Enviro-Pest

Wood Beetles, Powderpost Beetles

Products for Killing Beetles in Wood

Pest control products designed for treating wood against wood destroying beetles (wood destroying organisms) have vastly improved. Through the mid 1980s, most homes were treated with chlorinated hydrocarbons (Lindane, Chlordane, Heptachlor) to kill powderpost beetles or wood beetles in the wood members of the structure. For soil treatment, some of these products offered excellent long-term protection from termites. Their performance on treating for powderpost beetles, old house borers was lacking in many ways. Chlorinated hydrocarbons are no longer available for use in the United States.

Today, homes and buildings are being treated with safer, more reliable products to protect them from wood destroying organisms. These new products are based on using ingredients that have been around for a long time.
Borate products (insecticides whose active ingredients are derived from boron) have been approved to the point where we can rely on them for long term protection from organisms that feed on cellulose in our homes. These new borates contain a heat treated boric acid. By treating and formulating these pesticides in such a manner, the active ingredients actually penetrate into the wood where damage is done by wood pests.
Trying to use regular boric acid products (such as Borid), mixing them with water and spraying them on wood, to protect your home is not a wise idea. Regular boric acid is not heat treated nor designed for killing powderpost beetle larvae inside of lumber. Heat treated products (after penetrating past the surface of wood) will crystallize inside the wood. This gives you the long term protection you need and delivers the active ingredients to the area where real damage occurs.
Adult powderpost beetles and old house borers do not feed on the wood. Their larvae are the real culprits that spend many years inside the wood of your home, feeding as they meander through the wood grains. It is inside the wood where damage is done and it is inside the wood where you want your wood protection products to go - and stay.

To protect your home, decks, barns or other structure from wood destroying pests (powderpost beetles, termites, Drywood termites, wood decay fungi) use a professional borate product designed for the job. The two most trusted products used by professionals and do it yourselfers are Bora-Care and Timbor concentrates. Bora-Care offers the longest control and deeper penetration than other borates. Timbor is often used as when a dry dust application as well as liquid spray is required for certain jobs.

Bora-Care (Boracare) is a liquid concentrated borate insecticide that lasts for many years inside of wood. After mixing the concentrate with water, this solution is sprayed or brushed onto the surface of wood. After drying, this product is safe and non-toxic. This is the product of choice for treating log homes (due to the thickness and abundance of wood) and for those who want the longest wood beetle protection possible for their homes. It is also used to treat antiques and furniture for protection from powderpost beetles, Drywood termites in wood furniture. Bora-Care is mixed one to one; each gallon of concentrate (when mixed with water) will make two gallons of wood spray solution. Each gallon of solution will treat 500 square feet of wood, giving you a total of 1,000 square feet yield per gallon of Bora-Care concentrate.

Timbor is a dry product that can be mixed with water to create a liquid borate wood spray or can be used in its original, dry form to dust wall voids and attics. When mixing for wood beetle or termite spray, use one pound of Timbor per gallon of water. This gallon of mixed borate solution will cover 200 square feet of wood. When using Timbor as a dry insecticide dust it can be applied to small cracks and crevices, between and beneath strips of insulation with a Crusader Duster. When broadcasting larger volume of product use either a crank duster or electric duster for best coverage and ease of application. (See Pest Control Dusting Equipment)
Timbor is available in two sizes: a 25 pound pail and 1 pound bag. For small jobs, 1 or more bags are all that is needed. For larger jobs, the pail is better. Timbor is not as desirable a product as Boracare when treating furniture. Since most furniture has a sealed outer surface, your borate insecticide application is usually made on the unfinished parts of the furniture (bottoms and inside). Boracare will readily penetrate through the wood, more than Timbor. Boracare will also dry clear when applied correctly; Timbor can leave visible residue on treated surfaces.

Whether you are treating your home, barns, garage or simply pieces of furniture, you will have good results when treating the wood with a professional borate insecticide wood preservative product such as Timbor or Bora-Care.

Powder post beetle Old house borer

Bora-Care (boracare) Timbor Borates

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Products for Wood Beetles, Powderpost Beetles