You would indeed remove all food products from the cabinet. You would need to apply the Boracare to the raw wood, let it dry for at least 48 hours and then seal the wood with stain, paint, etc. After that has been completed you can put food products back in the cabinet.
Once Boracare is applied, it is recommended that you wait at least three days for the product to dry and soak through the entire piece of wood. Do not wait longer than six weeks to re-sand/stain/seal the floor.
The only way to get Boracare into a wall void would be to use it as a foam. You will need to use a foaming agent and a poly foamer. The mixing ratio is 2:1, meaning 2 parts water to 1 part Boracare. We would recommend using the high expansion formula so there is less moisture. Keep in mind Boracare can only be applied to raw wood.
If you have wood that you want to treat that is not already treated, painted, stained, etc., then you can apply paint, water sealant, or stain as long as a Boracare or Timbor treatment is dry. For Boracare you will usually need to wait at least 24 hours to make sure the application is completely dry. If you are treating wood that will be outside or otherwise exposed to rain and sunlight, then you should apply a water sealant to prevent the Boracare from breaking down over time.
As long as the top is sealed then you can safely apply Boracare to the underside if unsealed and it will penetrate through the wood. It would be recommended to allow the butcher block to dry for 24-48 hours before using again. Any food contact surfaces treated with Boracare must have a sealant applied after the Boracare has dried.
No Bora-Care, like any other borate product, cannot be used on trees or plants. It is for cut lumber only. Borates will kill any living plant, shrub, grass or tree. Termites do not attack live, healthy trees. If you have termites in a tree you would need to treat the nest directly by drilling holes into the dead parts of the tree where the colony is infested. This can be done with something like Dominion 2L. Most people are primarily concerned with protecting the big investment, their home, and Dominion or or Termidor would be the best product to use for that. Termidor is the top product and can last 10 years in the soil, whereas Dominion will only last 5-7 years. It is only labeled to be used adjacent to the structure, though.
Borcare can be applied to untreated wood only.
BORACARE when used as directed on the product label should have no negative effect on the flooring. Bora-Care dries clear and is used for this purpose all of the time, so it is no problem to stain and seal the wood after Bora-Care has been applied.
Bora-Care will take up to 30 days or more to penetrate all the way through the wood and eliminate a drywood termite colony in the wood.
We would recommend using two gallons of Boracare. This product will generally treat about 500 square feet.
Boracare is not labeled for carpenter bees. A dust, such as Delta Dust, would be an excellent option in the holes. It will make it uninhabitable for the bees to live.
No, Boracare should only be mixed with water and applied to raw wood.
We sell the product Boracare and are happy to assist you with ordering and using that product. We are unable to offer advice on how to create or manufacture chemicals.
Any untreated or unstained wood, including plywood, would benefit from an application of Boracare to help protect it from wood infesting pests, fungi and dry rot. If you do have an active infestation of pests in the wood Boracare would be the best treatment for that as well before you stain. When treating wood that may be exposed to rainfall, be sure to apply a water sealant after the Boracare application has dried.
Boracare should only be applied directly to wood. We would recommend using something like Termidor Foam in the wall voids. This product will be injected at the studs of the wall. Termidor Foam is a non-repellent so the termites do not know they are coming in contact with it. You can drill holes in the stud every 10-12 inches apart. This product has a residual of 3 months.
Boracare cannot be used to treat fruit or any other types of trees, as it would kill any type of plant life. If you can give us more information about what kind of pest you need to treat, we will be happy to recommend a different product for your needs.
We understand that the Boracare label can be tricky to follow. The text is referring to a gallon of undiluted solution, which makes 2 gallons of finished solution, while the chart is referring to diluted solution. So, one gallon of concentrate makes 2 gallons of finished solution when diluted at a 1:1 ratio, and that total amount of 2 gallons of finished solution covers 1,600 square feet (800 per gallon of dilution).
Both of the treatments mentioned in previous Q&A's for Boracare are correct as they are for 2 different application methods. If you are drilling directly into the stud you would follow the instructions of drilling every 6 inches and inject. If you want to foam into a wall void instead then you would follow the drill at the top and bottom on each side of the stud instructions.
Boracare must be applied to raw wood in order for the product to be effective and for it to be absorbed by the wood, so the trunk would have to be sanded if it's painted/stained. If Boracare is only applied to one small area, it would only go up a couple of inches or so. You can use Jecta instead to inject it into the wood, it is a ready to use form of Boracare, but holes must be drilled in order to inject the product into the wood. If these options are not something you want to do because it is an antique, you can speak to an antique dealer for recommendation or have the trunk fumigated by professionals.
If Boracare overspray got onto any finished surfaces, then should be able to clean those areas with warm, soapy water to remove any Boracare residual. The Boracare will not be absorbed into wood, concrete, or other surfaces that are finished, so it should be easy to wash off.
