Andrew asks about the homemade wood preservative:
Hi,
I found your post about the homemade wood treatment very informative! You mentioned at the end that you would post a recipe that didn’t use the antifreeze. Maybe I missed it, but I couldn’t find it anywhere. I’d be interested in that preservative, though… We will be building an Aspen cabin this spring, and need to give the logs a borate treatment once they’re peeled to avoid the black sapstain… I would prefer not to boil down the glycol in my kitchen, though, even though they call it “non-toxic”…. kwim?
Thanks,
Andrew
Hello Andrew –
I’ll have to go back and check — I thought I had posted that — regardless it is simply the borate-based powder, Timbor or Penetreat, and water –
Borate based powder on its own is an anti-fungal, insecticide – however you need to get it into the wood. — The glycol acts as the carrier – Glycol will replace any moisture in the log with glycol and pull the borate in with it — this works from the ends of the logs — Glycol too is an insecticide and anti-fungal. the two in combination are very powerful. A Post on the recipe can be found here.
Mix the borate based powder in with water in a 10% solution and dissolve it as best you can and using a simple garden sprayer you can apply it to your logs. — You CAN use the glycol instead of water — the only reason that I may cook it down on on outdoor stove is when I’m making or stocking up on concentrate.
You certainly do not need to cook it down since you will be using it right away.
Yeah you really don’t want to cook it down in your kitchen as it will make your kitchen smell a bit like an old garage for a while — if you were to cook it down – do it outside.
For your purposes I would just mix the borate powder with the glycol following the directions in above linked article — and spray on your logs –
Keep in mind that the mixture will penetrate best from the ends since it is from the ends that you have wicking action –
You will have – after everything dries – a light white dusting of borate powder crystals visible on the exterior of the log — I would just leave them be until you are ready are finished with the log – once you are complete with construction and ready to move in — then wipe off or brush off the residue from the logs or stain over it if you are applying a stain. I would suggest the glycol-borate mixture for the exterior only. If you are working with logs before they have been assembled then stick with just the application of borate without the glycol.
Borate powder, glycol or a mixture of the two are great as a preservative, insecticide and preservative however they are not going to help you on the sap stain.
Removing sap is tricky. I take it your logs are somewhat fresh — good deal. Ill have to sit down and go through my files – If I remember right I had used acetone at one point then cleaned and bleached the area with a combo of cascade dishwasher soap and water. — The problem with sap is that is does not easily break down but I may have a way to clean that up — I’ll have to go back in my archive files here at the lodge.
I have about 12 pounds of pine sap and pitch here so I could do a few experiments (I use the sap or pitch to seal my birch bark canoe).
I’m heading out this morning to take a look at a log home of a reader that is facing some rot issues and will not be back until late Thursday evening – On Friday I’ll start going through my files and see if I can find my sap blaster recipes.
I’m glad that you found the site helpful and I’ll check on that post with the other recipe I may not have properly linked or archived it.
I would love to hear more about your building project – Love to hear when people are building their own log homes – and the fact that you are getting ready to peel your logs already tells me a great deal — Fantastic.
I hope to hear from you soon
{ 52 comments… read them below or add one }
Sir – I have about 2000 sf of deck and dock that are 1×6 treated deck boards about 5 years old. The box store wood treatments are $80-120 for 5 gal and only cover 150 sf/gal…quite an expensive treatment. My question is if I getG and borate powder do I need to add timbor or penetreat? I am kind of confused about the optimum mix for this application.
Regards – Randy
Hello Randy — Both Timbor and Penetreat are a borate based product. I would not really recommend using a glycol and borate mix to use on your deck. I do not recommend using the glycol borate mix on surfaces where there is high level of human of pet contact. Instead – for your application take a look at the wood preservative that Michael Dutton has suggested as it can be used on decks. The borate Glycol mixture is to be used only in areas where there is rot to stop and prevent further decay.
I had read in an article where the person mentioned drilling every 18 inches on the wall and injecting boric acid into the hole and then caulking it up. With your recipe of boric acid,propylene glycol and borax mixture,do you think that would get better results to do it that way? I saw swarmers on my porch the other night and I crawled under the house and I saw a tube going up one of the cement blocks. I’m really sure I have subterranean and maybe drywood termites. My smart roomate put some wood pallets for a temporary winter cathouse around December and I pulled up the pallets up about a month ago because I was worried about termites and there they were. This was on the front porch next to the house. After removing the wood pallets the termites starting building tubes up the cinder blocks next to where the pallets use to be. I have drop ceiling tiles where I have easy access to the wall roof section and would like to inject this mixture into all the beams if possible cause I don’t have the money for an exterminator. I have that loose celluose insulation in the walls also.
