Using Borate Chemicals

Borates can be used on just about any wood. Use the borates on logs, all framing lumber, wood siding, plywood, and wood - foam composite components. Keep in mind that once treated with borates, you can sand, cut, saw, sand, glue, and finish lumber as if it had nothing in or on it. The borates will not cause problems.

If you do decide to treat some exterior lumber like siding, make sure you use a synthetic resin water repellent to treat the wood after the borates are applied. This sealer will stop the water from leaching the borates from the exposed lumber.

Watch Those Plants

The borate chemicals once mixed with water can harm plants and aquatic life. So you need to exercise caution when using them. Read the warnings on the labels!

Applying Borates

You can apply borate chemicals to wood in several different ways. You can dip the lumber, apply the borates under pressure (like CCA treating), spray it on, brush it on, immerse the lumber, or flood it with a borate solution.

If you choose the dip method, you need to make up a fairly large batch and have a large enough tank to handle the size of lumber you are dipping. You basically mix the borate chemical in hot water and keep the solution heated. You then dip the lumber and keep it in the tank for 2 to 5 minutes. After removal, if you stack the lumber under a tarp or plastic so it slowly dries, the borates will penetrate completely through the wood! Dipping is tough to do because you need the tank, a heat source, and a place to store the lumber.

You can get the borate chemicals to penetrate the wood to a depth of 3/4 inch by spraying, brushing, immersing and flooding the wood. Once the borates are applied it takes several weeks for them to disperse the full 3/4 inch depth into the wood.

Surface Preparation

As with any product, you need the wood to be clean, free of mold and mildew and free of wax. In other words you can't block the borates from getting into the wood.

Mixing

The two borate products you can buy are nearly identical. The Saver Systems product contains highly refined boron and is made so that you mix 1 pound of borate powder to one gallon of water.

Applying

One gallon of solution will usually treat 200 square feet of lumber. It is recommended that you then apply a second coat within 24 hours.

When I build my next home I will pre-treat all the ends of the joists and studs when they are delivered. You can do that when they are still in the bundles. Once the house is framed and under roof I will spray all other surfaces possibly three times.

Companion Articles:  Borate Chemicals for Wood Preservation,  Termites - Soak Wood with Safe Borates,  About Borate Chemicals

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Borate wood treatment would have prevented this wood rot. This tongue and groove porch flooring is exposed to the weather. It suffered serious wood rot because it was not treated with a borate preservative. ©2018 Tim Carter

"The borate chemicals are a diffusible preservative. This means they can actually - and do - penetrate wood cell walls."

Borate Wood Treatment - An Effective DIY Wood Rot Trick

Related Links

Borate Chemicals for Wood Preservation

Termites - Soak Wood with Safe Borates

Using Borate Chemicals

Free & Fast Bids

Go HERE to get FREE & FAST BIDS from local pest control companies that use safe borate chemicals.

What is Borate Wood Treatment?

Borate wood treatment is a powder you mix with water. You then soak lumber in this solution to prevent wood rot and termite attack. Boron is the primary ingredient in the borate wood treatment. The fancy chemical name is disodium octaborate tetrahydrate.

Boron is found in glass fiber insulation, glass wool, high-temperature glass, enamels, detergents (remember the mule team stuff!), ceramics, flame retardants, magnets, fertilizers, and wood preservatives. It's also found in pesticides.

This bag of powder is but one of a few borate wood treatments. You mix the powder with water. CLICK ON THE IMAGE now to have it delivered to your home in a few days.

Is Boron Mined in the USA?

A major boron mine has been located in the United States since the 1800's. It's in California.

The positive properties of boron and borate wood have been known for some time, it just has never caught on. Borate treated wood is one of the best DIY termite treatments you can do, especially in new construction.

Is Borate Wood PreservativeWater Soluble?

Borate wood preservative is water soluble. The primary drawback is that the borate chemicals are water soluble. This means you dissolve it in water and use the water as the transport vehicle to get it into the wood.

This also means that water can extract the protection! Thus, if you pre-treat wood with borate chemicals at a factory and they get wet, there may be a loss of protection. Get the wood really wet, and the borates can completely leave the wood.

