Help With Mould

I've had a stinker, I've had a new loft built in the summer, it looks really good, 3 spacious airy sections.

I Wanted it to last so I gave it all 2 coats of wood preserver, inside and out, all looks pucker.

Then a couple of weeks ago I noticed some blue mould on the walls, ive never seen anything like it before, I know mould is disastrous in a pigeon loft.

I couldn't understand it, I Studied airflow and have designed the loft with that in mind.

I've been hoovering the walls, once a week, and i've also noticed mould on the outside wall.

I've been racking my brains what to do as ive had a few with wet droppings although they seem fine apart from that, the loft already has good ventilation.

Then today I went to my wood store as I wanted to make a set of hospital hutches, and to my amazement, all the offcuts with wood stain on from when I had the loft built were covered in blue mould, and all the wood that wernt treated were bone dry and had no mould on them.

So it must be the B&Q wood preserver is attracting the mould.

Has anyone else ever encountered this problem.

I want to breed in February but cant with this problem.

I'm wondering if whitewashing the inside of the loft may work.

I would be grateful for any tips.

Ps, I'm

Was your loft made with brand new timber or second hand material? If it was brand new maybe it wasnt completely dried out right through before you coated it and the dampness is seeping out reacting with the preservative? I know my brother in law bought a shed and dog run it was still green and since it dried out some of the timbers split and theres gaps where the feather and grooves have shrunk.
or maybe the preservative has stopped the wood breathing allowing some condensation to form and mould to grow. A water and bleach mix should shift it but seems like the preservative on both sides isn't helping if the uncoated stuff in your store is not affected.
hope you get it sorted ready for breeding good luck.

not read all your post but for me soft wood needs nothing on it in a loft that way it will stay dry or you may get condensation

sounds like you've found the problem boosey, if offcuts from the loft painted with stain are also covered in mould, I would agree its the b&q stain........and I think in this sort of damp, cold weather it will bring it out.

bleach kills mould off to a certain degree, but im not sure bleaching the walls inside the loft is a good idea.....maybe giving them a light sanding over with an electric sander and then repaint with emulsion would cure it ???

i think you will find that the wood was damp before you or who ever put the preservative on either inside or out side and now the frost has come the damp in the wood has expanded and needs to get out how ever as both sides are now sealed it will need to find a way out this may also cause the wood to blow ie the water withing is lookig for a way out and untill it can it will turn to mould
wood needs to breath first never treat bear wood in damp conditins all you are doing is sealing in the moisture till such time it needs to find a way out

you should never coat the inside of the loft with anything if it was me I would put a deep litter down on the floor to absorb moisture in the loft and get some of them damp absorbers for caravans but make sure you put them in a closed nest box as the salts are poisonous ...the deep litter may be enough though atb

your right there daz but no need to buy expensive stuff just fill a few good sized bowls with salt as daz says out of harms way we did this in our caravans
we used large plastic mixing bowls about a quid from pound shop fill with salt and just leave um in safe place
after 3 month we would go back to our caravan no damp what so ever
but the salt was rock hard hence it did the job

Thanks all, thinking back now it was a very wet period.
I think your right, I have sealed a lot of moisture in the ply.
Schoolboy error.
Roll on the warm weather, hopefully it will dry out.
We learn by our mistakes.

barnie wrote:

Was your loft made with brand new timber or second hand material? If it was brand new maybe it wasnt completely dried out right through before you coated it and the dampness is seeping out reacting with the preservative?  I know my brother in law bought a shed and dog run it was still green and since it dried out some of the timbers split and theres gaps where the feather and grooves have shrunk.
or maybe the preservative has stopped the wood breathing allowing some condensation to form and mould to grow. A water and bleach mix should shift it but seems like the preservative on both sides isn't helping if the uncoated stuff in your store is not affected.
hope you get it sorted ready for breeding good luck.

Intersting about the water/bleach remedy Barnie I'm a vinegar/bleach mix man in the loft, as by my understanding it has far more power to kill germs/virus's etc. Short term these type of things may fix Booseys issues but not in the long run I suspect. Just a thought take all the pigeons out of the loft & put heaters in there to really dry the loft out type of thing & then look at the ventilation. One of those issues fortunately I have never seen. Thou if ever I see mould on the pigeon droppings here, which is rare I put them straight onto gentein voilet crystals type of thing in there water for a few days.

oldstrain wrote:

you should never coat the inside of the loft with anything if it was me I would put a deep litter down on the floor to absorb moisture in the loft and get some of them damp absorbers for caravans but make sure you put them in a closed nest box as the salts are poisonous ...the deep litter may be enough though atb

Interesting about the damp absorbers etc O/S when I built my house here  I cut into the side of the hill  & the 2 front rooms at times tend to be a bit on the damp side & as such we use them to help take the moisture out of the rooms over winter. Works terrific & it just fascinates me when I see the water in the jars/bowls as it builds up over time.

I don't know for sure boosey but maybe a blow torch on the loft boards may draw the damp out ....worth a pop though

Just an update on my mould situation.
It was everywhere blue and green.

I hoovered every nook and cranny, rubbed it all hard with the Hoover brush attachment.

It took flipping hours to get every bit off.

Then I made up a strong solution of malt vinegar and water, and covered the whole loft with a fine spray.

It's been a month of damp cold weather since I did it and I havnt seen a hint of mould since.

Thanks for all the tips everyone.

glad to hear you got it sorted boosey........

glad to hear you got it sorted boosey ...damp spores would be very damaging to the birds

David wrote:

glad to hear you got it sorted boosey........

I'm also pleased it appears Boosey     has sorted his problems out etc.
Must be absolute crap putting up with dampness to that scale in ones loft. Interesting tho that what I would call a cheap remedy, has fixed the issue.