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Re: All hands on deck -- or - the greening of America, or subparts thereof



Thomas Barr ofered advice on my algae problem on the deck
behind my house:

> Just use a tarp to cover up the infected area.

That's a big tarp and a lot of anchor straps -- not
practical, for me.

> A solution of bleach/water sprayed or CuSO4 etc can also 
> be applied.

I use the bleach but it's a very temporary fix.  I shy away
from the Cu because we are very close to the water table
and close to a waterway that feeds into the municipal
supply, not to mention the Atlantic (whoops, I just
mentioned it, didn't I?).

> Then paint the deck with weather proofing.

Weatherproof?  Oh, you've been reading those marketing
labels again, haven't you?  ;-)  Nothing is weatherproof,
but I know what you mean.  Thing is though, the algae grows
just fine on varnish, urethane, vinyl, cellulose (i.e.,
lacquer) -- (basically all the binders in most commonly
available paints, stains and film coats).  You can just
about name it, algae doesn't mind it.  Heck, this is
pressure treated lumber (chosen in younger, mnore foolish
days) and the combination of Cu, aresenic, and cycnide with
which it's treated doesn't stop the algae -- Of course some
of it has leached out over time (ugh).  

The algae doesn't grow well on certain petrochems that
don't really dry (like Thompson's Water Seal) but I hate
tracking that stuff into the house or leaching it into the
ground water.

Hmmmmmm.  That huge tarp isn't sounding so impractical
after all.

Scott H.

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