Bora-Care - Questions & Answers

We do not recommend applying Boracare or Termidor SC to firewood. Burning any type of insecticide would release the active ingredients into the air.  Burning the wood without treating with any chemical would kill anything in it.

As the beetles emerge from the wood after it has been treated with Boracare they will die from ingesting the treating wood so there would be no worry of reinfestation. 

If you plan on using pressure treated wood there's no need to treat the area or the wood but we would recommend doing a preventative treatment around your house. If the wood is not pressure treated then we would recommend to treat the private fence. You can do two things, the most recommended treatment would be to treat the new wood panels with Boracare, once dry you will need to stain the panels afterwards prior to putting them in place and using metal posts when putting your new private fence up. The second method is to do a trench treatment with Termidor around the fence, since it is considered a "structure". We don't recommend doing the treatment before you remove the old fence because the removal will disturb the treated areas.

When applying Bora-Care in confined spaces you should provide ventilation or an exhaust system or use a Comfo Classic Respirator Mask with P100 Cartridges. You should contact Nisus 800-264-0870, the manufacturer of Boracare, to inquire about using sporicidine in the same area as Boracare.

Bora-Care should be mixed in a bucket with hot water and then poured into the sprayer. If you don't use hot water or if you try to dilute Bora-Care directly in the sprayer, the sprayer will clog. You can paint Bora-Care onto the wood surface, just be sure to be thorough and paint all sides of the wood.

You should apply Boracare in whatever way is easiest for you and will still give you a thorough application. If you do decide to spray the Boracare on to the joists you should lay plastic tarps over the entire floor area to catch any drips or over spray. You should also wera a protective coverall, respirator, gloves and goggles to protect yourself. You can find all of the personal safety equipment in our Professional Safety Kit.

Boracare is a very thick product, and we get calls all of the time from people that try to use paint sprayers and complain that the product clogged the sprayer.  So we would not advise you use a paint sprayer.  You can either apply Bora-Care using a paint brush, or a hand pump or backpack sprayer.  Since Bora-Care is thick, you should always mix it with hot water in a separate bucket first.  Make sure the solution is well mixed first, then pour it in your sprayer and apply right away.

Absolutely.  Bora-Care dries on clear and is made that way so you can stain, paint, or seal any piece of wood after using it.

No, Bora-Care is a borate product, and borate products will kill any plant or tree life.  We have recently started carrying several fungicides for trees and other plants. We would recommend trying to contact a local college or university with a arborist program or a local lawn and turf company for a proper identification of the fungus. Please click on the link for the contact information for your local cooperative extension office.

In order to use Bora-Care on your table, you would have to make sure the wood is bare or stripped. Bora-Care cannot penetrate into sealed or finished wood. After wood has been treated with Bora-Care, you can paint, stain or seal the wood with no problems.

If the drywood termites are in the floors, you can treat the floors with Boracare as long as they are unfinished. Boracare can only be used on raw natural wood so if there is a stain or sealant on the floors, it will need to be sanded up first before applying the Boracare. If there are drywood termites in your furniture, your options are limited. You can either strip down the finish on it and treat, drill holes all throughout it to treat with either Boracare or a foaming product, or fumigate it. Most of the time fumigation is your best option as its the only way to gurantee you are going to get every last one of them that deep within the furniture. Typically for this treatment they bring a pod type device similar to that of a portable storage unit, and place your furniture inside and either heat it or fumigate it for a set period of time. Aftewards you air out the furniture, steam clean it if you want, and its completely safe to use as normal. There are just not many truly green options out there for termite control as it is such a specific treatment, and most areas are not places you will be inhabiting with extended points of direct contact to a surface. Please let us know if you have any other questions.

The shelf life of Boracare in original bottle is 3 years if stored in cool dry area. Like with most concentrates, you want to be sure to use any mixed solution within 24 hours of mixing.

One gallon of Bora-Care will treat approximately 100 lineal feet of 2 x 4 stud wall. This includes sill plate and header. For other dimensional lumber, logs, or siding and plywood, please see the product label or the supplemental tech bulletin. Typically, one gallon of concentrate Bora-Care will treat 800 square feet of a 2x4 stud wall, and 500 square feet of a crawl space or attic.

BORACARE can be applied in any temperature as long as it is not below freezing. However, the warmer the temperature the easier it will be to mix and apply the BORACARE because of its thick consistency.

The only way to get the Bora-Care into the area where the termites are would be to drill holes through the stucco into the studs or through the window trim.  We suspect maybe they are in the window trim based on your description.  Since Bora-Care can only be applied to wood that is not painted, stained, or sealed,  you have to drill a hole into the center of the window trim and inject Bora-Care by using a sprayer or some other method  that might be available to you to get the product through the drill hole.  Or you can remove the wood or stucco to get into the interior of the wall, but this is usually not a feasible step in the process.

It would be best to be cautious of the exposed wires.  BORACARE can also be applied with a paint brush as well. Please be sure to mix with hot water to make it easier to mix and apply. 

You want to wait at least 72 hours after application to allow for Boracare to dry. Then you can do what ever you wish to the wood.

Bora-Care can be applied to raw wood for the treatment or prevention of termites. It dries on clear and is made that way so you can stain, paint, or seal any piece of wood after using it. Please refer to the product label for complete mixing and application instructions.

No, Bora-Care can only be used on raw, untreated, unsealed wood. If you are trying to treat wood that is already stained or sealed, you either have to sand the finish off completely or your only other option is to drill holes in the areas that you see damaged and inject the Bora-Care directly into the wood; bypassing the stained layer.

When applying Bora-Care to structural wood in the home, you only need to apply the product once. It will last for the life of the wood. If you are applying to exterior wood like a deck, porch, or fence which is exposed to rainfall, then you would either need to use a water sealant after the Boracare is dry, or you would re-apply Boracare after about 3-5 years.