I’ve got some 1820’s hand hewn oak 3×5 joists that I want to put back into my project. During demolition the got tossed out into the grass where they reacted very quickly with the elements and got heavy mildew on a good part of each piece. Stupidly I hit them with a mix of TSP and bleach to kill the mildew that had grown while they sat in the dirt/grass and then stickered them up – but haven’t covered them. Now they are silver on top and mildew (again) on the bottom. Does anyone have any idea how to bring back the natural wood color?
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Try oiling them with a penetrative oil -- teak oil or cedar oil.
IanDG
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a good scrubbing with a stiff brush and water, dry on bolsters in the shade, oil - - I recommend raw linseed oil; slop it on, it'll soak in, bring out color - it never dries, what happens is that it disperses into the wood and gets ever less oily - a week or two and you won't be able to stain a cloth with it - makes for a very mellow, non-film finish on old wood -
good luck...
thanks for the advice. I'll make a sample and let you know how it goes.
But in the presence of mildew, the linseed will just make it blacker. Gotta scrape, sand and renew first
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Gotta scrape, sand and renew first....
well, maybe - - might lose the patina that is the special character of old wood - conservators would shudder at what has already been inflicted ... most likely a good scubbing will remove the mildew along with most of the newly weathered surface - under humid conditions, black mold (mildew?) will grow, using the oil for food (as a friend found out on the north side of his B&B house...), but I've never seen that occuring on interior wood...
"there's enough for everyone"
yeh you definitely have to get back to "the beginning"
I'd do the bleach/water thing
rinse and hit w/ strong tsp
then good drying and if not where you want it try one of the better brand name wood restorer solutions
piffins right gotta kill the mildew first applying oils etc on top of it won't kill it, will continue growing black bleach/ water solution to kill mildew, air dry it inside, away from sun sand clean to smoothness you want apply neutral stain to bring color and grain back out, then apply finish you want