Hello Leslie –
Although I’m familiar with a variation of that method using Borate Impel Rods I guess you could use the recipe and make a thick paste of the mixture and inject it as you described.
Yeah not a good idea to store pallets or firewood in the basement of next to the foundation.
You could try using the dry borate – and dust the affected areas with that.
Hi again – Forgot to mention that the 50/50 mix of Gum Turpentine and Raw Linseed is based upon 500 grams of each to make 1 liter
Regards
Michael Dutton
Hi, i am back again with another recipe for timber preservation. My last post covered the use of Borates in pre-treatment of the timber. This post will cover the finish treatment of timber using 100% natural prervatives. We use this method on our Log Cabins and Log Homes and it is a very old traditional method that fell out of use over time due to petrochemical companies making cheaper alternatives. These alternatives, apart from containing a mixed concuction of various chemicals and additives, some of which are quite nasty, are no longer cheaper and the old time proven method used by the Scandic Countries for centuries is now a very viable and cost effective choice, and to top that it is far superior than the petrochemical alternatives. The recipe consists of the following;
1. 50/50 mix raw linseed oil and gum turpentine
2. 100 grams of Pine Tar for light finish or 300 grams for darker finish (Natural earth pigments can be added to vary colours – weights of pigments should range from 10 grams to 50 grams, although experimenting is always a good way with not forgetting to make notes and samples)
3. 100 to 200 grams of Isopropyl Alchohol
Mix all the above and shake vigoursly before use. For better results, warm up (do not boil) and then apply to timber. Warm oils will penetrate deeper. Do not use Boiled Linseed as this has partly polymerised and has larger molecules. Raw Linseed has smaller molecules and will penetrate deeper. You may hear that every creature and fungai will want to eat the raw linseed even after it has dried, however this is not true as the Pine Tar makes the raw linseed very unsavoury to insects and fungai and is also poisenous to them. Retreatent of the logs should occur evry five to seven years depending on local climatic conditions. When first applied, the timber will have a smoky smell to it, but this will dissipate after several days, and if applied indoors it may take a little longer to dissipate. The gum turperntine in the mix may be substituted by Limone Turpentine (made from citrus fruit skins), and this will leave your Log Cabin or Log Home with a faint background smell of citrus orchards. I will make further posts later, but in the meantime enjoy this one, especially if you prefer natural and organic traditional methods.
Regards
Michael Dutton
Managing Director
The Tsarina Imperial Dacha Co Ltd
Michael — Thank you again for such excellent and helpful information – As before I will get this posted as an individual post. Many thanks!
Thanks for your help w/ the preservation techniques. we have culled a large number of charred pine timber that we plan to build a wooden corral and arena for our horses. As we live in coastal Georgia, you can imagine the issues with moisture, insects (termites), etc. Correct me if I’m wrong, but your techniques of borat will also help deter termites, won’t it? I have heard of using old motor oil as a soak for wood going into the ground. Will your treatment be affected by this, and do you think this is a good technique ? Also, any good tricks for removing tree (pine) bark? Thanks for all of your info…
I was wondering if anyone has ever tried a mix of diesel fuel with foundation coating as a preservative?
Hello Dave — It never crossed my mind – I would think, apart form the odor that it could present other situations — Im not sure what the benefit would be.
Hi. I found your article very interesting. I live in Calgary, AB, where the weather is unpredictable. Generally, it’s dry in the summer (more rain lately though) but could be nasty at times in the winter. I have rough sawn timbers that I’d like to use to make fence posts. This is what I understand so far when applying the “solution”: brush it well on the sides of wood. However, the butt/end part, should I dip it in the solution if so for how long?
Since these posts would be exposed to the elements 24/7, do you think that the boric acid/borax/glycol solution will prevent from rotting? Do you have any other way to prolong the durability of the posts?
Your comments to R: “IF you were to use it on the fence posts I personally would want to stain and seal it soon after and keep the dog, cat and your 8 year old away from it for a while.
