Bora-Care - Questions & Answers

For optimum penetration of the product into the wood and the quickest protection/elimination from insects, the Boracare needs to be applied to all sides, or at least as many sides as you can get to of the wood, no matter the depth. When it comes to protecting against wood destroying insects like termites you do not want to leave room for an inconsistent coverage that could allow more damage to be done.

Boracare cannot be used in a fogger as it is too thick of a product and will clog nozzles.  Foggers cannot penetrate into the wood to contact the termites so is not a recommended treatment method for termites.  

BoraCare is a wood preservative that can be sprayed directly on the wood studs to kill wood destryoying insects and last indefinately, it never goes away. As far as other general insect pests, a broad spectrum insecticide dust such as Cimexa Dust can be applied inside of the wall void to kill a wide variety of insects. Cimexa Dust will normally last at least 10 years when left undisturbed and can be applied prior to installing sheetrock or drywall or through the openeing of faceplates of electrical outlets and light switches once drywall is installed. Both of these products are designed for long term control. Please be sure to read the product label for complete use instructions. 

For furniture your options are limited for treatment. If the wood is in its all natural raw state without any stains or finishes on it you can use a product like Boracare. Boracare will absorb all the way into the wood and eliminate Wood Destroying Fungus, termites and other wood-destroying insects that is effecting it and last for the life of the wood. It does not stain the wood or leave behind any visible residue, but becomes one with the wood and any insect that ingests it dies.

If the furniture has a finish on it, you would either have to drill holes throughout it and inject something like the Boracare or a foam, or the option most go with, hire a

Bora-Care is not labeled for Carpenter Bee Control as it must be ingested to affect the insect. Carpenter bees only tear away at the wood, they dont eat it like termites do so they normally will not be affected. Carpenter bees are normally less attracted to treated wood but even after sealing the wood, you could use a residual spray like Cyonara 9.7 to spray across the wood to kill them just from landing on the treated surface.  Cyonara is also found in one of Carpenter Bee Kits here.

No, Boracare has to be used first. A sealant can be used after the Boracare has dried.

We are not very familiar with the process of tenting a home and how it affects the powder post beetles, their larvae thats in the wood, and if it prevents at all or just kills the ones within it. This would be a question you would definitely want to consult with the company that did the treatment on to find out how their treatment was supposed to work for your home. Typically if a customer was not tenting their home and had powder post beetles somewhere within it, you would only treat the wood that has them currently in it with a product like Boracare. Boracare is a wood treatment product that will absorb all the way into the wood and will kill any insects that are currently infesting it as well as last for the life of the wood to protect it from any future wood destroying insects like powder post beetles and termites. Boracare must be applied to raw wood only though so you cannot apply it to any beams or wood that has been painted, stained or finished in any way as it will not soak into the wood. If the wood you need to treat has paint or some finish on it, you would either need to remove it by stripping it or sanding it and apply the Boracare to the raw wood before refinishing it, or use a product like Jecta which is for sealed wood and is drilled and injected into the wood. Even after applying a product like Boracare to all sides of the infested raw wood (ideal situation) you can often still see signs of activity of the powder post beetles for a few years after treatment. This is because the product works through ingestion so as the larvae emerge from the wood (which is whenever they are good and ready) they eat the wood on their way out and ingest it and die. No new adults will be able to leave them in any holes in the wood as again, once they ingest it they will die. Normally tenting is used when the whole home is so infested with Powder Post Beetles that treating with products like Boracare and Jecta would be unreasonable. Please review over our article on treating for Powder Post Beetles and let us know if you have any questions.

Bora-Care should only be applied to raw wood. It will not penetrate through any wood that has been pre-treated. Wood that is not painted, stained, sealed, pressure treated or any other pre-treatment on the woods surface.

We recommend using a borate product such as BoraCare or Timbor and treating the affected wood directly. Please read our Dry Rot Repair Article for directions and application procedures. 

Yes, Bora-Care can be applied to OSB. Please refer to the product label for complete application instructions.

First, it sounds like you may have Subterranean termites. You would do a completely different treatment for them,please see Barrier treatment. Boracare will work well to protect the wood itself. You can apply it for an active wood boring insect problem at a 1:1 ratio. 

We would recommend using Boracare first. Once the product has dried and a sealant has been used, then an insecticide can be used. Please let us know if you have any additional questions.

Bora-Care should only be applied to raw that has not been painted, stained, sealed or varnished. It must also be diluted for any application with warm or hot water. It will crystallize on the surface and not penetrate otherwise. We do carry a product called Jecta that can be injected into treated wood.

The water that Boracare is mixed with will eventually evaporate, and it will dry. You could also wash the product off the tarp and reuse it.
 

Boracare is too thick of a product to be used in any type of fogger.  It can be foamed into wall voids or sprayed or painted directly onto raw untreated wood only.  If you cannot directly access the wood that needs to be treated, foaming is the best solution, although it will only penetrate into wood that it is directly contacting.

You will want to use a slower spray to apply Bora-Care, as the product needs time to coat the wood and not have excess runoff. 

When treating an active infestation, Bora Care should be used at a 1:1 ratio on raw wood. It appears that the product may not have been applied at the correct rate to get control of the active infestation. Please be sure to review the product label for more information and complete application instructions. Also, please take a moment to review our Powderpost Beetles article here for more information on this pest.  Boracare will last for the life of the wood but will only kill the beetles that are active and feed on the wood so you can still see activity as they can lay dormant for years until conditions are right for the young to hatch and become active.

No, Boracare will not affect any glue adhesions, however, if you use Boracare over an area where there is already glue, it will not soak into the wood.

 

Bora-Care should only be used to prevent carpenter ants applied to wood directly as it is a wood preservative. It cannot be used to treat mounds in the yard.  Please take a few moments to review our article on How to Get Rid of Ants for a successful eradication program.