Thread: black mould

Use a 50/50 mixture of bleach and water in a garden sprayer. Hose down the inside of the boat with this. Where a respirator as it's difficult to work in an atomized bleach and air environment. Wash and scrub the surfaces with fresh water when you're done, let dry then prime and paint as normal.

decided to try the flood companies mould remover, they claim spray it on, leave for 24 hours and vacuum, sand off and repaint.

this also has the advantage of keeping moisture in the boat to a minimum.

In some of the horror spots in the boat, ie lazarette and right up in the bow or either side of the quater berths this will make my life so much easier, at 65 years of age crawling into tight spots, I wonder if I will ever get out!

the opening into the lazarette is 16 x 12 inches, I just make it.

Bleach will remove the signs of mould, but it will not kill the spores.

The bleach will kill all sorts of other stuff as well...so down the road a little way the remaining spores have a nice sterile ground to start agian on.

so you need to take steps the inhibit the mould.

one thing that works reasonably well is to swing the PH.....washing with some sort of acid... even dilute vinegar works......citric acid is a favorite of the roof cleaners
Or alternate scrubs with an acid and bicarb....the mould & spores need a stable PH to survive.

There are mould inhibitors intended for the paint industry....I would be putting mould inhibiter in all paints.

Copper is used as a mould inhibiter in may areas.....Copper sulphate, copperoxychloride......but I am not sure how this works with timber.....I am still to get further information and tests on gardening type mould compounds

the big thing is to get the area WELL dry before you paint or seal.

In those confines spaces, running even a small fan can make a huge difference to the moisture level.... the timber may seem dry, but it may still hold quite a bit of water.
If you have a dampness problem...ventilate ventilate ventilate.

Borrow a moisture meter and see how wet the timber actually is.

cheers