What is Borate Wood?

Borate wood is regular wood that has had borate solution sprayed on it or the wood has been put in a vat of the solution allowing it to soak deeply into the wood. The solution soaks up best in the ends of cut lumber or timber. Lumber mills sometimes paint or seal the ends of 2x material that can inhibit the borate treatment for wood to soak into the wood.

Are Treated Lumber Chemicals Water Soluble?

The old CCA (chromated copper arsenic), modern alkaline copper quaternary (ACQ), and LSOP (light organic solvent preservatives - i.e. creosote) methods of treating lumber are more popular because these chemicals are not water soluble.

This is why the CCA lumber - when it first came out - had a lifetime warranty. I clearly remember that back in the mid- 1970s.

You can get FREE & FAST BIDS from local pest control companies that use safe borate chemicals.

What are the Advantages of Borate Wood Preservative Products?

The borate wood preservative products are easy to work with. They're safe and have very low toxicity to mammals. That's you - you're a mammal in case no one told you. I wish I had known about them when I built my home! They protect wood against a broad range of insects and fungi - wood rot!

Can Borate Wood Rot?

Borate wood will not rot if you keep it dry. That's not hard to do if you build your house or rood addition correctly and keep water from getting to all the house framing.

The borates can disperse readily in wood. If the wood is kept dry after treatment, the borates persist indefinitely.

The wood properties stay the same after treatment. The borates are odorless, have a low volatility, and they don't corrode iron, galvanized metal or aluminum. The best part is that they are cost effective.

Does Borate Wood Treatment Stop Insects?

The borates are effective at controlling:

• brown, white and red rots
• powderpost beetles
• furniture beetles
• old house borers
• subterranean termites (Reticulitermes, Coptotermes, Heterotermes)
• damp wood termites
• dry wood termites
• carpenter ants!
• cockroaches
• ants
• silverfish
• earwings
• crickets

The bad news is that they do not deter carpenter bees. Man, do I hate those devils! They have drilled hundreds of holes in my current house!

How Does Borate Wood Treatment Work?

The borate chemicals are a diffusible preservative. This means they can actually - and do - penetrate wood cell walls. Some other common preservatives are called envelope biocides (creosote, CCA, and pentachlorophenol) as they can produce an envelope of protection several inches from the wood surface.

The borates kill fungi and wood rot because they interfere with the enzyme systems in the microorganisms. When wood destroying insects eat wood that contains borates, it is a slow-acting stomach poison.

Worker termites transport wood back to the rest of the colony to eat. As such, the rest of the termites get sick over time, exhibit sluggish behavior, stop feeding and become moribund. In other words, the borate chemicals kick butt and take names!

If you decide to use the chemicals, be sure to follow all safety and handling guidelines!

CLICK HERE to get FREE & FAST BIDS from local pest control companies that use safe borate chemicals.

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Borate Chemicals for Wood Preservation

I was only able to identify two companies that have the ability to sell wood preserving borate chemicals to you. The reason for this is based in EPA registration guidelines. These two companies chose to have their borate products registered as wood preservatives whereas the other companies registered theirs as pesticides.

The EPA says that if you want to buy powerful and effective pesticides you have to be a licensed pest control operator (PCO). But, in their infinite wisdom, you don't have to be licensed to buy the same product when it is a wood preservative. Go figure!

Just Mix With Water

The borate salt - disodium octaborate tetrahydrate - is simply mixed with water. The products from each company are quite similar and they are easy to work with.

The Companies

If you want literature and pricing information on the borate wood preservatives, call this company:

• Sashco
  10300 E. 107th Place
  Brighton, Colorado 80601
  800-767-5656
  Ask for PeneTreat

Companion Articles:  Termites - Soak Wood with Safe Borates,  About Borate Chemicals, Using Borate Chemicals

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Carpenter Bee Insecticides

It is time to mount an offensive against the carpenter bees. So what common insecticides will work for you? You have two choices, liquid or powder. You may more easily find one type than another at a store, so just get what you can. All of the chemicals listed below will eliminate the bees if you use them as directed.

