Just pressure washed a pressure treated wood deck that had been neglected for years.
Couldn’t go after all of the nasties because I would pull up wood with the pressure washer… so I got most of it. I tried a soap that claimed to remove mildew, but it didn’t seem to work any better than plain old water.
Anything I can use to kill off what remains? Not concerned about brightening or evening out the wood colorations.
A high-performance single-family home builder shares tips from his early experience with two apartment buildings.
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Dig into cutting-edge approaches and decades of proven solutions with total access to our experts and tradespeople.
Start Free Trial NowGet instant access to the latest developments in green building, research, and reports from the field.
Start Free Trial Now
Replies
Bleach
Quality repairs for your home.
AaronR Construction
Vancouver, Canada
I thought that was bad for wood....
Clorox makes an "outdoor bleach" but heck if I know what is special about it.
You are using a relatively low concentration to kill the mold, then washing it with water.
Use it. Loooove it.Quality repairs for your home.
AaronR ConstructionVancouver, Canada
Ah.
FWIW, bleach doesn't kill mold spores - the only way "easy" way to get rid of them is elbow grease.
"Ask not what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive... then go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."
Howard Thurmanhttp://rjw-progressive.blogspot.com/
You're right, of course, and I really should have elaborated more in my first answer.
Like others here, I do a 2-stage cleaning, starting with bleach (on walls) or deck brightener on decks; a good cleaning and drying, then mold remover and a wipe-down.
It's getting harder now that I'm older and not all fungus is "Magic".Quality repairs for your home.
AaronR ConstructionVancouver, Canada
I lived in Vancouver in the mid-80s. In the morning the boulevard leading to UBC would be littered with mushroom pickers.
Since mildew is our state flower I have learned to use Jomax and bleach.
http://www.zinsser.com/product_detail.asp?ProductId=65
KK
http://www.amazon.com/Wet-Forget-10587-Gallon-Remover/dp/B0019KSUG6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1252901212&sr=8-1
View Image
I was hoping you would show up with a link. One of the annoying things about BT is that discussions always start from the very beginning. There appears to be no cumulative knowledge.
In past threads Jeff posted information showing that bleach does not kill molds and mildew within porous materials such as wood, so it will likely reoccur.
Wet-N-Forget contains DBAC. You have to be careful, but that's true of bleach too.
Would you please tell us what DBAC is? I'm asking because I'm wondering if this product would be a good choice to eradicate some mold in my own bathroom. I'm nervous about anything that is aerosol (you have to wonder about breathing it in, even if just a little) but the product looks like it just might be effective. Thank you!
DBAC is the biocide/fungicide Dimethyl Benzl Ammonium Chloride ... it's in toilet bowl cleaner and household disinfectants at a pretty low % (like 2%-3%) and in cleaners like Simple Green but in higher doses used in proprietary mildew/mold killing compounds would be too toxic to use like Lysol in effective higher concentrations on a regular basis in a bathroom (significant eye and inhalation hazard). Like I said you *have* to be careful.
MSDS (@ 80% this would be extremely strong, more than most products contain) - http://www.closedsystemlabs.com/Pdf's/MSDS%20-%20Quaternary%20Ammonium%20Chloride.pdf
Other mold killing treatment - http://www.traskresearch.com/mold.html
View Image
For *sealing* / longer-term treatment of problem areas - View Image
http://www.traskresearch.com/order.html
Edited 9/14/2009 10:59 pm ET by Jeff_Clarke
Well of course it will reoccur. I've never heard of anything that would stop mold or mildew growth. It grows on window glass down here.
It was in the context of reapplying stain to wood. I have had mold reoccur under Sikkens because the bleach does not kill the spores. Mold killer does.
I know it sounds nit-picky but mold doesn't grow on the glass, it grows on the dirt on the glass. No organics, no mold.
I know that but dirt is everywhere so the distinction is moot. I'm lucky not to have mold on my shoes.
Ha! My sister lived up the coast at the marine station at Bamfield. She had to regularly take her clothes out of the closet and run them through the dryer or they would mold.
How are things down there. Any signs of building picking up?
Hard to say. One of the salesmen at the lumberyard told me yesterday told me "things are picking up." But certainly no one is building houses.
We still have thousands of 4 year old brand new homes just sitting.
If you use a chlorine based bleach like Clorox you have to be careful not to use too much as it breaks down binder in wood that holds the fibers together.
Another more safer and environmentally friendly alternative is oxygen based bleach. It comes in a powder and is a little safer. Many deck cleaner/brighteners have this in it.
I've found Cabot's #8002 Problem Solver Wood Cleaner to be effective http://www.cabotstain.com/products/product/Problem-Solver-Wood-Cleaner.html Iirc about $22 and dilutes 5 parts water to 1 part cleaner.
"There can be no doubt that Socialism is inseparably interwoven with totalitarianism and the abject worship of the state…Socialism is in its essence an attack not only on British enterprise, but upon the right of ordinary men and women to breathe freely without having a harsh, clammy, clumsy tyrannical hand clasped across their mouth and nostrils" -Winston Churchill
I recommend good old automatic dishwashing detergent.
"Ask not what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive... then go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."
Howard Thurman
http://rjw-progressive.blogspot.com/
I used a bleach for decks with a 10 to 1 ratio of water.Works for decks and tried it on bathroom tub walls. I poured some of the mix into a spray bottle ,sprayed the tub walls which are fiberglass. Not only cleaned the mold but kept it from getting moldy for at least 6 months.
mike