How are you spending your July 4th Weekend?

[Jennifer Kirley]

I am doing a massive mildew abatement job in the main bathroom. It's such a total mess that I waited until the entire rest of the family was away on vacation. (Once this dries I am laying on a triple coat of all weather varnish) Quadruple yuck!! And I will change the light fixture while I'm at it. It will be good once done though.

I will post photos in my album when done.

[Wes Bucey]

In Reply to Parent Post by Jennifer Kirley

I am doing a massive mildew abatement job in the main bathroom. It's such a total mess that I waited until the entire rest of the family was away on vacation. (Once this dries I am laying on a triple coat of all weather varnish) Quadruple yuck!! And I will change the light fixture while I'm at it. It will be good once done though.

I will post photos in my album when done.

I've dealt with mildew - thankfully, not my own home. Lots of bleach and chlorine fumes. My skin itched for a week despite 2 or 3 showers a day.

The next concern after cleaning up existing mildew is to maintain a dry environment - for a bathroom, use double or triple the normal exhaust fan capacity to clear out moisture after a shower or bath.

There are paints that are mildew resistant.

Other than chlorine bleach to clean up mildew, I use sodium triphosphate, often marketed by its initials TSP (also great for cleaning windows!), and oxalic acid - both usually available from a harware store (except in Chicago - they outlawed TSP because the Phosphate, great for cleaning fungus, promotes growth of algae in water systems) the latter two chemicals can be used on substances where chlorine bleach might discolor (bleach out) fabrics.

[Jennifer Kirley]

In Reply to Parent Post by Wes Bucey

I've dealt with mildew - thankfully, not my own home. Lots of bleach and chlorine fumes. My skin itched for a week despite 2 or 3 showers a day.

The next concern after cleaning up existing mildew is to maintain a dry environment - for a bathroom, use double or triple the normal exhaust fan capacity to clear out moisture after a shower or bath.

There are paints that are mildew resistant.

Other than chlorine bleach to clean up mildew, I use sodium triphosphate, often marketed by its initials TSP (also great for cleaning windows!), and oxalic acid - both usually available from a harware store (except in Chicago - they outlawed TSP because the Phosphate, great for cleaning fungus, promotes growth of algae in water systems) the latter two chemicals can be used on substances where chlorine bleach might discolor (bleach out) fabrics.

Ah yes, tons of chlorine, first via that specialty what-cha-call-it spray and then, in a vain attempt to deal with staining, straight chlorine bleach. But I understand "straight" really means just 5% chlorine as household chemicals go. It helped. Lots of scrubbing, with a hand brush and a deck brush.

Changing the ventilation isn't a go. This is a log home, and so putting in a ventilation fan means whacking out a chunk of 6" thick log. That means the wiring is a big time hassle too. There's already a good sized window right there, which explains the lack of a fan (it's one or the other as the code says). I thought about painting it, but decided that would look cheesy. I looked for finished paneling but didn't see any that inspired me.

It took >25 years to get to this state, and it is what it is minus what I can do; once dry I will close the pores with the Felspar varnish. The entire room is wood siding with those 1/2" bevel gaps. I can't make it look like nothing has happened (there is some remaining stain) but it will look a lot better and it will be healthier. Our cat, Sirius, is supervising in between trips outside.

[Marc]

I'm just hangin' at home. Eatin' popcorn right now and watchin' a few episodes of some TV shows. Some old episodes of Adventures of Robin Hood from around 1955 and a current Canadian series called "Dan for Mayor".

[Wes Bucey]

In Reply to Parent Post by Jennifer Kirley

Ah yes, tons of chlorine, first via that specialty what-cha-call-it spray and then, in a vain attempt to deal with staining, straight chlorine bleach. But I understand "straight" really means just 5% chlorine as household chemicals go. It helped. Lots of scrubbing, with a hand brush and a deck brush.