Many experts feel it is best to use the chemicals after dark when the bees are in their nests. They relax at night and you can be assured that they will be hit with the insecticides. Here is a list of insecticides that are recommended by Darryl P. Sanders. He compiled this list in 1996 while he worked at the Department of Entomology at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

• bendiocarb (Ficam) 1% dust
• carbaryl (Sevin) 5% dust or 1% spray
• chlorpyrifos (Dursban) 1% dust or 0.5% spray
• cyfluthrin (Tempo) 0.1% spray
• cypermethrin (Cynoff, Demon) 0.2% spray
• permethrin (Flee) 0.5% spray

The name listed in the ( ) is the common name you will see on a bottle on the shelf. You can find these products at most full service garden stores, feed mills, or possibly a home center that has a decent lawn and garden area. Be sure to pay attention to the concentrations on the bottle. They need to match those listed above or be slightly stronger. If the bottle is labeled correctly, there should be good instructions that tell you how to use and mix the product for controlling carpenter bees. Note the different concentrations depending upon the use as a dust or a liquid spray.

Dusting

The dusts are very effective. Try to use these if possible. You can fashion a primitive duster from small diameter aquarium air pump tubing and a turkey baster or a battery acid squeeze bulb. The dusts work well because the bees pick up the dust on their bodies as they go in and out of the nests. Liquid sprays can disappear into the wood grain shortly after you spray them. The liquid sprays are very good if you desire an instant kill of bees that are in the nests.

Be sure to test your duster apparatus before using it. Always pump small amounts of dust into the opening. Be very careful to make sure you are back from the hole so dust doesn't blast you in the face.

Keep in mind that you can always add more dust. You don't want to inhale a cloud of insecticide dust and freak out while you are on a ladder 15 feet in the air.

Don't expect immediate results from the dust. It can take days for it to work on the bees. They eventually get sick and die. Sit back and relax. Once you see activity diminish start thinking about repairing the holes in your outside trim.

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Repairing Carpenter Bee Damage

The holes that carpenter bees create are fairly easy to repair. You have numerous options. Fortunately the holes are almost always the same diameter. But, the bees can be highly destructive if they are related to the ones that have attacked my gutter boards. In several areas, I have visible channels or grooves that have been cut into the wood. The darn bees got too close to the surface and actually cut through.

Corks, Dowels, Latex Wood Filler & Caulk

Once you are fairly certain the bees are gone you can start to plug the holes. Hardware stores sell dowel rods that are usually 3 feet long and are different diameters. I am certain you can find a dowel rod that will fit fairly snugly into the holes. Once you match one up, you cut 3/4 inch long pieces that you will tap into the holes after you have coated them with wood glue. If you take your time, you will be able to tap the plug so it is perfectly flush and requires no sanding.

Another method that works well involves cork. Some hardware stores sell small diameter corks. You can tap these into the holes and because of their conical shape, they stay in place by their friction fit. The cork can be left flush with the surface of the wood or you can recess it slightly and fill the void with exterior spackling compound or latex wood filler.

Caulk is a product that can be used to repair holes, but I stay away from it. The holes that the bees produce are often 1/2 inch or so in diameter. When you caulk holes this large the caulk either shrinks and leaves a depression or it droops from the hole after you get down from the ladder. In either event it is an also-ran in my opinion.

I prefer to use wood dowel rods and/or latex wood filler. The latex wood filler products have minimal shrinkage, dry quickly and sand easily.

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Carpenter Bees

Carpenter bees are really interesting insects. When I first saw them around my house I thought they were somewhat terrifying. The bees would come very close to my head and look at me. If I moved, they followed. They never attacked, but looked as if they might at any moment.

It turns out that these bees were male - the half of the species that has no stinger! If I would have know then what I know now, I would have swatted at those dudes in a heartbeat - at least while my wife was not around.

Beneficial Insect

My wife has taught me to respect all living insects and animals. It really makes sense as all living things are involved in creating a balance in the biosphere we call the planet Earth. Carpenter bees pollinate plants. This pollination is necessary to ensure the procreation of flowers, trees, etc. In other words, we need bees!

