We do not recommend applying Timbor to wood that will be torched. Burning wood treated with any insecticide would release the active ingredients into the air. Burning the wood without treating it with any chemical will kill anything in it.
When treating raw wood for active beetles, it is not recommended to use Timbor Professional. Instead, you should use Boracare which penetrates deeper into the wood and can be used for active problems vs just preventative like the Timbor is designed to do. That being said, even if Boracare was used, you would still see signs of powder post beetles after treatment. This is normal and expected since the eggs/larvae can lay dormant in the wood for years. The signs you are seeing of dust and holes are the ones that have progressed into an adult beetle and are eating their way out of the wood. As they eat their way out, they are ingesting the borate-treated wood and will die from it, which keeps new infestations or reinfestations from occurring. Seeing signs after treatment does not mean the treatment failed, it simply means those insects are still emerging to be impacted by the chemical. Boracare and Timbor kill through ingestion of the chemical, not through simply contacting a treated surface.
Tim-bor Professional should be applied prior to staining the wood. If you stain the wood first, the Tim-bor will not be able to penetrate past the stain & on to the wood. Once the product has dried, you may stain the wood
Tim-bor Professional can be used on all types of lumber, logs and plywood. Ideally, it's recommended to cut, shape, and sand the wood before making an application of Tim-bor.
There should not be an issue with the application to the logs after treatment of Tim-bor Professional when used as directed.
The manufacturer states that Timbor will last for the life of the wood as long as the wood is not exposed to rain or flooding. It will stay in the wood forever because of how it bonds to the cells of the wood.
Timbor should only be used on raw wood that ideally is new. Timbor is not water-repellant and it will not take care of any rot or mold on the wood. Timbor will only penetrate 1/4 of an inch into the wood and will leave a visible white residue on the surface. Boracare or Boracare with Mold Care are your other options. As with Timbor, the Boracare will need to be applied to raw natural wood but it can be old or new. The Boracare will penetrate all the way into the wood and will not leave a visible residue on the surface. If the wood is going to continue to be exposed to the outdoor elements, you will need to seal it with a stain or finish of some sort to protect it. If you do this, the Boracare will last for the life of the wood. Boracare will treat and prevent (depending on the rate you use to dilute it) for wood destroying insects such as powderpost beetles, termites, and carpenter ants, as well as wood-destroying fungus/rot. The Boracare with Mold Care will cover all of these same preventative measures and it also kills and prevents mold. You can also reference our article on How To Treat For Dry/Wood Rot.
Tim-bor Professional should be mixed at a rate of at least 1.5 pounds to one gallon of water to achieve a 15% solution.
Tim-bor Professional would not be recommended to treat any active infesations of wood boring insects as it only penetrates up to 1/4 inch. It will also leave a white residual behind. In most cases if a wood destroying insect is found within the frame of a piece of furniture your options are as follows:
Option 1- Strip down any stain or finish on the wood down to its raw natural state and apply a product like Boracare to the raw wood surface and then you can refinish as desired once dry;
Option 2- If stripping the finish off isn't an option then you would need to drill holes in the needed places of the furniture and insert a product like Jecta. Both the Boracare and Jecta absorb into the wood so that as the insects inside it eat the treated wood they consume it and die from it. Both products also last for the life of the wood to protect it;
Option 3- If neither of those are an option for you then you would need to hire a company that has a heat treatment or fumigation treatment chamber to put the furniture within to kill all the insects within it without doing any damage to the item.
Once carpenter bees have made their holes, it is best to dust them with Delta Dust Insecticide & then seal up the holes 2 weeks later. You can also apply a product such as Demand Duo Insecticide before they make their holes to try & prevent them. All products needed for proper carpenter been prevention & control can be found in our Carpenter Bee Control Kit.
If Timbor Professional is being applied to raw wood within a structure such as studs, beams, or floors, it would be protected from the elements and would not need to reapplied after the initial treatment to the wood surface.
When treating a log home for protection against termites and wood boring beetles, you would want to spray the raw unfinished wood with Boracare rather than Timbor. Timbor can leave behind a white powdery residue on the wood that you may need to remove prior to staining or sealing the wood after treatment. Timbor also does not penetrate into the wood as far as the Boracare would which is another reason the Boracare would be the superior product for your needs. No matter which product you choose to apply, plants around the home would need to be temporarily covered to protect from overspray as the ingredient in the products could damage a variety of plant types.
Timbor Professional does not treat mold or prevent mold from growing. Mold is a surface issue caused by excess moisture and will continue to thrive as long as conditions are favorable for it to thrive. You will either want to give more air between the stacks if possible, or treat the wood with Boracare with MoldCare rather than Timbor to treat and protect it as much as possible. You can apply Boracare with MoldCare to freshly cut wood, but the more moisture in the wood with it being fresh/green the slower it will absorb into the wood. The wood doesn't have to be completely dry, but if you can give some dry out time after cutting that would be ideal before an application.
Yes, Tim-bor Professional will leave a white residue once applied. However, it can be easily removed if needed.
