A friend of mine closed in a portion of his semi-wet basement and had a carpenter build him shelves to store several hundred bottles of wine. The shelves are made of pine and were stained black, but with what we do not know. He has a wine cellar temperature system (AC to you and me) to maintain the temperature. A few months after it was installed and filled with wine the wood and the bottles on the wood became covered in a thin layer of yellow/orange mold. He was showing me and I pointed out to him that except for the black stained wood, none of the other surfaces, including bare pine stud wall surfaces, have the mold. The very top of the shelves were not stained and it seems to have very little mold. Does anyone have any idea what this is, how it got there and how to get rid of it? He recently wiped it down with bleach and we do not know if it will come back yet.
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Replies
PHIL, YOUR FRIEND IS HE iTIALIAN? ALSO A BRICKLAYER? lIKES AMMONTILLADO? Carries a grudge? Don't go down to his cellar! Signed Edgar Allen Poe
But seriously, your( friend's?) problem is too much moisture and may need a vented dehumidifier with a small sump pump to evacuate the accumulated water.
Also a fan to ciculate the air.
Bleach when diluted, will kill fungi as well as your friend's lungs in a closed in area. Stein.
This is a bit of a guess, but I suspect that the stain had an oil base thats supplying a food source for the mold. The mold on the bottles is common in a damp environment, again the mold is growing on the tiny amount of oil and dirt clinging to the glass. Applying a coat of a deck sealer will probably stop the mold growing on the shelves. Wiping down the bottles with a soapy rag will eliminate the mold on the bottles.
John W.
Chlorine bleach will do a better job of that because it kills mildew and mold.
I'm not any kind of expert on mold, but I've had my share of visits to wine cellars in Europe and can't recall any that didn't have some mold present. Your friend's mold may have come from the aging cellars on the bottles and cap/corks. Is it domestic or imported wine?
Just a thought on mold and my experience. Myself and my family became quite sick because of living in a moldy home. After moving out, we felt like different people within a week. I took approximately 3 months or more before we felt normal. We experienced extreme fatique, runny noses, coughing, mild depression and mood swings. Take all the precautions. It is very dangerous stuff. Our landlord couldn't understand why we wouldn't clean it up ourselves and couldn't understand why we contacted department of health. People think that cleaning up mold is like cleaning up a dirty room, just wipe it down with chlorine bleach, well it's not, it's very hazardous to your health to be around mold. The department of health strongly recommended we get out the house immediately. So, again, do some research, take the necessary precautions if your insistant on cleaning it yourselves and it would be very wise to consult a professional.
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