But, if bees start using your home as a nesting place you might get upset at the damage they do. I feel an alternative is to try to live with the critters in peace.

Options

One thing that my research showed is that the carpenter bees do not like to drill through painted wood. This may work for you. If you can simply live with painted exterior wood, do so. Apply a fresh coat of paint and see if that acts as a suitable repellent.

If you have a stained log home or don't want to paint, then you might want to try to lure them to a decoy piece of wood or small structure. Think bird houses. We go to the trouble to build separate structures for birds, why not do the same for the bees instead of killing them?

I can tell you from experience that the carpenter bees at my home simply love soft redwood. Perhaps you can attach some decorative pieces of redwood or cedar at different parts of the house that the bees might find. They seem to really prefer shaded areas at my house.

You might try building a small structure like a Purple Martin bird house. Make it out of redwood, cedar, cypress, fir or pine. Create some nice roof overhangs for the bees to drill into. I know this sounds crazy, but the structure might just become a neat neighborhood conversation piece.

The Life Cycle

The bees you are seeing right now are adults that are drilling and creating new nests. They will soon lay eggs. The young bees hatch in the late summer, emerge from the nests, and fly around getting familiar with the neighborhood. As winter approaches the new adults re-enter the nest and hang out there during the winter months. The following spring they emerge from the nests and start the entire process all over again.

The month of June is an excellent time to treat the holes and galleries with insecticidal dust. The adults that are drilling now are still creating nests and starting to stock them with food for the young.

The dust you puff into the holes and nests will possibly kill both the current adults and any young that hatch from eggs that the females might have already laid.

Plan for Next Year

Keep in mind the thoughts about my suggestion for a non-violent approach. In other words, think about creating a home for carpenter bees. We need them. If everybody killed all of the carpenter bees, we would cause a disruption in the biosphere. It just makes common sense.

If you do build a bee house, send me a photo!

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Termite Control & Elimination Systems

Nothing strikes fear into homeowners like the word termites. Why? Because most people have visions of their house being devoured before their eyes. They see walls crashing down and total destruction. It usually is never that bad. However, if not detected early, termites can easily cause thousands of dollars worth of damage to a house. It takes a lot of time to replace floor joists, wall studs, and wood siding that has been munched on for years.

The fear is also based upon the fact that termites work silently and with great stealth. They know how to disguise their activity and to stay hidden within the wood framework. They loathe daylight just like vampires. Because of this, they travel to and from their nests in mud tunnels or within the wood itself. This makes it tough for us to see them. Generally you don't know they are in your house until you go to paint a piece of wood work and find out that the paint film is all that is there - the wood behind is paper thin or non-existent! You may also discover termite activity if you look in your basement storage areas. It is not uncommon for them to attack cardboard boxes or any other paper product you have in contact with masonry surfaces.

Prevention & Elimination

In April of 1995. the war against termites took a major turn. Up until that time termites were not seriously in danger of losing the war. All attacks made against them were defensive in nature. In other words we were using powerful chemicals to create defensive barriers around structures we wanted to protect. The chemicals did little to actually kill the termite populations. The attacking termites were repelled by the barrier chemicals and simply foraged for food in another location.

Within the past 15 years scientists have discovered how toxic and long-lasting some of these chemicals were. Chlordane was a very popular barrier chemical in widespread use prior to 1987 or so. This chemical was virtually unaffected by water. It would stay in soil for long periods of time. Water would not breakdown the chlordane but would transport it to other locations and into the food chain where it would cause harm to things other than termites. For this reason it was banned from widespread use by the EPA about 10 years ago.

Lower powered chemicals like Dursban took its place. Dursban works like the older more powerful chemicals, however it breaks down. So, if you have had your house treated with the weaker chemicals, you will eventually have to re-treat.

Mounting an Offensive

Two years ago, we humans began a campaign to kill off entire colonies of termites. This major offensive had only one participant at that time. We now have 3 major chemical companies that are marketing total colony elimination systems.

These new termite control measures go after termites by stopping the source of food being delivered to the colony. Scientists have discovered that only the worker termites are responsible for providing food for all of the colony members. If you kill the workers who visit your house, you can then effectively kill the colony.

