Mold in my new enclosure

[mightymizz]

So it seems I have mold growing in my new enclosure along the wood panels. I guess it doesn't really surprise me considering I have had very high humidity ~90% along with ~85 degrees temperatures.

I can't be the first one to have experienced this and was wondering if any of you other folks have had this, and how might I prevent it and/or fix my problem without immediate re-occurence.

I did a water based stain on inside of wood for this enclosure. I did not use a sealer as I wasn't too worried about the wood warping or whatnot from the humidity. Is this where I went wrong, by not using a sealer or an oil based stain?

Appreciate your thoughts!

 

[wellington]

Wood exposed to water or high humidity has to be sealed or it will, well do what you have it doing.

 

[mightymizz]

Darn. I am not sure why I never knew this.

So, sealing the wood prevents the mold from growing? Or does the wood have the spores and the sealer just keeps them from multiplying?

Any thoughts on how to fix this now that I have it starting to form? All new wood, or disinfect and then seal the wood?

 

[Carlos83]

Try using shower liner for the bottom.... I use eco earth and forest floor best stuff ever doesn't mold cuz I use a shower liner in the bottom with heat rope works GREAT

 

[mightymizz]

I do have plastic sheeting down and such, but the enclosure is 2 feet high. I do not have plastic covering every wooden surface. After I hear from more people's thoughts/tips/advice, I may just have to take it apart and apply a sealer, if that is what people recommend.

 

[mightymizz]

Any more thoughts on this?

So sealing the wood and the stain will prevent the mold growth?

I would just like more confirmation because it will be a pretty big job of tearing the enclosure down (I did use screws at least) and sealing it and then letting it cure.

Thanks all!!

 

[SulcataSquirt]

yes you need to make sure that all the pores in the wood are completely sealed up. if water can get to the wood and penitrate into it it will cause it to mold from the heat and humidity and also will cause mildew. I would use some type of polyurthane, or somthing along those lines. If heard of people useing sealers like thompsons, but unsure of how it would hold up to constant water on it. My tort table I used oak plywood, then lined the inside with 1/4 inch glass sealing the joints with aquarium sealent, then along the top edge where the glass meets the wood i sealed that with the silicone also, this allowed the inside wood to be completely sealed away from water, basically turning it into a huge 4x8 aquarium. It was expensive. lol If you dont want to seal with a water proof sealent. they make these plastic corrugated sheets that you can get from homedepot, cut them to fit the inside of your enclosure walls then seal all the joints with aquarium silicone and bam you have a cheap waterproof enclosure that you wont have to mess with for a longtime. good luck! allways stir? churn up your dirt also to keep mold spores from growing.

 

[mightymizz]

Well, tonight I started the tear down of the enclosure. Tomorrow I will buy some sealer, and just give all of the internal wood surfaces a good coat. I really hope this will fix the problem.

Some of the internal wood surfaces have not been stained at all and are just bare wood. If I give the bare wood a good coat of sealer, will this also help prevent mold growing, or do I need to put a primer, or a coat of stain down before?

Thanks again everybody, we just want to get this done right.

 

[rickyn0792]

Wait can cypress mulch mold since I mist it every day with heat light on for 8 hours