black mold on my milled Doug Fir

[dkyle]

I milled some green Doug Fir early spring and stacked it.  Just now getting to it and see that some pieces have black mold on them.  Seems to have grown from the "white" outside part, not on the red heartwood.  I can plane it off OK, but not the 20' 4x10s i want to use as joists.
Any thoughts on how to remove it?  Also.. is it toxic?  It has occurred to me now that it might be dangerous breathing around the planer as the spores spew out.
Also.. for the future.. i guess i could have prevented this by better attending to my stack, but how?  I covered it only to shield it from the sun, and i don't want to restack it every week or so.
i live just outside of soggy Seattle.

[beenthere]

Welcome to the forum.

See if you can clean it off with a spray solution of bleach and water. I suspect it will wash off pretty well then. Try a few boards. A 10 - 25% mix should kill what is there.

Did you sticker this lumber, or not?

[redbeard]

I'am North of Seattle Did you wrap or cover the pile with tarps that will do it. hope it was stickered , no worries just preasure wash them and they will look like they did when you first cut them. If you air dry to long you might have to pre drill for nails or screws, A month or so is all you need on the 2x and 1x material its ready and nail gun friendly. Douglas fir is awesome in our area very strong stuff. If you use chemical cleaners on the sap wood it will grey and discolor if your going for a natural look just preasure wash. I like to use some metal roofing over my piles and i sticker (drying stick 3/4 x 3/4 x 48" every 16") dry softer wood like home depot 2x4 is best to use just rip them and you wont get sticker stains. They will preasure wash off also. I wouldn't worry about ill effects but be cautious eyes,ingesting and breathing it in a dry form might be unhealthy. Good luck on your building with it I love DF

[BandsawWarrior]

We mill Fir all the time and the problem is mold.  It likes the sapwood because that's where the natural sugars are.  Moisture is the enemy.  
A couple tricks to help reduce the mold
-dry pile use stickers (that don't have sapwood in them)
-keep under covered storage. even if you build a tent that keeps the tarp off the pile so air can get through (tarps are almost worst then no tarp because they hold the moisture inside the lumber pile) and mold likes dark damp places
-also leave a gap on all four sides of the timber when stacking (don't stack side by side touching)
-we brush the sawdust off each board as they come off the saw this helps tremendously because as the blade cuts through the sapwood it spreads it everywhere and contaminates the whole plank (*this is the most important)

We only have this problem in the fall and spring.  But Seattle is a lot damper than here...
If you know boards will be sitting for awhile just edge all the sapwood off and you won't have a problem.  

Tyler

[dkyle]

thanks for the tips, i do know that bleach doesn't clean it.
yes, I sticker the pile with 1" sticks
no, don't cover it, only put thin pieces on top to shield it from the Sun.
Issue is really bad with the bottom pieces on the sides facing down.  The ground is damp.
I'll try the suggestions, will try a pressure washer.

[backwoods sawyer]

We have been having some warm weather and the Doug fir that I milled up last weekend was already growing mold along the sap. I had just dry stacked it until I could move it to where I could sticker it today. Raise your stacks off the ground 8"- 12" and that will help with airflow under the stack as long as there are no weeds growing up to block the airflow, and orienting your stacks so that the wind will blow thru the layers will help as well. Doug fir likes lots of airflow, but it don't like a lot of rain and sun.

[DiamondLane]

I use hydrated lime powder with water to clean ,stop black mold. Can use with sulphur too ,wash floors, wood ,spread on walkways ,reapply add baking soda to ground floors to kill off. Black mold is extremely toxic get in ears nose throat sinuses, eyes, brain, internal infections easily create neuroligical disorders with no tests. I.e. parkinsons, alzheimers, ms, the no test series,- kill it now.