Termite infestation? Pick the best exterminator using my Termite and Carpenter Ant Checklist. I offer a 100% Money Back Guarantee.

Since this battle is now only two years old, it is too early to tell if we will win the war. However, the outlook is promising. Up until this time, we did not possess an effective weapon to kill vast numbers of termites. Now we do. It is a simple matter of perfecting the delivery and intensity of the poison.

Counterattack Options

There is a third termite weapon in our arsenal. It is a time tested group of chemicals called borates. These are relatively safe chemicals for humans but are quite deadly when used against termites.

Borates can be sprayed on lumber in new construction or on existing in-place lumber. In New Zealand, you have to use borate treated lumber when building a new home. They have had great success with this preventative measure since the mid-1950's.

If you are currently framing a new house, it would be in your best interest to explore spraying all of the lumber that is near the soil line or in contact with masonry surfaces with at least two coats of the borate chemicals. This is a potential DIY project. All that you must do is make sure you have the proper concentration and that the wood surfaces do not get wet after the chemicals are applied.

Termite elimination is not guaranteed in any respect. If you currently have a problem or anticipate one, I suggest that you investigate all of the control methods. Do not necessarily rely on just one system to solve your problem. You will have to monitor for future infestation. If you think that the termites will be easily conquered, you are dreaming. Our war with termites will rage well into the next century. Be prepared to fight them!

Author's Note: We've received other emails with similar problems or questions. Here's one from Aaron S. of Los Angeles, CA, regarding termite fumigation.

"My house was fumigated for termites covered with a tent etc. After removing the tent two days later, we entered our house but there was no odor of gas at all.  A while later, we saw insects, spiders, roaches etc. moving around. The fumigation company claims that they mix a substance with the gas so that it will not have an odor. My question: Shouldn't there be a gas odor and dead insects? We can't see the termites inside the wall, but we feel that if all the insects are still alive, probably the termites are not dead either. Please, let us hear you opinion. Thank you very much!"

Doing a little online checking, the chemical used during termite fumigation is targeting only termites. It will not kill spiders, ants, bed bugs or cockroaches. So Aaron, you may still see other insects moving around.

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Manufacturers of Termite Control Systems

Your biggest problem may be finding an authorized pest control company that can use the system on your house. Only one company at this time allows you to install the system yourself - that being Spectracide. Their product was introduced in the spring of 1998. The other systems must be professionally installed and monitored. Call the companies below. At the time of this offering, several were offering free videos and other nifty information! When you call, you will be given the name(s) of local pest control companies.

• FirstLine & FirstLineGT
  FMC Corp.
  800-321-1FMC
  These are two different systems. FirstLine is an above ground termite control system. A bait box is installed adjacent to an active termite mud tube. The worker termites eat a stomach poison. This chemical does not allow the termite to derive energy from the wood it eats. As such it can die within one to three weeks.FirstLine GT is a below ground bait station system. It is very new. The manufacturer states that a maximum of 14 stations can be put at any one residential house. They "must be placed in close proximity to actively foraging termites....." That makes sense, however, how does one know where active foraging is going on under-ground?
• Sentricon
  Dow AgroSciences - 800-678-2388
  Sentricon was the first termite baiting system. This system employs a chemical called hexaflumuron - a growth regulator. This chemical prohibits the termite from molting or growing a new outer skin. Without a new skin, the termite basically "bursts" as it tries to grow. Death can occur within one to two months after ingestion.Pest control people install stations at 10 to 20 feet intervals around your house or anywhere where termite activity is suspected. The stations contain simple pieces of tasty wood. Once a station receives "hits" or activity, the wood is replaced with the poison bait. The stations need to be monitored on a regular basis to see if termite activity is being suppressed.
• Subterfuge
  American Cyanamid Corp.
  800-545-9525
  Subterfuge is a fast acting no-nonsense poison. Worker termites who eat it simply die within several weeks. This system is installed in the soil from the get-go. The poison is not an attractant. You and the Pest control people "hope" the foraging termites will find it. However, once found it is very tasty. Tests have shown that the poison is actually desired by the termites! They want to eat it more than wood.
• Terminate
  Spectracide
  888-545-5837
  Terminate is the only system that is sold directly to homeowners.

