I need to bleach the wood in the downstairs of my new house to prevent mold growth?

Question

is it okay to use full strenght bleach?

Answer 1

Household bleach is not effective for preventing mold.  If you plan to leave the wood bare and otherwise untreated a borate product available from your building supply is much more effective.  For new wood, penetrating oil sealers, paint or varnish are better yet.

Answer 2

why wouldn't you just paint with a paint that has mildew additives to prevent mold, also if you have mold then you have a water leak somewhere.

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Answer 3

bleach or tilex-find out why mold is growing to prevent future problem

Answer 4

Full strength Bleach will dissolve the mold, but it will also damage carpeting, or anything else it may get on. It will also turn the wood white. It won't prevent the mold from coming back.

To prevent the molds return, find out why there is moisture on the boards. Is the room poorly vented, or is there and air leak in the wall causing condensation for form on the wall like on a glass of water?

Vent the room to remove the moisture in the air, or get cans of expanding foam sealer from your home improvement store and drill a hole in the wall big enough to insert the straw that comes with the foam sealer. empty the entire can into the wall.

You can buy small round wooden plugs at the home store to plug the drill hole. Just put good ol Elmers glue, or any other type of glue you may have, in the hole and around the edges of the plug. Push the plug into the hole and wipe off any excess glue. Let dry and if needed, sand flush.

Answer 5

Bleach is okay. You don't use it full strength, though. About 1 cup of bleach per gallon of water would be the STRONGEST you'd want to go, and that would still be overkill.  But that's just good for clean up.  What you really need to do is find out what's causing the mold growth, and get that taken care of. You can clean up until the cows come home, and be wasting your time if you don't get the source removed.