I dont think that boric acid will really do you much good as the fence is exposed to the weather. Boric acide helps to kill off insects and mold mildew but that is best used on wood that is protected from the elements and not directly exposed to rain.”
I am a bit confused, on one hand you suggested to stain and seal it but on the other hand you said that the solution will not have much effect as they are exposed to the elements.
Your advise is greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
at
Hello At –
Thanks!
First off – for your application the glycol-borate mixture should work well especially with rough sawn wood as the grain of the wood is open. The ends of the boards will be able to absorb the glycol better as there is the capillary action of the wood. – Brush or spray it on the sides and stick the ends ( really the end that goes into the ground primarily) into a bucket of the mixture – how long? Personally I’d give it a couple of hours or over night to let it wick up into the wood. Some of the dissolved borate will be pulled into the wood however, the borate that remains on the surface and re-crystalized when dry will either get washed away in the rain, be brushed off or wear off quickly unless you plan to paint the fence thereby encapsulating it.
I believe that the best choice is to just use the glycol – or check out Michael Dutton’s suggestion on wood preservation below.
Thanks — I should clarify–
The glycol will have impact but because his fence if left unpainted would leave the raw wood exposed to the elements the borate would simply wash off a stain and seal on the fence following treatment would help to extend the benefits of the borate.
Any time you are using PG its a good idea to take all precautions about using it where there is high probability that is comes into regular contact with people or pets. I don’t think there is much harm in casual contact certainly once it is dry – but you should at least consider all precautions.
I am an architect salvaging my way into a new house. I took down a barn last summer and plan on using the timbers for a significant portion of the house. There is sign of some PP beetles, but nothing extremely significant. I was planning on using a homebrew treatment but had a couple of questions.
1) Most of these timbers are going to be located on the interior of the house. Is there any concern using either the borax, boric acid or PG on wood we might touch on a daily basis?
2) Everyone seems to be using this on fresh cut logs with high moisture content. My wood is over 100 years old and pretty damn dry…… do I need the PG to get good penetration in this dry wood or will water be sufficient?
thanks
dan
Hello Dan –
Ouch – Powder post beetles can do some serious damage. If you apply the borate with a 10% or more concentrated solution to the wood in question – after the wood has dried – the water should at least in part have pulled some of the dissolved borate into the wood – you will find a slight white residue on the surface of the wood which you can simply wipe off. The borate is fairly inert stuff when it comes to humans but you should take all precautions to make sure the surface has been completely cleaned of the dried residue. If you are oiling or using some other finish on the wood that would be applied after treatment that should sufficiently encapsulate and residual material as well.
You could, instead of a broad application, use a large veterinary syringe without the needle and filled with a concentrated solution (water – borate), inject the solution into the holes and tracts of the beetles.
Water would be sufficient – the PG is used when you have damp wood. I would suggest spot treating using the syringe method just to be on the safer side.
I hope that helps
other natural materials that can replace borax?
Hey Jennie — I’m not sure – borate is a natural material – it is mined but for the properties is has as a natural insecticide – at least in one of its forms – its hard to beat.
i am thinking about treating the exterior walls of my garage with the borate/glycol mixture. The vertical siding is rotting & deteriorating where the rain water splashes up on it. The bottom 2 or 3 inches is pretty much gone. I already replaced the siding along the back for the same reason & want to avoid having to do the same on the side. It’s expensive & alot of work. Would this solution stop the rot, so I can get away with just “patching” the bottom edge? Also, what purpose does the borax serve? Does it need both the boric acid & the borax or can I just use one or the other? How long does it need to dry before painting it?
Thanks for your input.
Hello Shane – The mixture kills fungi – The glycol will follow the moisture and carry the dissolved borate with it. Both are effective at killing mildew and fungi – and the borate is very effective at killing insects. As the glycol dries the borate crystals will reform in the wood. As to replacing boards – thats a call you would have to make depending upon how bad the rot is. You can use just the glycol – if you were to use just the dry borate you would only really get it on the surface of the area.
If you are having to stabilize rotted wood to strengthen it – check out a two part epoxy system for strengthening rotted wood made by a company called Abatron. Excellent stuff.
I would let the wood dry thoroughly before applying any paint as you do not want to encapsulate moist wood.
hello,
great site.
