There is something weird growing on my picnic table. I tried pouring ammonia on it in the fall and I tugged on it and it would not budge. Now it is softer and I was able to flick a piece off of there. When I touch it it feels like tree bark.

Bracket fungus.
http://www.google.ca/search?q=...

Wow! I have been reading and it seems to like trees but nothing about getting rid of it? Anti-fungus?

I think that the wood has started to rot, and even if you kill this fungus, it's likely that more will grow. It might be time to replace the affected parts of the table, and to use wood that has been treated with a preservative. Better to do it now than wait until the wood gives away at an inconvenient moment (like my deck planks).

It has been treated, it is a new picnic table, only a year and a half old from Lowe's. Got it on clearance near the end of 2012.

Well, perhaps you got a poorly treated wood table. Looking at the picture, it sure looks like the wood is deteriorating at a rapid rate. It could be the lighting that makes it look like that. But regardless, this is what I would do:

First, scrape off all the fungus you can. Then make up a solution of bleach, and I would use the kind of bleach meant to be used outdoors, and spray on the bleach until the wood and fungus (mushrooms) are complete wetted. Leave it out in the sun to speed up the process of killing the fungus and spores. After drying, scrape/wire brush off the fungus as best you can. I would then re-apply the bleach solution a week later, and then again remove all the bits of mushrooms still there. Wash the wood well and allow to completely dry. Apply two coats of deck sealer to all the wood to prevent re-growth of the fungus and re-apply the deck sealant every year.

They don't make treated lumber like they used to...

You got that right!

You took the words right out of my mouth. I said the same thing to my DH and he did not believe me, I wanted to paint it. I will use the bleach and try to kill that fungus and then scrape the mushrooms off there then I can sand and paint it, I do believe it will hold up longer that way. It is a cheapo, but for 25.00 how can I complain. Also my tree has gotten big (no sun) and potted plants sit out there all the time. My bad....


Thanks everyone!!!

For twenty-five bucks, you got a good deal. Painting will work just as well.

Thanks! It will look great.

There won't be any long term benefit to scraping it off or, especially, pouring various chemicals on it. The parts you are seeing are just the fruiting bodies. The mycelia, the "vegetative" parts of a fungus, have undoubtedly penetrated throughout the wood. June's suggestion to replace the wood was good advice.

I beg to differ. I mount tropical plants on 8-10 woods, both hardwood and softwood. Nothing is used that is younger than 25 year old wood and I have documented wood that is well over 100 years old. Needless to say, much of these woods are infested with all kinds of mold, fungi, and algae. Unless the wood is completely rotten, and I mean all they way through, this outdoor bleach solution will kill it. I don't have scientific proof, only have what my eyes tell me. For me, if the wood looks like only the surface is affected, and the "heart" of the wood is solid, I treat the wood with the bleach solution. Anyone who handles old wood can tell whether the wood is a goner, rotted through and through. Most of the mounts that I use are now three or more years old, and (like Obama says) there's not a smidgen of pest/growth on these woods. The one thing I never treat my wood for is lichen. I love to get and use lichen-laden wood.

I cannot tell the depth of infestation this wood has. The picture we have been given is not going to tell the depth of fungi penetration. I say, give it a try if Susan wants to try to save the table.

Have you ever done that with a bracket fungus, Doug? It's not a surface form of rot. The mycelia live within the wood secreting cellulase enzymes to "eat" it from the inside out. The fruiting bodies that can be seen in the pictures are essentially wood that has been dissolved and used to build a new structure by the fungus. With most of the wood actually being lost into the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide during the process, I wouldn't be surprised if the fruiting bodies are more solid than the wood underneath at this point.

For a $25 table, I'd give the bleach a try.

It is definitely worth a try. I think it only a surface thing because I did flick a piece off recently, in the fall it would not budge and that is when I discovered that I had a problem. The table was poorly treated for sure, it was a very wet winter here. This will be an interesting experiment and I hope to report the results back here. Thank you all for your help.

I just love experiments! Let us know the outcome. It will be both interesting and educational. Be sure to use the "Outdoor" bleach. It has more punch.