Are you one of the manufacturers listed above? Do you want your company name to be a link to your website? Click here.

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Borate Products for Termite Control

Boron is a basic chemical element. This element is found in fruits, vegetables, body care products and some cleaning compounds. It just so happens that it doesn't harm humans in small quantities. However, termites hate boron. Once ingested by termites, the boron interferes with their ability to extract energy from the food (your wood!) that they eat. So, if you coat the wood in your house with boron or chemicals (borates) that contain large amounts of boron, you can repel them from your house.

Boric acid, borax and a chemical called disodium octaborate (DOT) contain lots of boron. These chemicals readily dissolve in water and can be applied with common hand pump spray devices. The fact that the boron dissolves easily in water is its only weakness. If you apply borates to wood that you know will remain dry for long periods of time, termites will be repelled. However, if the wood can get wet, the borates will be leached from the wood and your house will be vulnerable to attack.

Termite infestation? Pick the best exterminator using my Termite and Carpenter Ant Checklist. I offer a 100% Money Back Guarantee.

The following companies will gladly supply you with information regarding how to purchase chemicals from their local distributors and how to apply these termite repellents. You get an extra benefit: Not only do the borates repel termites, but they do a great job against carpenter ants and beetles.

• Nisus Corporation
  215 Dunavent Drive
  Rockford, Tennessee 37853
  800-264-0870
  They make Bora-care, Niban Granular Bait and Jecta Diffusible Boracide.
• Perma-Chink Systems, Inc.
  1605 Prosser Road
  Knoxville, Tennessee 37914
  800-548-3554
  They make Shellguard Guardian.
• Sashco
  10300 E. 107th Place
  Brighton, Colorado 80601
  800-767-5656
  They make Penetreat Impel Rods.
• U.S. Borax
  26877 Tourney Road
  Valencia, California 91355
  800-984-6267
  They make Tim-bor Insecticide.

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Do Termite Bait Systems Work?

Remember, conventional barrier chemical systems do little if anything to kill off the colony. They simply put up a "force field" around your house. Worker termites are repelled by these chemicals and can die if they ingest the poison.

The new bait systems are really too new to know if they will completely kill off termite colonies entirely. The insect scientists are in disagreement. Some say that the colonies are fragmented and intermingle with other colonies. If this is so, then a particular colony may have a constant but smaller food supply from other workers who are not hitting the bait stations.

Other problems revolve around the poisons themselves. It is thought that the termites might smarten up and realize they are being poisoned. They have been know to communicate with other workers and pass the word about tainted food. If this happens, there is a possibility that the workers may bypass the bait/poison stations.

The speed of kill is another issue. The new baiting systems can take between 6 and 12 months to see a significant drop or stop to termite activity within your home. If you have anxiety about this length of time, you may want to combine the bait system with borate or traditional chemicals. This will cost you more money, but you will get quick, long lasting results.

Termite infestation? Pick the best exterminator using my Termite and Carpenter Ant Checklist. I offer a 100% Money Back Guarantee.

The bottom line is that early field results from the Sentricon system are very encouraging. Termite colonies are being killed off. Some termites are more resistant than others, but that is to be expected. Rest assured that the chemical companies will work long and hard to constantly improve the systems. There simply is too much money at stake!

Author's Note: We've received other emails with similar problems or questions. Here's one from Aaron S. of Los Angeles, CA, regarding termite fumigation.

"My house was fumigated for termites covered with a tent etc. After removing the tent two days later, we entered our house but there was no odor of gas at all.  A while later, we saw insects, spiders, roaches etc. moving around. The fumigation company claims that they mix a substance with the gas so that it will not have an odor. My question: Shouldn't there be a gas odor and dead insects? We can't see the termites inside the wall, but we feel that if all the insects are still alive, probably the termites are not dead either. Please, let us hear you opinion. Thank you very much!"

Doing a little online checking, the chemical used during termite fumigation is targeting only termites. It will not kill spiders, ants, bed bugs or cockroaches. So Aaron, you may still see other insects moving around.

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