We are renovating a old log lodge (built in 1918). it was unused for several years and in pretty bad shape. we have been working on it for last year and a half and finally we can see the moving in day… but….
we have taken some steps to make sure that the house will be there for years to come, the house was striped and later sprayed twice with wood preservative made of boric acid and propylene glycol (simpler version of your original preservative).
some 3 logs were changed, but other wood was pretty OK. now the house is finished, but in basement we have found last week some dry rot fungi growing on one joist. what to do? any recommendations? the house was damped proof as possible, but the basement has a
humidity level of 70-80% and is not well ventilated with constant temperature of about 55F, which makes it quite perfect for food or wine storage. now we need to do something before the dry rot fungi make some damage. the area covered by fungi is quite limited at the moment and wood affected is still sound. what to do? reapplication of preservative? Should the reapplication help with dry rot? Should we try to inject the preservative into wood? Maybe using undiluted paste?
FYI I made some research and found that TIM-BOR is really a mixture of borax and boric acid in proportion 1,54:1, if you heat the two substances together you get Disodium octaborate tetrahydrate or main substance of TIM-BOR. so your recipe is really TIM-BOR in propylene glycol or BORACARE… as I found a cheap source of Disodium octaborate tetrahydrate, do you think this can be mixed with propylene glycol as well or should I stick to original recipe…? do you think it dissolves without cooking in cold propylene? Any idea?
Hello Iztok — Thanks!
Wow sound like a wonderful project.
As far as dry rot is concerned – dry wood does not rot as wood need moisture so with respect to the basement I would employ a dehumidifier and get some good ventilation directed to the outside. You need to get that humidity level down.
As for the joist in question you could spot treat it with the borate glycol mix. That should help. The paste idea is worth a shot.
Yup thats what I’m making – BORACARE. You could mix that with the glycol – yes cold is fine it will dissolve.
what is the best way toi treat my 2400 sq ft wood fence?
Hello Jack — for a wood fence I would try the borate and propylene glycol mixture and while wearing protection spray it on with a garden sprayer. — Do try to avoid getting it on your plantings and avoid areas where there is potential and regular human contact – just to stay on the safe side
Need a little info, would the mixture of the borac acid and marine anti-freeze be good for dry wood termite control here on the coast in Florida. I have a small problem that I need to take care of ASAP to prevent the spreading of the termites. You have a great website with some good info for us folks trying to be environmentally safe.
Hey Tommy – Thanks!
I would use a mixture of a 10 to 20% solution of a borate based product like Penetreat and water since the wood is dry and spray it liberally on the areas affected as well any other areas of concern. You may also want to apply dry Borate around the crawlspace near the foundation.
Hi there
I have a log building business in Scotland, UK and have been reading your articles on the use of Borates. We only use borates for the preservation of our logs. All logs are pre-treated with a 20% (10% Boric Acid and 10% Borax) by weight ratio with water onto our freshly processed timber whilst the moisture content is still very high. The water acts as the carrier for the borates which are then transported deep into the timber. One added benefit of the use of the borates is that they also act as a flame retardant. Once we get to the jointing stage of our logs, usually after several weeks of processing the logs (we machine round our logs) we then carry out a sealing process which can also be used on dried timber. This involves a mixture of cold pressed linseed oil and gum turpentine (the real stuff, not the petroleum imitation turpentine). We add a 2% (1% Borax and 1% Boric Acid) by weight ratio mix of the borates and apply to the timber. It takes around 24 to 48 hours to dry but gives a matt gloss finish and moisturises the timber. This mixture also helps to reduce checking of the logs whilst also carrying out its other functions as an insecticide, anti fungal and flame retardant. The oil’s main funtion is to act as the carrier for the borates to deliver them into the dry timber, and when the oil reaches a moist arear of the timber the borates are then tranferred over to the water to continue the transport process. This method is one of the most efficient of all methods of timber preservation and best of all it is non-toxic, environmentally friendly and uses totally natural raw materials. Retreatment is normally required after 10 to 12 years, although intermittent touch up is also a good thing. Points to note when calculating weights of the liquids involved is that the weights will vary depending on the liquid and their specific gravity. To help i have listed them as follows using water as the reference weight;
1 Liter water = 1 kilogram
1 Liter Linseed Oil = 0.93 kilogram
1 Liter Gum Turpentine = 0.87 kilogram
Mixing is then just a simple matter of maths
Remember never to store your raw linseed oil in sunlight otherwise it will become stand oil which is thicker and does not carry the borates as effectivley as cold pressed linseed oil. Linseed oil also darkens over time.
