[StBernard] Mold Killers

[Westley Annis]

Laurie- there are two products that serve two different purposes, and 
the confusion may be that you combined the names!

Boracare-sold at pest control stores like Pest Stop on Severn in 
Metairie-works for 30 years against termites, carpenter ants, wood 
fungus
One gallon is about $125 and you mix it one gallon to one gallon of 
water and spray your wood, all pipe penetrations in the walls and 
slabs, and anywhere that you can't get the wood to dry out due to its 
location. Spray it with a pump sprayer. You can use it inside and 
outside the home.

Sporicidin-patented by the doctor that invented Chloraseptic sore 
throat spray and it smells like it, too. This is used in morgues, 
hospitals, etc. and lasts one year vs. 30 min. for bleach. Kills 
bacteria, virus, mildew, even AIDS in seconds. Also mix it one gallon 
to one gallon of water and spray in a pump sprayer. I got mine from 
Quality Wholesale Supply when they had a tent in Lakeview and in St. 
Bernard. Call them to find where it's sold now. About $25 per gallon. 
This kills the mold, the Boracare is termites and fungus that rots 
wood..

The next thing we did was the soda blasting which removed our dead mold 
spores and cleans the wood such that it dries out faster. Sanding by 
hand was taking too long. They should use a HEPA filter vacuum to 
dispose of the baking soda which will have dead and any possible live 
mold spores in it and cart that away. Some companies, like MoldGuard, 
then spray with their own mildewcide and then give a five year 
certificate warrranty against any mold. I know there are other 
companies that do similar. This service usually costs about $1.50 per 
square foot of floor plan (not sq. ft. of walls) if it doesn't involve 
the ceiling and $2.00 per sq. ft. if they have to blast the ceiling 
joists. We removed any wood blocking in the exterior walls that was 
there to hold pictures because they can't blast between the brick wall 
and any wood and it's easy enough to put new blocking.

Most important is once we pressure washed we did not wet  the interior 
again except for these sprays. Until we got the new doors and windows 
we put visqueen over the openings if it looked like rain, but let the 
house air out and dry. Fortunately, we had excellent, cool dry weather 
this winter.

We are now sheetrocking and will be over the worst parts-gutting, 
deconstruction, minor floor plan changes, nailing extra braces on studs 
and joists, removing all flooring, and re-wiring. Our HVAC company 
accidentally ripped out all our ductwork so we got all new ductwork at 
no additional cost to us, but it didn't  have to be done.

We also changed all the corroded brackets that hold the water and sewer 
pipes in the wall. Cheap and easy to do. We replaced the corroded metal 
plates that are nailed on the studs to protect water and sewer pipes. 
Again, cheap and easy to do, although you could spray all of them with 
Novorox (converts the rust) and then spray with metal primer and leave 
the old ones.

We sprayed new Great Stuff around the pipe penetrations, as well as 
around the doors and windows. Be sure the doors and windows have the 
type for doors and windows or else it can bend your windows when it 
expands. We flushed-out with a garden hose the pipes that were in the 
slab that ran the electrical wires from the wall to the kitchen island. 
Rancid swamp water came out. Anyone needs to know how to rig this up so 
that it is easy and doesn't run all over the floor, post the question.

Suggest before you sheetrock have the house inspected for termites. 
Many people are finding out they had termite infestation and never knew 
it. Now is the time to treat and replace damaged wood.

Lime is working well. Haven't had a snake cross it yet.

Hope this helps, always available to provide info or find out an answer 
for you.

 Deborah Keller