Bora-Care - Questions & Answers

Boracare is not labeled for roaches.  It would be best to use products that are specifically labeled for them, such as the ones that are found in our roach control kits.

Boracare can be used as long as the tiki hut is not over water and the wood is not sealed or stained. The ratio that you will use the product at the 1:1 ratio. You will need to inject the product into the kickout holes and then topically spray. You will need to spray all the wood. Be sure to seal the wood on the tiki hut once the product has dried completely.

If the dining table is raw wood with no paint or finish on it, yes Boracare can be used. You will use it at the rate of 1:1. This can either be sprayed on or painted on. You can also use Jecta in the holes where you have seen activity if the wood does have finish or paint on it. You must finish food-handling surfaces such as dining tables that have treated with Boracare.

BORACARE can safely be used on the board as long as you stain after it has dried.

Boracare should only be used to prevent carpenter ants. We do not recommend using it to treat and active infestation. You can treat and active infestation by using something like Carpenter Ant Bait or by treating directly with a product like Phantom Aerosol or Termidor Foam.

Yes, you can treat the same wood with the Boracare.   The previous treatment with Timbor will have no affect on the absorption. Both products are borate-based and become one with the wood after application. 

If you are able to, you can sand or strip the paint/stain off the wood and apply Boracare. If this is not an option, then you can inject a product like Jecta into the damaged areas.

When treating for powder post beetles, it is important to know that you may still see some beetles emerge even after you've treated with Bora-Care. This could be because the product may not have reached the center of the wood yet, or because there were still some dormant beetles at the time of application. With Bora-Care, the powderpost beetles do have to consume the wood in order to die.  If you are still seeing activity, this means they are consuming the wood and dying.  Any wood treated with Bora-Care, however, will be protected from any new damage. There is no need to treat again.

 

Boracare can certainly be applied to a deck and it lasts for the life of the wood if it is not exposed to rain, continuous water or ground contact. The amount of time Boracare lasts in the wood will depend upon those factors. In your case, we would recommend using a sealant of some kind after the application of Boracare. Do not expose treated exterior wood surfaces to rain or snow for at least 48 hours after treatment. For longer performance, exterior wood surfaces will require a topcoating with a water-resistant finish such as paint or exterior stain. Apply within 6 weeks of treatment. Boracare must dry completely (at least 48 hours) before applying any protective topcoat. If there is a current infestation, you will do a 1:1 application of Boracare. If this is just for preventative measure, you will do 5:1 application. Make sure the water is very hot when you are spraying it.

Bora-Care is a very safe product and it is considered a green product as well.  Typically, it takes about an hour for the surface of the wood to dry.  After application has dried completely, it should be perfectly fine for children and pets to re-enter the house.

You can use Bora-Care on any raw wood inside or outside your home, including hardwood floors.  However, it can only be applied on raw wood.  You CANNOT apply Bora-Care to any wood that is painted, stained, or sealed.  So unless your hardwood floors are unfinished, you cannot spray them with Bora-Care.  If your flooring is already finished with a stain and sealant, then you either have to sand off the finish and the re-finsh after applying Bora-Care, or you can drill holes into the infested pieces and inject Bora-Care.

Yes, you can still treat wood that is painted with Bora-Care by injecting it, however it does require quite a few holes.  You should drill holes every 6 inches apart in a diamond pattern into the center of the wood and inject the Bora-care into all of the holes.  It helps to drill at a downward angle so the Bora-care does not run out of the holes due to gravity.  So, you would drill holes in the center of the wood, and then also another row of holes near the top and the bottom which will form a diamond pattern.

Bora-Care can take up to 90 days to completely penetrate through all of the wood to where all of the termites are.  Bora-Care does not kill the termites by touch.  The termites walking on the wood are not effected.  Bora-Care kills the termites by ingestion.  After the Bora-Care has moved through the wood, the termites that are still in the wood will die when they continue to eat and ingest the Bora-Care with the wood.  You should treat all exposed sides of the wood that you can get to.  One treatment is normally enough unless the wood you are treating is more than 8 inches thick.  The termites will not spread easily to other areas so that is not a concern.

You can use Boracare on pressure treated wood as long as there is no stain, sealant, or paint on the wood. If the wood treated with Boracare is outside exposed to the elements, then you want to apply a water sealant after the Boracare has dried.

You can certainly use Boracare on your fence. Any areas that have an active infestation of powder post beetles will need to be treated at the rate of 1:1 and all other areas where there is no activity can be used 5:1. Once the Boracare has been applied to the fence, you will need to seal/stain/paint it to keep the rain from slowly washing it away over the years. If sealed, the Boracare will last for the life of the wood after application. Please let us know if you have any other questions.

If you treat any type of raw wood like your carvings with Boracare, it will eliminate the current infestation and prevent any new ones from starting a colony in those peices in the future. You will want to mix the Boracare at a 1:1 ratio and apply either with a sprayer or paint brush to the wood-whichever is easier for you- and do 2 coats if the wood is more than 4 inches thick in any area. It can take a couple of weeks sometimes for the product to move its way all the way to the center of the piece so you may still notice activity for a length of time after treatment as the product works its way through the infested areas. Any new termites that may come along will die from ingesting the treated wood immediately. The Boracare will last for the life of the wood so long as it is protected from the outdoor elements either to where it is kept or through a paint or sealant of some sort. Please let us know if you have any other questions.

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 any infestation that is there 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 company to fumigate it. Please let us know if you have any questions.

The best process would indeed to be strip the finish and apply Boracare. This is the only product that will penetrate through the wood and eliminate the existing infestation and prevent future infestations.

Boracare does not emit any VOCs (volatile organic compounds) into the atmosphere. It is safe once dry. If you are concerned about eating on the wood, such as if a table is/was infested, the wood does need to be sealed before using it.

You do not need to drill holes into any beams, but you should treat the entire crawl space.  Most people end up doing that for adequate protection because termites and beetles can travel inside the wood away from the perimeter.  One application of Bora-Care is usually enough, but if you have 8" beams, then you would probably want to do a second application only on the larger beams since anything over 8" thick requires two treatments.  Typically one gallon of Bora-Care will treat up to 500 square feet of surface sub-floor in the crawl space mixing it 1:1 (1 gallon of Bora-Care with 1 gallon of water).