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In many previous posts I discuss the use of boric acid during the process of replacing chinking, repairing logs and have identified several other uses where boric acid should be used as well as methods of application.

Boric acid works as a wood preservative — it kills mold, mildew as well insects and is very useful to have around any home - not just log homes.

I have received numerous emails and questions as to where to find boric acid. In fact more than one reader has emailed saying that they found boric acid at a local pharmacy which was both very small amounts and at an astronomical cost.

Boric acid is not very expensive and a little goes a long way.

I have placed in the side bar a link to the best source for boric acid they carry boric acid (PeneTreat) in the perfect sized quantities for most applications at a very attractive price.

Over a period of time I will be sharing my sources for materials as I have chosen them very carefully. I do not take such relationships lightly. Service and quality are chief concerns. I could easily load up on links to various suppliers of materials yet I refuse to do so. Links to such are chosen very carefully and only after extensive conversations.

Please follow the above link and should you wish to call them, ask for Mike Carey. He is a wealth of information. Tell him that Bearfort Lodge says hello.

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 boric acid and water —

Read More about wood preservative

In the last installment of Replacing a Rotted Log I left off where the log had been fitted and wrestled into position.

My next step was to fine tune the position and spike the log to the adjoining standing logs. I used galvanized spikes and drove them through the new log at an angle near each cheek at both the top and the bottom of the log positioned so that the head of the spike will be covered by the chinking. My crude diagram here shows the placement of the spikes from a few different views.

Since the log is being inserted to an existing log wall I am very limited as to the placement of the spikes and the size of the spike as I am having to attack the spiking from very awkward positions. I spike from two positions at each end and have drilled a tight pilot hole in the new log so that I do not run the risk of splitting.

Read more about replacing a rotted log

I make my own wood preservative. I could run out and purchase a similar preservative for about $95 a gallon or I can spend about $10 and make my own. I make a concentrate that I can store and when desired mix with equal parts of water use in a garden sprayer on my logs.

My ingredients for a home-brew wood preservative include Borax, Boric Acid and Propylene Glycol.

Read more about home brew preservative