I also searched the Internet and found a university study claiming that
bleach does kill the mildew. It has always worked well in my bathroom on
mildew. I could not find anything on bleach harming zinc or concrete and I
would not hesitate to use it on a tower base. It probably will damage any
grass that it contacts so be careful. The easiest way to prevent future
mildew problems is to move the tower base to a dryer location.
John
----- Original Message -----
From: "Floyd Sense" <sentek@sprintmail.com>
To: <k4oj@tampabay.rr.com>; "EUGENE SMAR" <ersmar@ieee.org>
Cc: "TowerTalk" <Towertalk@contesting.com>
Sent: Tuesday, April 29, 2003 21:58
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Cleaning mildew off tower concrete
Semantics. Bleach will not kill the problem, but it for sure kills the
mildew that's on the surface at that moment. A quick search with "bleach
mildew kill" in Google reveals scores of sources (many university or ag
department papers) explaining that. While the bleach will not remove the
mildew residue, pressure washing or use of an appropriate detergent will.
For mildew on concrete, as per the original question, a bleach treatment
followed by a water rinse will do the job. Obviously, if the conditions
encouraging the growth of the mildew are not changed, it will grow back in
the future.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim White, K4OJ" <k4oj@tampabay.rr.com>
To: "EUGENE SMAR" <ersmar@ieee.org>
Cc: "TowerTalk" <Towertalk@contesting.com>
Sent: Tuesday, April 29, 2003 3:31 PM
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Cleaning mildew off tower concrete
> From my time spent selling Paint:
>
> Bleach does not kill a mildew problem - it only bleaches it so you are
> less aware of it...
>
> An excellent way to counter mildew is with: Water run off from a
> galvanized surface... its the zinc that kills the stuff. Some of you
> may have seen roofers laying strips of zinc between the upper courses of
> asphalt shingles o white or lighter colred shingled roofs (rooves!)
>
> GL
>
> Jim, K4OJ
>
>
>
>
>
> EUGENE SMAR wrote:
> > TT:
> >
> > As part of my Trylon tower maintenance this year I want to scrub
the
> > concrete base to remove the green mildew, or whatever it is, that has
> > accumulated on the surface of the concrete. FYI, the tower is in the
middle
> > of a group of trees in my back yard and the concrete base is in the
shade
> > for most of the day. The mildrew is growing in an area immediately
below
> > the tower steel. That is, it doesn't appear near the edge of the
concrete
> > base nor on the concrete in the center of the tower. I'm guessing it's
> > carried off the tower in some kind of runoff.
> >
> > My initial thought was to scrub the mildew with a mild solution of
> > household bleach, maybe diluted 1:1 with water. My main concern,
however,
> > is for the tower material itself. It's not galvanized, but, as Trylon
call
> > it, a passivated G-90 coat pregalvanized sheet steel material. I don't
want
> > to damage the G-90 (?) coating with the chlorine bleach.
> >
> > Does anyone have any advice on how to clean the mildew while still
> > protecting the steel of my tower? Many thanks.
> >
> > 73 de
> > Gene Smar AD3F
> > P.S. The mildew looks bad from the back deck, only thirty feet away.
If it
> > were out of sight (on the lower forty) I wouldn't care as much.
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> >
> > See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless
Weather Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any
questions and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > TowerTalk mailing list
> > TowerTalk@contesting.com
> > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
> >
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless
Weather Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any
questions and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
>
> _______________________________________________
> TowerTalk mailing list
> TowerTalk@contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
>
_______________________________________________
See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless
Weather Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any
questions and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
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