Spalted Ash

[Bob Moss]

I recently took down a barkless, dead ash tree that turned out to have a fair amount of spalting in some sections.

I had it milled, and after about 3 weeks in my drying tent, many of the slabs are riddled with mold. I am not sure if this is from the spalting fungus or just old dead wood that has been exposed to mold, but I would like to salvage whatever I can.

Does anyone have any experience/advice for removing the mold or halting the spalting process?

Thanks
Bob

[Jim Becker]

"Drying Tent". You need air flow, preferably from the prevailing winds, so if your tent isn't just a "top", you're going to have continued moisture issues with that lumber. There's a reason that lumber producers stack and sticker out in the open with only a topper of some kind to keep direct precipitation from sitting on top of the stack. Ash is pretty susceptible to mold, especially from the dead ones. My last stack of that did get some interesting fungus on the surface, but after a few months, it gave up growing.

You may need to arrange to have the lumber kiln dried, but that's typically done after it air dries down for awhile to reduce time in the kiln. Find a local kiln operator and get their advice on how soon it can go in. You can try and spray a mold killer on the lumber but it really only deals with the surface, for the most part.

[John TenEyck]

Clorox. Look up the correct ratio for killing mold and spray the boards with it. Live ash trees have about 40% moisture, the lowest of any native tree, I believe. Standing dead with no bark is probably no more than 20% which is too low to support mold unless you enclose it in a sealed tent, which is what it sounds like you did.

After you have killed the mold, sticker the lumber in the shade covered only on the top to keep the rain off, until it's air dried.

John

[Richard Coers]

Jim has it right. You have to make the conditions unfavorable for mold growth. That means air flow and lower humidity. It doesn't mean keeping it damp and warm and throw chemicals on it. You are trying to dry wood that is rotting, of course you will get growth on the wood. You can take a piece of kiln dried spalted wood, put a damp paper towel on it, and have new mold growth in a couple of days.

[Bob Moss]

Thanks to all for this quick and excellent advice!

Bob

[Tom Bender]

You can improve air circulation by using bigger stickers. If the stack is on ground start with concrete blocks. A few hours in the sun can ruin the wood with many surface checks.

[Bob Moss]

Thanks Tom