomorphs.

Poria has an appetite not only for common construction woods such as oak and pine, but for cedar, redwood, cypress and juniper that are naturally decay-resistant.

Treated wood can slow Poria but not necessarily stop it because only the outer layer is protected. If cracks develop in the wood, Poria can get to the untreated core.

Many homeowners make the mistake of repairing damaged floorboards or rooms before they realize Poria is the culprit. But this only makes matters worse.

With fresh wood to devour, Poria comes back with a vengeance. To eliminate the problem, he must sever the arteries that carry the water from the soil.

``It's sad,'' he said. ``You have to act fast to save whatever remains of your house.''

CAPTION(S):

5 Photos

Photo: (1--Cover--Color) There's a FUNGUS among us

Fast-moving Poria incrassata can eat you out of house and home

(2) Van Nuys pest-control expert Luis De La Cruz shows the path that house-eating fungus Poria incrassata took through a piece of Stryofoam.

(3) Poria thrives under the carpet of a Chula Vista home. The destructive fungus moves quickly because it supplies its own water.

(4--5) In a Beverly Hills home, poria creeps along a wood floor, above, and attacks a doorjamb, right. Getting rid of the problem often means demolishing whole rooms.

John McCoy/Daily News