Changing the ventilation isn't a go. This is a log home, and so putting in a ventilation fan means whacking out a chunk of 6" thick log. That means the wiring is a big time hassle too. There's already a good sized window right there, which explains the lack of a fan (it's one or the other as the code says). I thought about painting it, but decided that would look cheesy. I looked for finished paneling but didn't see any that inspired me.

It took >25 years to get to this state, and it is what it is minus what I can do; once dry I will close the pores with the Felspar varnish. The entire room is wood siding with those 1/2" bevel gaps. I can't make it look like nothing has happened (there is some remaining stain) but it will look a lot better and it will be healthier. Our cat, Sirius, is supervising in between trips outside.

Depending on the nature of the window, it is possible to cut a hole in a corner of the glass to vent the exhaust fan - I see it a lot in apartment buildings.

If there is any attic crawl space (i.e. dropped ceiling instead of canted log roof), you can run ducting (solid, not that foil around coil ****), at least 6 inches in diameter for good airflow, across the ceiling and drop it through a soffit in the eave overhang. It's what I had to do in one of my bathrooms with no exterior wall.

As to what I'm doing:

1. today, installed a new flag holder and flag for the holiday - twice the size of my previous one.
2. I'll cook "beer can chicken" on the grill Sunday and lounge under the umbrella on my deck (temp will be in 90s)
3. Monday, Village parade in the morning; steaks on the grill in the afternoon; concert and fireworks in the village park in the evening

[Wes Bucey]

In Reply to Parent Post by Jennifer Kirley

Ah yes, tons of chlorine, first via that specialty what-cha-call-it spray and then, in a vain attempt to deal with staining, straight chlorine bleach. But I understand "straight" really means just 5% chlorine as household chemicals go. It helped. Lots of scrubbing, with a hand brush and a deck brush.

<SNIP>

One tip for dealing with stubborn stains - put bleach solution (50/50 household bleach [sodium hypochlorite]) in a hand spray bottle, place sheet of paper towel against the surface (vertical or horizontal) and wet with spray; let set for one minute; remove and scrub with Scotch pad; rinse; repeat, if necessary. Don't negate the TSP or oxalic acid for removing stains - it really works! (wear rubber gloves for ALL this cleaning!)

If you have tile walls or floors with mildew, using a ten per cent solution of commercial muriatic acid (hydrochloric acid) to clean grout lines using an old toothbrush can seem like a miracle - use plenty of ventilation (at least a fan blowing over your work surface)

Same solution works well on copper (try it on a penny) - be sure to rinse promptly and dry the area after cleaning.

[Ajit Basrur]

Happy Birthday America and Happy Independence Day to all my American friends

For the benefit of non Americans, here are some links to get more info on Jul 4 (Independence Day) -

Independence_Day_(United_States)

USA.gov

[Marc]

In Reply to Parent Post by Jennifer Kirley

I am doing a massive mildew abatement job in the main bathroom. It's such a total mess that I waited until the entire rest of the family was away on vacation. (Once this dries I am laying on a triple coat of all weather varnish) Quadruple yuck!! And I will change the light fixture while I'm at it. It will be good once done though.

I will post photos in my album when done.

I had friends over earlier so I couldn't really take much time to reply.

Best of luck, kiddo. I have nothing to offer as it's wood and the only time I had mildew problems was some years back. It was painted drywall (a flat white) and all I did was bought a mildew product whose name I can't remember, sprayed it on and a day later it was gone except for a few small stains. No scrubbing or anything. Spray on, let set for 6 hours or so and wipe off. I do remember that I had to repaint and I think the paint I used was Kilz or something like that - A base coat/sealer and 2 coats of paint on top. My moisture problem was in the winter. I had quite a few freshwater fish tanks and a big 100 gallon cube with salt water fish in the house back in those days so it was always humid in the whole house.

My plans for tomorrow and Monday are to change the oil and filter in my standby generator and to clean the AC inside unit coils. I have a few other odds and ends on my list as well, but essentially I'm just working around the house. No parties or anything planned. I had a couple invites but I'm pretty much a home body these days.