Hello All,

I have lurked on this website for a few years and have benefited from a lot of good information and advice. In March, I logged some red pine, painted the ends with anchor seal and milled them into beams in late April. I stacked and stickered them, but have no barn in which to keep them covered. They have been sitting for about 45-60 days. In recent weeks as things have heated up(WI), they have developed surface mold that seems to plane out pretty well. My question is, if I plane out this mold will it just reoccur. If so, how can I prevent this. I am ready to use the beams to frame up the deck over a small basement, but a roof will not be built until later in the summer. Thanks in advance for any advice.

Tell us more about the mold. Is it fuzzy? Does it stand out from the surface? Or is it just discoloration (blue stain)? Also, are you planning to timber frame with red pine logs? The conventional wisdom is that red pine moves so much as it dries that it's not well suited to timber framing. CB.

We're using southern yellow pine for my frame. We've kept most of it covered, but some of the timbers that were out in the weather developed a greenish/blackish/sometimes white moldish substance on some surfaces. We sprayed a 50% bleach and 50% water solution on them where necessary. It seems to not only kill the mold, but also lighten up the previously discolored timbers.

Red pine has a large sapwood ring, the temps are just right, so, mold happens. I have use bleach, I also tried hydrogen peroxide diluted with water, Molex or a similar product will cut it. What ever you do you may have to re apply a few times. The key will be to get the timbers dry enough, mold needs three things, proteins in the sap wood, water-moisture content, and the right temperature. They need plenty of air, and keep them dry as possible, with the exception of the spray solutions.

I don't like red pine.

Tim