Chia pine

[brdmkr]

I have just about finished cutting my siding for the shop.  I have it stickered underneath the shop roof on the concrete slab.  I even have a couple of fans blowing on the wood.  The stacks are a little less than 4 feet wide.  One stack is about 5 feet high and the other is maybe 18 inches high.  I was looking at the wood yesterday and noticed that about half of the boards have severe mold/mildew issues.  They look like Chia pets  .  I figure that the wet weather we have been having has contributed to this.

I know bleach will cut this stuff, but what is the best way to apply it to minimize effort?  Would there be a problem with bleaching the wood, hosing it off, and then immediately applying as lap siding?  Would there be a problem with installing and then bleaching before painting/sealing?

I also intend to treat everything with a borate treatment to help with PPB, will that help with the mildew issues?

[tcsmpsi]

I use a regular 'garden sprayer', and generally (not always) use a mixture of bleach and insecticide.  Where you're at is probably somewhat similar in climate, where mildew is apt to grow on steel.   :D

I have found that using outdoor bleach works better for me than the regular household variety. 

I've not found bleach to keep paint or stain from doing its job.  The biggest concern would be making sure the wood is DRY before attempting to apply. 

If I'm looking at your mildew/mold like I think you are describing, don't use it sparingly.

'Hosing it off' will just make the wood wetter and more susceptable to mildew. 

[brdmkr]

I am wondering if anyone ever sprayed AFTER installing the wood.  It seems like this would be OK as houses are cleaned this way all the time.  I wonder if the mold/mildew under the lap would cause problems ???

[tcsmpsi]

If not checked in some manner, it would keep growing.  Depending on what you are going to put on your siding as to how much trouble it would create.

It is conducive to rot.  I prefer to take care of it as soon as I notice it.

But then, to me, it makes a lot of noise growing.   ;)

[tdelorme]

I built a hunting cabin with rough cut 2 x 4's that had the same mold problem.  After we built the stud walls I used a garden sprayer and wet everything down with a 20% bleach soltion.  Never had a problem with mold after that.  An outdoor application might be different.  Here in East Texas we fight mold on just about everything outside, including metal buildings.  The power sprayer is your friend.  Good luck with your building.  Oh, and I think any pine that is air dried is going to have some mold to deal with.

[brdmkr]

Do you think it would do any harm (or good for that matter) to spray it with a bleach solution while stickered?   I feel pretty confident that I could wet every bit of it other than what is immediately under the stickers.  Would the wood suffer any damage from the bleach if I just let the bleach dry on the wood?

The main thing I am after is not having to unsticker and wash every board individually and then resticker.

[tcsmpsi]

I spray mine while stickered.   ;D  (too DanG noisy otherwise) 

[treebucker]

How much air space did you leave between the bottom of the stack and the concrete? I would be suspicious that the center bottom boards are also hiding the problem.

IMHO, I don't know how you could get an even coverage without tearing the stack open. You could end up with mottled boards. If that happens, depending on the final look, you could tell them that it is 'marble pine' or 'faux pine burl'. ;D

I would have to tear the pile open to the point that I was sure I knew how extensive the problem was. If bad enough, I would make a dip trough with a drip rack on the side. This could be cobble togather in under an hour and reused later on other projects. The boards would only have to stay in the drip rack for about a minute. This would be quicker and provide a more even coverage than a sprayer. At least you could sleep better and not have it calling to you as you try to drift off to sleep. :


I hope you've got a helper handy.

[brdmkr]

The boards would only have to stay in the drip rack for about a minute.

I figure that this would take the better part of 2 days if I had to soak them for a full minute

The mottled appearance would help me decide on a finish...... PAINT :D.

[brdmkr]

I forgot to add, there is 4" of air flow under the bottow row of boards.

[tcsmpsi]

You might be a bit low to your ground source.  I may have missed it in this thread, but I seem to remember (perhaps correctly) that you are using pine?  Good old SYP?

Was it fresh when you milled, or had it been sitting a while? 

If you are using 1 1/4 stickers, there should be room in a 4' W stack to operate the sprayer to get good coverage of both sides of the boards.  It is a little tedious, but as long as you don't try to be sparing with the solution, it's not bad.  It's an hour or so well spent, to me. 

I use more like a 35% solution of outdoor bleach (I've been getting it at, uh, the blue box store).   I haven't noticed anything that would resemble the slightest hint of damage to the wood (SYP).  In fact, I tend to lean toward it helping the drying process.

[brdmkr]

Thanks for the advice.  I plan on filling up the sprayer tomorrow and wetting it all down really well.  I suppose I'll just spray it and let it sit.  I'll post the results.