Moldy Wood..

[David Nelson1]

This weekend I started milling some 1 X 4's for my flooring project. Now none of this wood was bought from a dealer, instead I picked it from various home owners that had wood sitting around for years. One source came from a barn and a certain percentage of the wood was moldy in the middle of the pile. While this is not ideal and it did comprise the integrity of some of the wood, I figured cutting it out I'd still have enough to make it worth the effort. All of the wood was taken to the kiln for 2 reasons to dry it to the correct moisture content and to kill any bugs that might be living in the wood.

I cut around the really bad and moldy parts of the wood. Knowing good and well that breathing this can't be good I scraped the side that I was going to face on the jointer. I recon that wasn't good enough because a few hours after I finished for the day I was having trouble breathing, a lot of coughing, and runny nose. Couldn't lay down because I felt like I was suffocating, pretty scary to say the least.

Lesson learned just cause you can't see it don't mean it's not there. I have a Dylos on the way, but I'm sure even that would not have been much help with out the proper PPE. I have a respirator that was fitted for me a few years ago, (like 20) MSE certified that accepts screw in cartridges. I have yet to find it and give it good once over to make sure its still serviceable.

I would like to use it, but in the event that I can't I would like some recommendation from users (pro and cons) for full face or partition face respirators. I wear glass so comments dealing with that would be a huge plus!

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[Callan Campbell]

Sorry to hear you got hit with what seems to be either reaction to the mold, or maybe something that was in the wood WITH the mold. Not fun. Maybe ask someone in the Turners section as they often DIVE into punky, moldy looking stuff in order to get some interesting pieces out of it!!!! I'm sure someone will have all your issues, like glasses and other needs that they already had to deal with. For the times I've painted or sprayed a finish and was wearing my now ancient respirator, the exhaust valve is low enough on it that if I was wearing safety glasses, fogging was never an issue.
Mine old unit is, I think, a AO Safety version, probably bought from Grainger back when they were still WW Grainger....

[david brum]

Here in the Pac NW, there is lots of spalted (moldy) wood available. Many of us have found that we get allergy symptoms from working with it. I wouldn't presume to tell anybody how to treat or avoid an allergic reaction, but a dust mask and long sleeves help me. Also ventilating the shop to the outside, with a fan helps.

I have to ask though, are you sure that you want to use questionable wood for flooring?

[David Nelson1]

Here in the Pac NW, there is lots of spalted (moldy) wood available. Many of us have found that we get allergy symptoms from working with it. I wouldn't presume to tell anybody how to treat or avoid an allergic reaction, but a dust mask and long sleeves help me. Also ventilating the shop to the outside, with a fan helps.

I have to ask though, are you sure that you want to use questionable wood for flooring?

If the integrity of the wood has not been compromised ie punky, extra light for the lenght, etc and it hold up to the milling, I have found that it usually has quite a striking appearance. I'm not going for the traditional appearance of all straight grained and clear. Instead I am trying for a rustic look which would include stabilized knots, insect holes, and crotch figures. I may even beat it up a bit after the I finish sanding the floor even, jury is still out on that.

Just out of curiosity what would be your concerns of using this wood.