[TowerTalk] Cleaning mildew off tower concrete

[Floyd Sense]

Here in the Piedmont area of NC,  mildew (black) grows on the houses and
sidewalks along with the green stuff (not mildew).  Each year we apply a
bleach solution (1 part bleach, 2 parts water) and then hose it off after
5-10 minutes.  In this process, the bottom sections of my Rohn 25 get doused
pretty good.  Other than some slight discoloration of the house paint from
the bleach, I've never seen any other damage to concrete, tower, or house.
In the past, I've had some damage to brass on doors when a commercial
pressure-washing firm used TSP as part of the solution.  We've found that
the bleach/water solution removes the mildew and green stuff 100%.

K8AC
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "EUGENE SMAR" <spelunk.sueno at prodigy.net>
To: "TowerTalk" <Towertalk at contesting.com>
Sent: Tuesday, April 29, 2003 2:17 PM
Subject: [TowerTalk] Cleaning mildew off tower concrete


> 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.
>
>
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