Mouldy timber?

[Pete]

Earlier this year I was fortunate to come across an English Elm that fell in a strong wind. I have had the trunk slabbed into 50mm thick slabs and it has been stacking to dry (with 25mm stickers every 600 mm). When inspecting the stack today I noticed that most of the sapwood is covered in mildew. Is this normal, will it hurt the timber and can it be treated?
Any suggestions welcomed.

Thanks,
Pete

[ubeaut]

Get rid of the sapwood because it is probably full of borers and if not it soon will be. The little buggers love it and will hunt it down wherever you hide it.

The timber should be stickered out allowing the air to circulate freely around it. Don't have the wood all sitting in a solid pile as this will definitely help with the formation of mold and mildue, leading to spalting then ultimately to rot.

Seal the ends with an end grainsealer, wax or paint. this turns off the tap and allows the timber to dry more evenly through the long grain rather than just emptying out through the end grain.

Stickers are same sized pieces of timber that are as wide as your timber (I have mine around 20mm square). They are placed about 400-500mm apart between the boards with each layer being directly above the one below.

Hope this helps - Neil http://ubb.ubeaut.com.au/ubb/smile.gif

[Pete]

Neil,
How important is it to remove the sapwood? I see no signs of borers yet and the dissected tree is neatly stacked, with all of the stickers in the right position, and happily living under a newly erected lean-to that will survive a cyclone! There is plenty of air movement around the timber and the roof keeps it out of direct sunlight. The only problem is that it will be a very difficult job to extricate the timber from its new home in order to remove sap wood. What are the implications of leaving sapwood removal until we are ready to use the dried slabs?
Thanks in advance,
Peter

[ubeaut]

Pete - Sounds like you've done all the right things. Leave well enough alone for now and see what happens. As for the mould ....????

[AlexS]

I've read about people purposely putting nutrients (milk, etc) on wood to induce spalting. I'd imagine this would also cause mould to grow externally. I think moulds are generally bacterial, while most rot & spalting is caused by fungii.