Loooonngggg story. I'm sorry, but stick with me!
So 6 years ago my wife wanted a patio built in our back yard. Her dad is a semi-retired contractor and I went to school for carpentry a while ago. So we came up with the plan--12' x 36' with 12' x 24' under a hip roof. The other 12 x 12' area will be for a fire pit and seating. It's a hip roof with a knotty pine tongue and groove ceiling. We did the ceiling with Minwax Helmsman polyurethane which is specifically for outdoor use. But due to time constraints, we only used the poly on the face side of the boards and we did the T&G. We didn't sand between coats either, so the finish is a little rough, but smoother than I expected. There's also 2 ceiling fans.
Our back yard is about 100' away from Main St. in our small town. Due to traffic our stuff gets dirty. We can clean off our table today with clorox wipes and tomorrow, the wipe will be black again. We're in Pennsylvania so we can see 95° days to -20° and humid, cloudy days are the norm.
I have a Weber Genesis gasser and a Sam's Club Smoke Hollow propane smoker. Both are on the edge of the pavilion, but covered just enough to keep them from the weather.
Last spring when I cleaned the patio, I found mold inside the smoker. I looked on here and the internet and cleaned it out, re seasoned it and was happy with the results. I clean the glass and trays after every use (and the smoker in general). After smoking ribs say, for 5hrs, the glass and unused part of the tray is dark and sticky... Sooty.
About 2 years ago we noticed that the knotty pine ceiling was getting dirty. I wiped down part of it and thought it was dirt, like on our table, and moved on. This spring though it looked BAD. My FIL thought it was possibly mold from bad ventilation in the roof even though the soffet is all vented. I borrowed my FIL's scaffold to clean it with water/bleach. When I moved the smoker I took a peek inside and there wasn't any mold, but it hit me like a ton of bricks!
Was the soot that I clean off the smoker also what's on the ceiling? Does the soot get moldy? Are the 2 associated? Or is it "street dirt"?
Anyone with experience in this situation? Thanks, Aceman
So 6 years ago my wife wanted a patio built in our back yard. Her dad is a semi-retired contractor and I went to school for carpentry a while ago. So we came up with the plan--12' x 36' with 12' x 24' under a hip roof. The other 12 x 12' area will be for a fire pit and seating. It's a hip roof with a knotty pine tongue and groove ceiling. We did the ceiling with Minwax Helmsman polyurethane which is specifically for outdoor use. But due to time constraints, we only used the poly on the face side of the boards and we did the T&G. We didn't sand between coats either, so the finish is a little rough, but smoother than I expected. There's also 2 ceiling fans.
Our back yard is about 100' away from Main St. in our small town. Due to traffic our stuff gets dirty. We can clean off our table today with clorox wipes and tomorrow, the wipe will be black again. We're in Pennsylvania so we can see 95° days to -20° and humid, cloudy days are the norm.
I have a Weber Genesis gasser and a Sam's Club Smoke Hollow propane smoker. Both are on the edge of the pavilion, but covered just enough to keep them from the weather.
Last spring when I cleaned the patio, I found mold inside the smoker. I looked on here and the internet and cleaned it out, re seasoned it and was happy with the results. I clean the glass and trays after every use (and the smoker in general). After smoking ribs say, for 5hrs, the glass and unused part of the tray is dark and sticky... Sooty.
About 2 years ago we noticed that the knotty pine ceiling was getting dirty. I wiped down part of it and thought it was dirt, like on our table, and moved on. This spring though it looked BAD. My FIL thought it was possibly mold from bad ventilation in the roof even though the soffet is all vented. I borrowed my FIL's scaffold to clean it with water/bleach. When I moved the smoker I took a peek inside and there wasn't any mold, but it hit me like a ton of bricks!
Was the soot that I clean off the smoker also what's on the ceiling? Does the soot get moldy? Are the 2 associated? Or is it "street dirt"?
Anyone with experience in this situation? Thanks, Aceman
