I have a large deck (18 x 36') that is constructed of cedar and
finished with Cabot semi-solid stain. It was washed and stained this
past May.

We also have a few very large oak trees that drop their acorns on it
all summer long. Over the past month or two ugly black areas have
appeared in blotches which combined cover a good part of the deck.

Today, on my hands and knees, I used some HD Baer deck cleaner for
mildew/mold removal, some scrub brushes and a number of Mr. Clean
Magic Sponges and lots of clear water to scrub most of this residue
off the deck. While not perfect it sure looks a lot better but not
all of the blackness is gone.

I do have two questions about this. 1) does anyone have a better,
faster, easier way to remove this black residue?
and 2) has anyone used any product to successfully prevent this from
happening repeatedly?

I watched a segment recently on Ask TOH where Tom Silva used a product
called Bora-care with Mold-care which he stated will aid in the
resistance to mildew/mold. As this product is not cheap, before I
order some, I would like to hear from anyone who has used it before
and what your impressions are.

Any/all advice on these two questions will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

On Aug 23, 10:12*pm, bobmct wrote:
I have a large deck (18 x 36') that is constructed of cedar and
finished with Cabot semi-solid stain. *It was washed and stained this
past May.

We also have a few very large oak trees that drop their acorns on it
all summer long. *Over the past month or two ugly black areas have
appeared in blotches which combined cover a good part of the deck.

Today, on my hands and knees, I used some HD Baer deck cleaner for
mildew/mold removal, some scrub brushes and a number of Mr. Clean
Magic Sponges and lots of clear water to scrub most of this residue
off the deck. *While not perfect it sure looks a lot better but not
all of the blackness is gone.

I do have two questions about this. *1) does anyone have a better,
faster, easier way to remove this black residue?
and 2) *has anyone used any product to successfully prevent this from
happening repeatedly?

I watched a segment recently on Ask TOH where Tom Silva used a product
called Bora-care with Mold-care which he stated will aid in the
resistance to mildew/mold. * As this product is not cheap, before I
order some, I would like to hear from anyone who has used it before
and what your impressions are.

Any/all advice on these two questions will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

I have a place in shade and get mold everywhere in a few months. Get a
good garden sprayer and just spray plain old laundry bleach every few
months. A cheap electric powerwasher will clean it good after a
powerwashing. Just spraying bleach every few months might keep you
clean after that for one year. HD and maybe othe stores have an
outdoor grade Clorox bleach in a green bottle. I havnt tried it or
read the specs yet but it probably has a higher concentrationn of
Sodium Hypochlorate, that is the main ingrediant of bleach and all
deck cleaners. I usualy dont dilute. Oxalic acid is usualy the other
main ingrediant of deck cleaners and can be bought seperatly but isnt
needed to kill mold which is what Bleach does by removing the plants
Oxygen. The acid removes grey. A soap like Crud Cutter can be added to
you home made deck cleaner to further help. Karcher makes or used to
make a quality electric power washer, mine is made in Italy and is
maybe 10 yrs old, my friend who uses his on his farm nearly daily is
over 12 yrs old. Once you get used to a routine of every 1-6 months
its easy to take care of mold. I have mold everywhere, if you have it
on the deck your concrete likely has it, that is where I notice the
difference of full strength regular bleach. Keeping a garden sprayer
just for bleach ready is handy, just wear junk clothes and keep the
pets off for a day. Bleach when dried turn to salt in a day, so often
I just spray and leave it to dry instead of rinsing and killing plants.

On Aug 23, 11:12*pm, bobmct wrote:
I have a large deck (18 x 36') that is constructed of cedar and
finished with Cabot semi-solid stain. *It was washed and stained this
past May.

We also have a few very large oak trees that drop their acorns on it
all summer long. *Over the past month or two ugly black areas have
appeared in blotches which combined cover a good part of the deck.

Today, on my hands and knees, I used some HD Baer deck cleaner for
mildew/mold removal, some scrub brushes and a number of Mr. Clean
Magic Sponges and lots of clear water to scrub most of this residue
off the deck. *While not perfect it sure looks a lot better but not
all of the blackness is gone.

I do have two questions about this. *1) does anyone have a better,
faster, easier way to remove this black residue?
and 2) *has anyone used any product to successfully prevent this from
happening repeatedly?

I watched a segment recently on Ask TOH where Tom Silva used a product
called Bora-care with Mold-care which he stated will aid in the
resistance to mildew/mold. * As this product is not cheap, before I
order some, I would like to hear from anyone who has used it before
and what your impressions are.

Any/all advice on these two questions will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Bleach

Dumb question (for discussion not advice): how would quicklime aka
whitewash work here? I used to take lawn lime and mineral oil with
water and paint my dog's house because he chewed on it and I figured
it was less harmful than paint (in Greece lime use used to preserve
certain fruits, but here lime is dolomitic - it includes magnesium).

Also, there are some paints called Killz which kill mildew. And I
think one vendor makes an add-on chemical which you can add to stains
and other paints.


- = -
Vasos Panagiotopoulos, Columbia'81+, Reagan, Mozart, Pindus, BioStrategist
http://www.panix.com/~vjp2/vasos.htm http://www.facebook.com/vasjpan2
---{Nothing herein constitutes advice. Everything fully disclaimed.}---
[Homeland Security means private firearms not lazy obstructive guards]
[Urb sprawl confounds terror] [Phooey on GUI: Windows for subprime Bimbos]

On Aug 24, 4:05*pm, wrote:
Dumb question (for discussion not advice): how would quicklime aka
whitewash work here? *I used to take lawn lime and mineral oil with
water and paint my dog's house because he chewed on it and I figured
it was less harmful than paint (in Greece lime use used to preserve
certain fruits, but here lime is dolomitic - it includes magnesium).

Also, there are some paints called Killz which kill mildew. *And I
think one vendor makes an add-on chemical which you can add to stains
and other paints.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * - = -
*Vasos Panagiotopoulos, Columbia'81+, Reagan, Mozart, Pindus, BioStrategist
* *http://www.panix.com/~vjp2/vasos.htm...k.com/vasjpan2
* ---{Nothing herein constitutes advice. *Everything fully disclaimed..}---
* *[Homeland Security means private firearms not lazy obstructive guards]
*[Urb sprawl confounds terror] [Phooey on GUI: Windows for subprime Bimbos]

kils doesnt kill mildew its "kills" stains, blocks them.