Oh no wood mold?

[SanDiegoChip]

Hi,
Is this wood mold in the pictures?
Or a wood fungus?
If so is there a way to rid the wood of it?
What else could it be?
We started noticing it when we varnished the Oak about a year ago. It was just a small black spot and we thought it was from water. It has spread and now we noticed that the door (laundry hamper) sticks. We took a close look and think it is some living un-wanted something.

We really do not want to cut this wood out!

[sawingknots]

looks like mold to me,bleach is the only thing i know of that will kill it,you'll probably need to do some refinishing afterward also try to increase air circulation and or decrease dampness

[jimgo]

That looks like "spalt" to me, which is another word for a fungus. In some woodworking circles, spalt is a good thing, but not when it impacts the wood's shape. It looks to me like you have some kind of water leak in that region that is helping to feed the fungus. I'd suggest looking for the source of the water first. You can sand back the edge and judiciously apply bleach or a fungicide (technically, bleach isn't FDA approved for use as a fungicide or a mold killer, if I recall correctly). When you have it all dried out, consider sealing the area with epoxy.

[CharlieCobra]

That's the issue with using Red Oak in a marine environment. Stripping it and bleaching with Oxalic acid should bring it back.

You do realise you are getting fresh water incursion from somewhere to get that right? Find and fix your leaks...

[SanDiegoChip]

Thanks for the info. The good news is we have a solution to kill it.
No need to remove wood. We will strip the varnish and kill, kill!
Yes the boat is trimmed in Oak with Teak as the main wood.
It is a 1978 Islander Freeport and a “B” plan so the head is where the “V” berth would be and a Pullman queen birth\stateroom aft of the head.
There really is no bad news here as we were planning to replace the sink and faucet soon. We are almost finished with our refer build and that project was next.
We will look for a water leak and it should not be hard to spot. That sink area is very is easy to see about and not much plumbing.
We have not noticed any water in our “laundry hamper” our under the sink. It could be from water on the counter from the tiny sink. It tends to splash about some. We have a towel for wiping up around the sink after washing hands etc.
We will look really good for a water leak(s)!

Thanks,
Chip

[rugosa]

Good thing is it's isolated. Unless you have overhead water leak look to water migration between laminate top and bottom of oak trim. It's amazing how a tiny bit of water can creap over time. Bet it was installed unfinished on the bottom and water is wicking up from the counter trim joint. If your redoing that area anyway I'd pull the trim off (hopefully screwed in from underneath), address the repair like jimgo & CharlieCobra recommend, and epoxy bottom of trim, and install after epoxy is cured. If you take the easy road and silicone the joint instead of fixing it right you'll end up doing it again.

[paulk]

No one has actually mentioned that oak, when it gets wet, turns black. Ash too. It isn't necessarily mold or anything else but moisture getting under the varnish. This is why people use teak for trim on boats, and bury oak into the keel and structure, where it is usually painted. You don't see the stain that might be there under the paint. Bleaching the oak with oxalic acid after stripping the varnish should help, but you may have a good bit of sanding to do as well, and it may never look pristine again.

[SanDiegoChip]

Hi,
The area by the “Laundry Hamper door” is what made us notice it (the black) more. The door is sticking and the fiddles are black on each end. We have started placing a paper towel there between the two fiddles with bleach on it and it seems to be helping.
We only had last night to do anything after reading the posts. We both work full time and that dictates the time we have.
We had to stop any work as the boat is now in the boat yard getting a keel cooler installed. We will pick it up tomorrow.
We chose to stay in a hotel over night.
Soon we will get some oxalic acid and try that. We did a quick looking around and so far revealed no water leaks. Water does get on the counter top when using the sink. We just have not had the time yet to address this more. This weekend we will check it out more.


Our boat waiting to go up on lift


Slings at Driscolll's Boat Works



Driscolll's Boat Works San Diego with my Jeep out front