Tung Oil rather than linseed oil in the same mixtures can also be used as has been traditionally used by the Chinese for centuries in timber preservation, however one has to be careful as it is made from nuts, and should you have a visitor who suffers from nut allergies you could inadvertantly activate their allergy. As the oil is also a water barrier, your logs are protected from the rain, coupled with the borates you have a fully protected log that with care and maintenance should help keep your log home preserved for generations.
I hope this information is useful to you, and should anyone wish to contact me i can be reached on skype with the user name of rasputinscotland.
Regards
Michael Dutton
Hello Michael —
Thank you so much for your response — this is great information. As such I have turned it into it own post Log Cabin and Timber Preservation Practices of Michael Dutton.
Thanks for the recipe for Boric Acid, Propylene Glycol and Borax. I heard about it from a friend but didn’t have a specific way of making and using it. I will be applying it over a post and beam structure with strawbale infill. The mix seems to address several potential problem areas such as termites, ants, fungus and fire retardance. Cheers, Eric
Thanks Eric ! I’m glad you have found it helpful
i need your advise on how i can both water proof and render my wooden sheep house termite free. waterproofing will be important for i need to keep sheep almost permanently housed.
i read your replies to the bloggers where your suggestions are to use boric acid/glycol mix to preserve the timbers. but i need ,additonally, to take care of the slats by protecting them from the sheep’ urine.
can i please benefit from your expertise?
Hello Wally – Since you are dealing with animals that would be difficult to keep away from potential contact with surfaces I would suggest using a 10% to a 30% solution of borate and water for the interior and perhaps the exterior. On the exterior where wood comes on contact with or is in close proximity to the ground and where wood gets a lot of moisture I would think that the 10% solution borate and glycol would work well – as long as you can keep the sheep away from it.
On the interior floor a dry borate could be used – as far as wood floors I would stay away from using glycol in any interior area especially the floors or where sheep are kept as they nibble on the boards – I have had several suffolk sheep. Im not quite sure about the floor – perhaps a linseed oil to water proof ( I dont know how it would stand up to urine) or simply using dry hydrated lime – although I wouldn’t want sheep to ingest it.
I have always kept the floor dry using lots of good bedding, a good absorbent such as a layer of cat littler and cleaning it out on a regular basis – preferably not on a hot summer day.
I have a farm and in the barn I keep the walls whitewashed. Have you ever thought about whitewashing the interior?
What homemade remedy would you be able to makr for cedar roofing (which IS exposed to the elements)?
Hey Samb – Hmmm — you mean as a sealant or preservative? Cedar is pretty rot resistant on its own. I’m not quite sure about what would be best but perhaps some sort of solution of a thinned out linseed oil that you could spray on easily. That would certainly enhance the water proofing. I dont know how often you would have to apply – meaning would it last for a few years? or would it have to be resprayed seasonally? — I don’t know? Before using such I would certainly check with a roofing specialist as well as your insurance company. Think fire safety before applying any such coating to your roof.
We are building a cabin using logs we milled ourselves, different kinds of wood. The first two courses of log are cedar, then it’s a variety of oaks, pine, cedar. We have treated with the glycol / boric acid mix. The whole cabin has a wrap around porch 8′ wide. But we also want to seal the exterior. Can you recommend a formula for sealer that we can make which will prevent mildew, prevent insects, and not change the appearance of the wood very much? We live in north Louisiana – lots of humidity. Thanks!
Hello Donna – Hmmm I’m not quite sure of a formula for a sealer other than using either a linseed oil or the products commonly used for such purposes such as made by Weatherall – Like UV guard that has like protections formulated into it. Lets ask the readers and perhaps we will get some further guidance.
I also am very much in need of a way to remove sap from a freshly cut pine log that we are using inside a cabin for support and looks. We plan to put it up now, and then wait a year or so before sanding it and clear coating it as well. I would really like to avoid the nasty sticky sap from getting all over my kids hands! Any info would be greatly appreciated, also I live in Kentucky. Thankyou, Heather C.
