Ah! Help! Moldy coop!

[yomama]

I have two coops. One that is occupied by my hens, one that is currently vacant. Both coops face west, are made with the same supplies (plywood) and are painted with white exterior "barn paint". They are even the same design, shape etc, with the one being about 4 ft longer than the other. They are also only about 10 feet away from each other. The coop that is vacant, has black/green mold dots all over the outside, and a little bit on the inside. The coop my hens are using, does not have any mold inside or out. The only difference is the one that has the mold, the frame was made using old wood pallets,we got from the local feed store, that had been stored in their warehouse. The pallets did sit outside a bit before we used them, and I do remember a few of them having a little mold on them, but I drenched them in bleach water and dried them out before we built with them. I thought maybe the coop didn't have enough ventilation, but most of the mold is on the outside. The mold is the heaviest on the exterior wall facing south. However, there is no mold on the exterior wall facing north. Some of the coop is painted on the inside, and there is a little bit of mold, but only on the painted walls. Again, the mold on the inside is quite minimal. I decided to scrub the coop down, inside and out, with bleach water. That took care of most of it, except the south side, which I think is basically just stained now. I plan on getting some exterior "Kilz" paint and paint the coop again once the weather warms up. I'm a little nervous, though, because I have chicks coming this week, and had planned on putting them out there in the next couple of weeks. I also have a little tiny coop, that I just use for storage, that has the same issue. However, that little coop is made with painted particle board, so I'm not surprised that is isn't in great shape. That too has mold on only certain sides, on the outside, and is painted with the white barn paint. Any ideas of what could be causing this?? This is so frustrating!!!!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks!!

 

[Jubilee1111]

I think what you are seeing is the old mold/mildew that was imbedded in the wood leaching through. If you want to spend the extra $$ Jomax works great at killing that stuff.

I just used a pump sprayer and doused the area with 50/50 bleach and water solution on the spots, let it sit a bit and then scrubbed like crazy with a coarse scrub brush. Two applications one day apart. Let it dry for a couple days and then painted over it with Kilz Premium (the Gold can). It hasn't leached through and hasn't come back, even with the wet, warm weather we've had this Spring. This version of Kilz is water based and doesn't stink like the oil based.

I REALLY liked this version of Kilz, it was super thick and covered a surprisingly large area effectively. And you can paint right over it with another latex paint. They will also tint it for you for free at the store. It really leveled out the grain of the wood, too.

 

[AAJ]

I would rinse it off, apply clorox, and then rise again. Don't forget to scrub. You could just build another one.

 

[yomama]

I would rinse it off, apply clorox, and then rise again. Don't forget to scrub. You could just build another one.

I used bleach/water combo. Let it soaked and scrubbed. Like I said, got most of it. Don't really want to build another one, this coop is 4' x 12'. It was quite a task to build, and is otherwise nice and sturdy.

 

[yomama]

I think what you are seeing is the old mold/mildew that was imbedded in the wood leaching through. If you want to spend the extra $$ Jomax works great at killing that stuff.

I just used a pump sprayer and doused the area with 50/50 bleach and water solution on the spots, let it sit a bit and then scrubbed like crazy with a coarse scrub brush. Two applications one day apart. Let it dry for a couple days and then painted over it with Kilz Premium (the Gold can). It hasn't leached through and hasn't come back, even with the wet, warm weather we've had this Spring. This version of Kilz is water based and doesn't stink like the oil based.

I REALLY liked this version of Kilz, it was super thick and covered a surprisingly large area effectively. And you can paint right over it with another latex paint. They will also tint it for you for free at the store. It really leveled out the grain of the wood, too.

What do you mean the mold in the wood leaching through? Even though some of the pallets had some on it, that I treated, the wood we used was plywood straight from Home Depot, and that never got moldy. Do you think it somehow still stayed alive on the pallets, then transferred to the plywood? The frame of the coop is pallets, but the pallets were covered with nice plywood on inside and out. Also, what is Jomax?

 

[Jubilee1111]

I thought the affected parts were all made from the pallets. So, there goes my theory. I think putting an inhibitor on will keep it from happening again and the Kilz premium has that.

Jomax is a spray on mold/mildew cleaner designed for houses:
http://www.rustoleum.com/CBGProduct.asp?pid=333

 

[yomama]

I thought the affected parts were all made from the pallets. So, there goes my theory. I think putting an inhibitor on will keep it from happening again and the Kilz premium has that.

Jomax is a spray on mold/mildew cleaner designed for houses:
http://www.rustoleum.com/CBGProduct.asp?pid=333

Thanks for the info! What do you think could cause the mildew on this coop, but not the other? If it was both coops, then maybe the weather or something, but with it being just the one (plus the mini one), it totally has me baffled. I will definitely clean it again with bleach/water and paint with Kilz, but I'd hate for it to come back.

 

[Jubilee1111]

Maybe it isn't getting enough air flow? Or a small leak somewhere?

My issue was caused by a leaking roof and lack of ventilation. It had been like that for YEARS before I moved here and the mold/mildew was NASTY!! It even had that white, foamy looking tree fungus growing on the ceiling at the leakiest spot and the roof had literally started to cave in there. With roof repair and added ventilation and the process I outlined above it hasn't even thought of coming back.

 

[yomama]

Maybe it isn't getting enough air flow? Or a small leak somewhere?

My issue was caused by a leaking roof and lack of ventilation. It had been like that for YEARS before I moved here and the mold/mildew was NASTY!! It even had that white, foamy looking tree fungus growing on the ceiling at the leakiest spot and the roof had literally started to cave in there. With roof repair and added ventilation and the process I outlined above it hasn't even thought of coming back.

The problem is that the majority of the mold is on the outside. Nothing is surrounding the coop, to block airflow. I did some research last night, and found that some paints actually "feed" mold sores, such as latex paints. Apparently, acrylic based paints help repel mold. I will have to check and see if the paint I used was latex based. Thanks for the suggestion, though.

 

[Jubilee1111]

Oh wow, I hadn't realized that paint can feed the mold. I am off to go read up on that. That info is going to come in so handy.