Yes, Boracare can (and in many instances MUST) be used on pressure treated wood. As a termite barrier under Section VI of the label it is required to be applied twice to exterior wall sill plate and that is always pressuretreated.
All pressure treated wood that is cut or drilled MUST have a field treatment or end cut application in order to meet building code (including sill plate in a home - see IRC 2016 and AWPA Standard M4).
It is also useful to treat pressure treated wood as the heartwood is not treated properly by pressure treatment (especially refractory species such as Douglas fir, and the transition wood of pine decking is often the first to rot out and will greatly benefit from a treatment with Boracare with Moldcare at 5 years (see Lloyd et al., 2013).
Posts, piles and poles also have the heartwood issue and can be treated but this is often best done with Jecta.
If the beam is raw wood, you can treat all 4 sides using Boracare at 1:1 ratio. Boracare will penetrate into the wood and will kill active Powder post beetles.
There is no difference between Bora Care and Bora Care Commercial besides the name. There was a change in the label for marketing purposes but both products are chemically identical.
It is recommended that you keep pets and children out of the area treated with Boracare until the product has dried completely and any odor has dissipated.
If you are seeing white residue after applying Boracare, then there are a few possible causes. What usually happens is that either the Boracare was not mixed properly before it was applied, or too much product was applied to wood. Another possibility is that the Boracare did not have enough time to dry completely before the coating was applied. Typically Boracare dries in 24-48 hours. You can remove excess Boracare using soap and water, but we would try to avoid doing this unless there is clearly too much product applied. Another condition that could cause strange drying is if you are trying to apply Boracare to wood that has already been treating with paint, stain, sealant, oil, or another finish.
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.
BORACARE should be applied, dried and ventilated prior to anyone returning to the treatment area. If treatment is just in the attic and you are not in the area during treatment, then you can stay in the home.
Bora-Care does not have an odor.
You should apply Boracare to raw wood. You can then apply any stain, sealant, or paint after the Boracare application has dried, usually 24-48 hours.
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 (depending on the specific product being used). Boric acid (dust) is not water soluble and is only for crack and crevice applications.
Yes, it is fine to use any kind of insulation once the Boracare application is dry, typically in about 24-48 hours. Boracare will not interfere with an insulation application unless you do not allow the Boracare to be completely dry.
Bora-Care cannot be applied in a thermal fogger or a ULV fogger. It can be applied to raw wood by being foamed in the wall void (foaming concentrate and foam applicator equipment needed), painted on the surface, or in a sprayer. You will mix the Bora-Care concentrate in hot water in a separate container and mixed first. Then you will apply in your sprayer. It is a very thick liquid and should not be mixed directly in the spraying equipment (this could cause equipment damage) and will clog most fogging equipment.
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.
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.
Bora-Care is only labeled for use on raw, untreated wood. For an effective treatment we would recommend you strip the wood of any paint.
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.
We recommend waiting at least 3 days before sealing/painting (but no longer than 6 weeks) after applying Boracare.
Bora-Care is a one-time treatment unless the wood is removed or water conditions like exposure to rainfall or flooding weaken the treatment. If you are applying 2 coats of Bora-Care because you can only access 1 or 2 sides of the wood to be treated, then you need to wait at least 20 minutes between coats, allowing the Bora-Care to absorb before applying the second coat.