Hello Heather – Brian recently commented that he uses Pinesol – and says that it cleans his saw blades of sap — sounds like a good idea
I HAVE A SAWMILL.I USE PINESOL IN MY WATER BOTTLE TO KEEP PINE SAP OFF MY BLADES. IT IS VERY SAFE TO USE FOR SAP CLEAN UP ON MY HANDS.
Brian – Great idea – I had not considered that — Thanks for the suggestion!
Hi Bearfort,
I just found your site , thanks for being here..
We are almost finished with our home and are wanting to treat it .. Do we treat both the inside and the outside ?? It’s built of mostly Douglas Fir and is on an above ground basement..
Thanks , Vicki
Hello Vicki – Thanks! Ahh very nice congratulations!
I would treat only the exterior and using the borate and glycol mixture treat only the log and and spot treat exterior knots and checks before applying the final finish. I would use the borate dry dusted between the logs before chinking. I do not recommend using glycol on the interior of your home at any time nor on the exterior in high traffic of easily accessible areas.
I’m a first time DIY log home builder. My logs are logdepole pine and were stacked in July 05. I had the roof on by mid-November, but not before the logs got rained on and now have have some slight darkening. For the most part, the logs are protected from sun and rain by a wrap around veranda. I’ve learned the hard way that I should have treated and protected the logs right after they were stacked but that’s water under the bridge. What approach would you recommend to take on the preservation/protection on the logs?
Hey Mark – Tough questions. I would clean the logs first. If you can dry brush them – great. If not and you need to deal with soiled logs and water stains then I would make a mild cleaning solution of Cascade Automatic Dishwasher soap (powder) and water. This will help to remove the stains, clean and brighten the wood without damaging it. See this article on home made cleaning solution.
Next I would use a mixture of a borate based product like Penetreat or Timbor and paint it liberally only on the ends of your logs and spot apply it to exposed grain areas such as knots and or inside checks. The wicking action of the log will help to pull both the borate and the glycol into the log. You don’t want the glycol on the interior portion of the log.
If you are continuing to store the logs you may want to make a 10% solution of borate and water and generally spray the logs. Make sure your logs are stored off the ground – and not in direct contact with the ground – stack them so that there is adequate air circulation around the logs and protect them further from the elements during storage by covering them with a waterproof tarp tented to as to promote air circulation and water drainage.
Hello Vickie – I am sending you an email with my phone number to talk to you about your project.
Normally I would use a wood preservative and paint it on the entire board but this really depends on the application — how are you going to use the board?
This ma sound funny but if you are going to use the board on the inside then I would take a different route than I would if using the board on the exterior.
In general you can paint it on — and thats it — but knowing how you are going to use the board may change my response — Please check your in-box for my email.
I am very interested in preservative. I have a ‘raw’ board 10 1/2″ widex 34 1/2″ long about 1/2″ : thick. How long to soak from the ends, then how long to dry? Do I just allow the board to soak standing it up in the liquid to allow the ends to wick it up or do I put it on the board like paint and allow to soak in? You can tell I know Zilch about this process but need it pronto for a house safety project. Help as much as you can, PLEASE. Your expertise will be immensely appreciated.
Hello Gary — Thanks for the information. Always good to hear from an architect.
Yes — ‘boric acid’ is pretty inert stuff – well to people and pets anyway.
Yes, I am familiar with both Timbor and Penetreat and happen to have a five gallon bucket of the powder in my basement. I’ll have to do some research and find out if there is any relationship of PEX to propylene glycol — interesting — Thanks for the info!
For the interior wood I would recommend about a 1:1 mix of Boric Acid and Borax dissolved in water and sprayed onto dry wood. Its pretty nontoxic to people and pets and soaks into the wood if it is dry enough. Has to be protected from water. The Borax web site seems to recommend one coat of primer and two coats of paint if used outdoors.
There is a patent from about 1982 on the web, that talks about mixing the two chemicals. Also, Borax markets a mixture under the name “Timbor”, and I looked up the code approval for the stuff a few minutes ago, and it seems to be along the same lines.
I remember an article in the journal of light construction years ago, where the guy recommended a ratio of 1:3 for the two chemicals, but couldn’t figure which was which.
By the way, I found an old book on PEX treated wood projects some time ago. I wonder if this is the same as propylene glycol? If so, it is an interesting material that even archeologists are starting to use to preserve specimins (sp?).
