Due to hurrican Katrina, our home in New Orleans took in five feet of water on the first floor. All of the furniture on the first floor is destroyed as it floated around in the water for about three weeks. Having made most of the furniture in the house, I would like to salvage the pieces on the second floor, however, due to the moisture in the house the pieces are starting to show signs of mold contamination. I anticipate that this condition will worsen as the city is not officially allowing us back into the area yet to deal with our houses. I am looking for advice on how to deal with this mold issue, possibly on how to kill the mold without ruining the finish. I’m trying to keep refinishing as a last resort. The finish on the various pieces includes danish oils, lacquer and wipe on poly. Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks
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Shooting from the hip here, but first -- my condolences on your having to go through such a catastrophic storm. I do hope recovery is underway.
Getting the furniture under dry conditions ASAP is going to be a key, methinks. Hard to do while yet another storm is landing, but while you're waiting take a look at this post from our mentor, Jon Arno (RIP):
http://forums.taunton.com/tp-knots/messages?msg=13882.23
When you return to your home, it's probably sufficient to just give everything a good cleaning. The mold spores are going to be ubiquitous, so anything harsh is just a waste, IMHO. Getting the humidity down in the house is crucial to stopping the continued growth of the mold.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
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