Abstract
This study investigated the effects of early fungal decay on the mechanical performance of nailed timber connections. Radiata pine (Pinus radiata) sapwood blocks with stainless-steel or galvanised nails were exposed to a brown-rot (Fomitopsis ostreiformis). Four stages of early decay up to 10% wood mass loss were assessed. Connection performance was evaluated through withdrawal tests and expressed as normalized nail withdrawal capacity. Fungal decay significantly reduced this capacity for both fastener types. Galvanized nails initially showed a reduction in normalized withdrawal capacity to 0.5, which later increased to 1.68 at 140 days; however, this effect was complicated by simultaneous corrosion. In contrast, stainless-steel connections, which showed no corrosion, experienced a reduction of over 95% in withdrawal capacity over the fungal exposure period.