… an interior designer told me that AIA stands for Another Idiot Architect…
The bait stick sounds like a good idea — take a look into borate impel rods. The glycol can be sprayed on directly this should soak into the wood but the fact that you are doing this on an inertrior – I would stay away from using glycol besides glycol is best used when wood has been getting wet — your wood is dry.
Dusting the area with borate based product like Penetreat or Timbor would be a must — as the termites venture through it they will get particles of the powder on them and it quite frankly sucks them dry of moisture.
If you wanted you could make a 10% solution of the borate with water but I wouldn’t advise in this instance to use the glycol.
Propylene glycol is best when used in wet areas on the exterior of your home as is follows the water or moisture and replaces it and pulls the borate in with it. Your application is a little different.
Dust the area well with borate powder. Use the Skype and give me a shout and lets talk about this as well.
REMEMBER if you are going to use glycol – any time you are using the glycol – PLEASE take all safety precautions
the wall had some old 2bys but most of it was new ones, a couple they ate completely into . and will have to be replaced . some of the old ones are riddled through the grain . they came out of the wall at the floor and into a cardboard box . thats how we found them .
do you mean to use the powered boric acid and just dust it on there .
also I thought about drilling a hole and putting a bait stick in it thats supposeto kill them. we had our house treated years ago , but I guess that it wears off over time. thanks for the advice.
jerry
Hello Jerry — This is certainly one step you can take — However — I would suggest that in this instance, being interior, I would just use the borate powder. You can certainly use the glycol and borate mixture however the borate by itself should do the trick —
This of course depends on how eaten the wall is. Do you have any photos of the damage? — how deep have the termites gone?
Another way to attack this situation is with borate impel rods.
I have an interier wall in the basement that the termites have ate up . Can I spray on the mixture of boric acid and rv antifreeze .Before I cover it up again.
Hello R! — Thanks for checking out the site and for your questions! — Ahhh Kentucky is so beautiful – I ‘m familiar with the Carroll and Trimble County areas. – Beautiful.
Texas is too mind you – I take it that the humidity down there is killer.
Hmm A cedar fence. Cedar is naturally resistant to rot and mildew how ever it can get a black mold on it. I would imagine that the sun ill bleach it out quickly there as well.
There are some very good products on the market – I’m surprised by such quick deterioration.
The quick answer to your question is Yes and No – With great caution:
Yes — You can use the glycol treatment – If you use it I recommend the antifreeze used in marine environments – or RV antifreeze as it is environmentally friendly and less toxic than ethylene glycol. Please stay away from Ethylene glycol. Both should be used only at your own risk.
If the fence is in proximity to a play area I would use extra caution. Is this fencing in where your 8 year old and dog play? I assume so.
The glycol can be sprayed or painted on however absorption is going to be at the ends as the fibers in the wood would pull or wick the glycol up through the fencepost. You would have very little penetration on the sides or the faces of the post.
If you were to use it on the fence posts I personally would want to stain and seal it soon after and keep the dog, cat and your 8 year old away from it for a while.
I don’t think that the borate will really do you much good as the fence is exposed to the weather. Borate-based preservatives help to kill off insects and mold mildew but that is best used on wood that is protected from the elements and not directly exposed to rain.
The borate, if used can be sprayed on in a mixture with the glycol but here again you should protect passers-by by staining and sealing the fence post.
I use the mixture or the parts individually but then again i dont have little ones running around that would have access to the areas in which I use it.
I am going to send you my information and we can have a telelphone conversation about this.
Hi. I have an odd question and thought maybe you could provide some insight. I’m from Kentucky but am living in the Houston, Texas area now. I am having a new fence made from cedar put up on my property. I have never seen the mold, mildew, and general decay of wood products (as well as others) that occurs down here. A 30 year roof lasts 12-15 down here!!! I have been told that the wood is preserved with an antifungal and antimold treatment but have seen these fences look horrible in less than a year despite this. So, I am wanting to preserve the wood myself and then stain it. Is this boric acid/glycol treatment something one could use to preserve a fence? Are there any problems with staining over it? How long would one wait between the glycol treatment and then the staining? I have an 8 year old, as well as a dog and a cat, are there any toxic or environmental considerations? Thank you in advance for your time and I appreciate any advice you can provide.
Thanks,
R
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