Hello Everyone,
I need some advice. I had a soft maple tree felled last year and than cut into boards. I have neglected to sticker the pile and now I have a fungus of some sort growing between the boards. I can now move the pile to its final location with stickers and need to know if I just brush the fungus/mold off will the wood be okay. Will it be okay? Do I need to wash the planks with soap and water? I also need to paint the ends as I have just learned to prevent further checking of the wood.
Thanks your your help.
Pauli
Replies
That depends on your definition of "okay." To stop further fungal development, you need to get the wood down to about 20% moisture content as quickly as possible. That means lots of good air circulation. Washing the wood is unlikely to have much effect--eliminate the favorable growth environment, and the fungus will stop growing all on its own.
The fungus that's already there has probably penetrated well into the wood, however, so you are likely to have some staining.
-Steve
Maples and sycamores are the classic timbers for severe fungal attack when freshly converted if not handled correctly. Traditionally planks are end reared immediately after conversion with spacers between each plank so that surface moisture evaporates as fast as possible. There are other more contemporary methods of drying the surface where kilns are operated.
Typically the discolouring mould penetrates deeply very quickly in these species. As has been said, you need to get the wood below 20% MC to make it dry rot safe. I fear you've likely let the infection get too good a hold for the timber to be worth much except possibly as upholstery frames where the grey, blue and black discolouration isn't too detrimental. Slainte.
Richard Jones Furniture
Thanks for your quick replies. I will have to get this done before the rainy damp spring gets here, cold winter may have helped me.
I do not see discoloration from what I would consider black molds, it is more of a stringy light brown growth, nearly the color of the wood. I hope that it is just working on the sawdust that was left from the initial cutting.
I appreciate your replies.
Some people can have very severe reactions to the dust created by moldy wood, enough to put them in the hospital and to cause permanent lung damage. I would suggest at least doing the initial planing of the wood out doors while wearing a well fitted dust mask when no one is downwind.
John White
John, clorox washes will kill the mold, but what would that do to the wood? Would that give me cleaner, whiter and brighter wood? <g>
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