Bora-Care - Questions & Answers

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.

The label states only to be applied to raw wood. Please contact Nisus 800-264-0870 for more information on treating around tung oil.

Yes, you can apply Bora-Care to pressure treated wood as long as there is not any kind of paint, stain, or water sealant already on the wood. Be sure you apply Boracare at a 1:1 diluation ratio with water for active insect infestations. You should then apply a water sealant to the wood after the Boracare has dried for best results.

You will need to either open the wall completely and spray or paint the studs with the mixed solution of Boracare, or use a termite injection tool to inject it directly into the wood. Another option would be to use an expanding foam like Termidor Foam or Premise Foam to drill holes on either side of the studs and inject it in to run down and expand around the stud, or drill holes into the studs in search of the galleries they have eaten away and shoot the foam into these spots for direct treatment. If you have drywood termites these treatment methods should get rid of the entire colony in the wall. If you have subterranean termites you will need to do a trench treatment to properly eliminate the infestation and protect your home. You can see the directions and products needed to complete the treatment in our article called How To Do A Termite Treatment. Please let us know if you have any questions.

Boracare can only be mixed with water. You cannot add Boracare to a paint of primer.

Yes, Boracare can safely be applied to a horse barn. Please make sure to keep the livestock out of the treated area, until it has dried. Also, be sure to follow the product label.

Woodworm is a wide term that could mean several different species of wood boring beetle larvae, but Powder Post Beetles are the most common wood boring beetle homeowners have trouble with.We recommend you take a few moments to read our article How to Get Rid of Powder Post Beetles to learn more about how to control this pest. Boracare is the top selling product on the market for powder post beetle infestations.

Yes, as long as the cabinets are in their raw natural wood state without any finishes of paints or stains on it, you could apply Boracare to the surface. Once the boracare has dried you would normally put some sort of finish over it to protect the cabinets from scuffs and marks and this will help seal in the Boracare even further. After the boracare has dried and fully absorbed into the wood, you can use the cabinets normally. Please let us know if you have any other questions.

You can not mix Bifen I/T with Boracare and there would be no reason to with the areas you are treating. Mixing the two products together can reduce the effectiveness of the ingredients and Bifen could hinder the penetration of the wood of the Boracare. If you are treating for Drywood Termites you would treat the raw wood directly with Boracare at either a 1:1 ratio for active infestation or 5:1 for preventative and allow the wood to dry. The Boracare will last for the life of the wood to protect it from future infestations of wood destroying insects and wood destroying fungus. If you are treating for subterranean termites, you could use Bifen I/T for a treatment around the foundation but a better product would be a non-repellant termiticide like Termidor which would last twice as long in the soil and has a transfer effect to spread to the entire colony. If you already have Bifen you could use it to do a direct spot treatment on a colony in a wall void but for the soil treatments Termidor would be a better solution. Please let us know if you have any other questions.

Boracare would be a great option for any exposed raw wood surfaces as it will last for the life of the wood and is not in direct shot of rain. However, if you are dealing with subterranean termites, which it sounds like by your reference to mud tunnels, you would need to treat the soil around the base of the structure to eliminate the colony as the Boracare will not get rid of the ones in the ground. Termidor is the number one product on the market for termite control and will eliminate both the termites currently in the soil around the structure and inside the structure, but will also protect it from any future infestations for at least the next 10 years. You can see our article on How To Do A Termite Treatment for the steps you would take to eradicate the colony and protect your structure without having to lift it higher from the ground. Please let us know if you have any other questions.

Boracare is the best treatment option for any type of wood destroying insect including powder post beetles. However, no matter how new or old the wood is Boracare can only be used on wood in its raw natural state. If the logs have any type of stain or finish on them you would need to either sand it off and apply Boracare and re-stain it, or drill holes periodically through the areas where you have activity and inject Boracare into the center of the wood. Please let us know if you have any other questions.

Boracare is not labeled for carpenter bee control as the boracare must be ingested to affect the insect. Carpenter bees only tear away at the wood, they dont eat it like termites do so they normally will not be affected. Carpenter bees are normally less attracted to treated wood but even after sealing the wood, you could use a residual spray like Cyonara 9.7 to spray across the deck to kill them just from landing on the treated surface. The Boracare however is THE product to use on wood for life long control of wood destroying insects like termites and carpenter ants as well as wood destroying fungus. Please let us know if you have any other questions.

You can apply Boracare to the wood at any of the stages described. You can paint it, spray it, or foam it on the raw dead wood.

We do not recommend applying Boracare to firewood. Burning any type of insecticide would release the active ingredients into the air. Depending on what you are treating for you could use a granular insecticide like Talstar XTRA up to and around the pile of wood. Please let us know if you have nay further questions.

We recommend contacting your Local Cooperative Extension Office and speaking with the Entemologist for a positive identification. Powder POst Beetles only thrive in decaying or dead wood. We do not recommend applying Boracare to live trees it would be very harmful them.

Drywood termites are usually very localized and can be treated by removing the infested wood and replacing it. If you choose to keep the wood you will need to treat it with a product such as Boracare. The wood must be unpainted, unstained or untreated. If the wood has been painted, stained or treated in any way you will need to sand it down to apply a product such as Boracare. Boracare will penetrate into the wood to kill existing termites. After 72 hours the wood should be sealed to sela in the boaracare. Boracare will then last the life of the wood.

Boracare should only be used to prevent carpenter ants. We do not recommend using it to treat a current infestation. Once the ant gallery has already been establsihed Boracare will not be very effective.  You can treat the current infestation by using carpenter ant bait or by direct treating with aproduct like Phanotm  Aerosol or Termidor Foam.

Yes, Boracare will penetrate up to 4 inches in the wood. You can foam, spray, or paint the diluted solution.

The mixing ratio of Boracare depends on if you have a current wood boring pest you are treating. If you do, we recommend mixing at a 1:1 ratio. If you are using Boracare as a preventative you can mix at a 1:5 ratio.

If the drywood termites are in the floors, you can treat the floors with Boracare as long as they are unfinished. Boracare can only be used on raw natural wood so if there is a stain or sealant on the floors, it will need to be sanded up first before applying the Boracare. If there are drywood termites in your furniture, your options are limited. You can either strip down the finish on it and treat, drill holes all throughout it to treat with either Boracare or a foaming product, or fumigate it. Most of the time fumigation is your best option as its the only way to gurantee you are going to get every last one of them that deep within the furniture. Typically for this treatment they bring a pod type device similar to that of a portable storage unit, and place your furniture inside and either heat it or fumigate it for a set period of time. Aftewards you air out the furniture, steam clean it if you want, and its completely safe to use as normal. There are just not many truly green options out there for termite control as it is such a specific treatment, and most areas are not places you will be inhabiting with extended points of direct contact to a surface. Please let us know if you have any other questions.