Wood just needs to be dry before applying Bora-Care. There is no specifics on the time of day it should be applied. As long as you are not expecting rain in the next 48 hours. It can take up to 48 hours for it to dry after application. It should dry clear when mixed as directed and would not affect stain once dry.
Yes it is completely safe to use Boracare in the home on exposed studs as long as only the applicator is in the area while the product is being applied, and until the surface of the studs has dried. This could be as little as a couple of hours or as much as a day depending on how heavily you applied the product.
BORACARE can take up to 72 hours to dry. We would recommend to try and wait longer than 24 hours to seal up the wall. This will allow for the product to better soak into the wood. Since Boracare alone does not treat for mold if you seal up moisture, mold could be a concern.
Boracare contains borate, a form of Boron, that is different than boric acid products. Borate products are water soluble and are used in wood treatments as it can penetrate into the wood and/or used as a dust if using Timbor. Boric acid (dust) is not water soluble and is only for crack and crevice treatments. Both forms are not repellent but when dealing with subterranean termites Boracare is not the best product to use as it will only kills the termites that physically ingest the wood. This can cause the termites to start dying off quickly which sends a signal to the queen below ground that the area is bad and this can cause them to move to another location that is possibly untreated or inaccessible. It is a great product for Drywood Termites which are all in the wood they are infesting. When dealing with subterranean it is best to use a product like Termidor SC or Dominion which will be a slow kill and have a transfer effect so that it can kill the entire colony below ground.
We would recommend giving the Bora-Care at least 24 to 48 hours to dry completely. Factors that could prevent the Boracare from drying complete within that time frame include applying to finished or treated wood, failing to mix the product completely before application, mixing too much Boracare concentrate for the amount of water (less than 1:1 dilution), or extreme weather conditions such as a very cold or humid environment. If the wood is very old and the moisture content is very low, that would also prevent the Boracare from absorbing as quickly or easily. If you applied the Boracare to raw wood surfaces, then it should eventually dry. It is common to continue to see some beetle activity after Boracare application since the Boracare cannot completely prevent dormant beetles from emerging. If you still have concerns about the texture after several days, you can also give Nisus (the manufacturer) a call for assistance at 800-264-0870.
Our liquid concentrate Taurus SC would be a great non-repellent that is great for soil applications for subterranean termites and is successful in termite colony eradication . Bora-Care alone will kill the dry wood termites very effectively. Non-repellents do not kill on contact. They have a delay kill which is what you want for termites. Bora-Care will kill termites much faster than a non-repellent product which can take up to 90 days to kill the termite colony. We suggest just using Bora-Care since it is the #1 treatment on the market for dry wood termites. For more helpful information, please check out our treatment article on How to Get Rid of Drywood Termites.
Bora-Care is always the recommended product for treating active Powderpost Beetles because it penetrates deeper into the wood, up to 8 inches with 2 applications. Timbor will only go about 1/4 inch so it will not get to the larvae already in the wood. Bora-Care can take up to 30 days or more to penetrate all the way through a piece of wood and this will vary depending on how thick the wood is and the moisture content. We would recommend applying the Bora-Care and not a second application of Timbor. The larvae stage in the life of the Powderpost beetle is the longest, lasting from 1 to 10 years before it will mature to adulthood so it can take time to completely erradicate them.
Please take a moment to read over our article on How to Get Rid of Powderpost Beetles.
