Grease pit. Mold and deteriorating cinder blocks

[Jo Diesel]

Put my pit in about 25 years ago.

My wife is doing some projects in shop and is allergic to mold.
Is there an inexpensive coating for cinder block or could I go over it with sand mix concrete to fill holes and grout lines and then paint it?

Don't put a pit in, they are a PIA

 

[benwah]

Mold is bad for everyone...

Do you have pics by chance?

 

[mikester]

Pits aren't legal in my area. If you have mold, its not a good thing to be working anywhere near it. A buddy of mine lived in a house that had covered water damage for 6 months and never knew it. He wound up with pulmonary fibrosis from the mold. Its bad ****. My friend has less than a year to live.

 

[On-Wheel]

Bleach it with brush.Parge it with sak-crete.Then paint it.

 

[c39er]

I have a nice pit and have never had a dampness issue with it.
I built it carefully thinking of the dampness issue though.
It's great for storage as I don't use it much.

 

[Jo Diesel]

Trying to load pics from work off my phone and my service here *****

 

[Squankum]

Bleach it with brush.Parge it with sak-crete.Then paint it.

Kewl! I learned a new word! And it was about what I suspected.
Thanks!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parge_coat

Also, can you reduce future mildew by getting air circulating through there? I see C39er has an open mesh cover. Do you use thick planks or what?

 

[Thumper68]

Bleach it with brush.Parge it with sak-crete.Then paint it.

This but skip the brush to start, mix bleach 50/50 with water in a spray bottle and spray the hell out of it. 24 hours later go at it with the spray bottle again and then brush and shop vac while it is wet. rinse well and spray with 100% bleach and let dry.

Mold is only really bad when airborne so get it wet and then clean it up.

The first bleach treatment should kill it.

 

[404]

Low pressure large droplet spray the mold down with vinegar. The acidity kills mold. Wear a mask, ventilate. Mold spores can be very agressive.

Rinse that off into the pit while a sump pump empties the pit water far away from the house.

Now do the same with bleach. Rinse off.

Since we do not want to get in the pit to scrub, and do not want to pressure wash (mist of mold water)
the cycle will have to be repeated.

Do not mix bleach and vinegar. The vinegar is an acid, bleach is a base. Chlorine gas is released, and the two substances cancel each other out.

Materials are cheap at least

To prevent any life form living on the block, paint with a solution of copper sulfate. This is used to kill black algae in pools. Gives a nice blue green color as well.

 

[tncatadjuster]

Bleach it with brush.Parge it with sak-crete.Then paint it.

Yes, please rinse throughly, and do it with damp walls, and rub it in hard.
This works on the sides of buildings, it should be good for here.

 

[benwah]

Just to add, if you don't feel like troweling a mortar on for an exact smooth finish, you can just roll 2-3 heavy coats of an 70%+ solids epoxy on after cleaning. Thinning the first coat down for better penetration. This will definitely smooth out the block a bit and won't allow mold to grow on it, while saving you a labor intensive step. Keep in mind you will not have a completely smooth surface.

Of course if you want to trowel, by all means go for it

 

[Jo Diesel]

My pit has open grates but is open most of the time with something parked over it.

Could you mix copper sulfate in with mortar and roll a couple of coats on? Was thinking of troweling some unto the groves that are deteriorating and just roll the rest just to fill in the porosity of the block. Don't know if I want to paint as I do get moisture through block from really high water table and no waterproofing. There is a sump in the bottom and if it goes out I have had up to 1' of water in it

 

[benwah]

Just to make sure we understand... You're saying you have water migrating through you block and accumulating in the bottom of the pit?

 

[404]

My pit has open grates but is open most of the time with something parked over it.

Could you mix copper sulfate in with mortar and roll a couple of coats on? Was thinking of troweling some unto the groves that are deteriorating and just roll the rest just to fill in the porosity of the block. Don't know if I want to paint as I do get moisture through block from really high water table and no waterproofing. There is a sump in the bottom and if it goes out I have had up to 1' of water in it

The copper sulfate may interfere with the reaction of the mortar setting. I don't know.
Surface of pit must be clean for mortar to stick. Don't think it will stick to mold very well.

 

[j-guenth]

You have to ventilate the pit. Keep the air moving and drying the surfaces of the pit.

Bleach works well to remove mold and they make paints to seal the brick from moisture.

 

[Professur]

Can I suggest you skip the vinegar and bleach and leap straight to the real deal, a proper mold fungicide. Something to the order of ... http://www.homedepot.com/p/Mold-Armor-1-gal-Disinfectant-and-Fungicide-GOM30101/203776620

Kills the mold, kills the spores, and leaves a residue that keeps it dead. I've been told by someone in the industry that while bleach is better than nothing, for the most part it's somewhere between a bandaid and wishful thinking. As that's from someone in the industry with a reason to deride any solution that doesn't put money in his pocket, treat that as you will.