Best way to clean up dirty barn stored lumber
mstrawdog
| Posted in General Discussion on
I’ve just gotten a gift of some portable mill sawn slabs of various woods that show a lot of promise, but, it has been exposed to years of grit and pidgeon and owl droppings. It is bone dry and mostly slab cut 1 inch boards. Can I scrub with brush, soap, and hose and have it come out dry and as flat as it is now, or, what else would work and be less likely to cause unwanted changes in the boards?
As it is now, even if dry brushed but good I bet it would be hard on cutter knives…
Thanks!
Replies
Assuming you don't want to do this entirely by hand, they make a stiff brush for this:
https://www.rockler.com/restorer-tool-with-3-accessories-bdl
Going cross grain you won't gouge it much more than the bandsaw marks...
How about a power washer?
I cleaned my old barn stash with a wire brush, just don't get too vigorous, blow everything off outside.. But those pigeons do make that cherry color pop a lot, didn't they.
Brush or broom off any loose crud. Power wash , and again with hydrogen based bleach,like 0xyclean not chlorine bleach,use a stiff bristle brush like they make for masonry, powerwash rinse really well. Repeat if necessary. Sticker or stand them in the sun and let dry. There are commercially made deck cleaners and they work (some of them) but it can get pricey if you have a lot.
Thanks for the ideas. I guess getting them wet might be the only way short of just sanding them, which looks to be a bio-hazard!
Bird droppings are toxic! Be certain to mask up and do this outdoors if possible. We lost quite a few folks who tended tower clocks to the toxic effects of droppings in church lofts and towers!
Thanks for the thought. Caused me to do a little searching, and outdoors it is!
QUITE A FEW clocktower workers?? !! You mean like all of them!
I use quite a lot of junk wood that is stored outside or has been farm fence rails for years.
I brush it off with a stiff plastic brush if I can find it or a softer bench brush if I can't then bung it through the planer to see what it looks like.
I would absolutely not under any circumstances use water, bleach, a power washer, or any liquid. Good God, no.
Brush off what you can, outdoors. Use a good respirator. Maybe a belt sander as you get off anything loose. But at some point they need to go in the planer, and you can't avoid it being rough on the knives. You most likely have a lunchbox planer? A new set of knives is pretty cheap for a pile of free lumber.
I'd take a pass or two from every board to get rid of the crud, before the knives get too dull.
I wire brush it and hit it with a hand power planer.
Check carefully for metal, go over every board with a metal detector.
Power washing in a reasonable way isn't going to hurt anything.
I bought about 100 bd/ft of quarter sawn oak that was left outside and very dirty. I used a power washer and left outside to dry. Then I planed them with great results.
The hydrogen bleach does a lot to remove the black bird crap fungus staining and kills the fungus at the same time. Planed not planed,sanded not sanded I think thats what you want., dead fungus. If it has creeped into any fissures into the wood brushing,sanding and possibly planing wont get it. Hydrogen based bleach does not need to be neutralized like chlorine ,is not mean like oxalic acid. It washes off and seems to leave no residual effect. The powerwashing will possibly cause some grain lifting on some boards and use a wide spray because those things can dig. It's just water , it evaporates. This is a rescue operation,perfect might be hard to get!
Bird droppings typically foster the growth of the fungus Histoplasma capsulatum. Pigeon, chicken, sparrow, and even bat droppings are prime breeding materials. The spores are released when the soil/droppings are disturbed, especially when dispersed into the air.
Most people who are infected with histoplasmosis may not be aware they are infected. Those with weakened immune systems and older, weaker individuals are at particular risk of developing symptoms. Severity varies from cold/flu-like symptoms to colonization in the lungs, which is very serious, possibly deadly.
Dissemination beyond the lungs into other areas of the body is extremely serious and may result in death.
Do all clean up outdoors and wear a good mask; i.e., N95 or KN95 (much more available today !!). A quick drenching with bleach diluted 1:5 with water. Allow to stand for about 10 minutes and rinse. This should take care of the problem.
I just thought of another potential issue: animal urine and droppings. Rat/mouse urine, as well as dog/cat may harbor the bacterium Leptospira, which causes leptospirosis. It generally is not more severe than the flu, but is difficult to diagnose. Untreated, it can become quite serious.
So, the above protocol should protect against this problem. Sorry to sound negative, but......
It likely cannot be made safe if it's covered in bird droppings. The list of diseases isn't short, and you don't want any of them.
You need to wear a medical grade mask and suit up/glove up just to move it outside to put it in a burn pile which is exactly where it should probably go, and don't stand downwind of the burning pile either.
The problem with any sort of 'treatment' is that it might not go deep enough. And then you start sawing, jointing, and planing it.
It would literally probably be safer if it were covered in human feces, and if it were you probably wouldn't dream of not burning it.
While chlorine bleach is likely effective at killing the fungus it's nasty stuff on it own. It will effect the color of the wood more than a oxygen based bleach, it has a long lasting stink, and will need to be neutralized so as to not effect any finish applied after. Since it's alkaline it needs an acid to neutralize. Vinegar is an easy fix for that but vinegar will absolutely effect (darken)the color of the wood. Oxygen based bleach will kill fungus and bacteria and I find it to be much more user friendly. Vinegar on its own will kill fungus as will ammonia and probably many other things. We are exposed to nasty stuff everyday and likely without our knowledge. If one takes some proper precautions when we actually know we're dealing with something that is a potential danger thats all you can do. Something is killing off all the birds so eventually this won't be a problem any more!
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