newsgroup wrote:
aspasia wrote:
On Wed, 21 Mar 2007 06:44:51 GMT, PaPaPeng wrote:

On Tue, 20 Mar 2007 22:58:49 -0500, newsgroup
wrote:

I am stuck here. What should I do? I don't want to use bleach to
kill my fruit trees next to fences. HD refuse do anything except
telling me to get a bucket of solution to wash them off. The fences
came here new with lots of black mold!!

Take photos and show them along with your HD receipt and the
contractor's receipt to the HD store manager and get whatever
satisfaction you can. I don't suppose you want to remove and return
the fence boards. Maybe HD can give you a can of anti-mold paint or
whatever.

If you didn't actually see the black mold before the contractor
installed the fences, I'd even go a little stronger than the above
suggestion. When you said "HD refuse to do anything..."
what did you mean? Usually contacting Customer Service will get you
exactly zilch. Same with store manager. That's why people on this NG
including moi are so negative about dealing with HD
If you have it in writing that they refuse (do you?), I'd write to
the corporate office -- CEO or President. Send Certified Mail,
Return Receipt,and include copy of HD's refusal.

If you don't yet have it in writing, send the same kind of (polite)
demand letter to the HD contact who blew you off. If they don't
answer in writing, send copies of the Certified post office receipt
with your letter to the CEO of HD.

All this said in total ignorance of the world of treated wood.
Does "pressure treated" wood have chemicals injected into it?

I have heard that the stuff they use on "treated wood" which people
use to build raised beds can leach into vegetables . T/F?
So maybe the mold isn't the worst of your problems.

Persephone




I spot the mold right after the contractor installed the fences. I even
send mold pictures to assistant store manager. He told me they (HD) can
only give me some kind of "a bucket of solution" to clean up the mold.
I am not happy with that answer. I think HD should do a better quality
control. Sell black mold fence panels at brand new price sounds crime to
me.


I suppose that these panels were stored in flat piles in some open air
storage area. The mold grew because of rain and/or snow that kept the
wood wet enough for mold to grow in the shaded portions of the pile.
Once the mold is exposed to the sun, it may die, or at least not grow
anymore after cleaning.
Not all black mold is poisonous, if that is what you are worrying about,
and even if it is, this is outdoor fencing, right?
You didn't say what type of wood these panels are made of. I suppose
cedar, if not PT. My 20 year old cedar fencing is green with mold under
the trees, but moldless in the sunlit areas. I cleaned off the mold one
year with a power washer, but I think I used half the world's fresh
water to do it (and I am on a well). It grew back the next year, so I
just force myself to enjoy the patina.