# treatment for lumber in new construction



## jbillups (Dec 28, 2011)

is there a chemical/solution to treat lumber and aid in repelling insects when framing house?


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## House2HomeLLC (Feb 17, 2013)

bluwood.com seems to be the norm but if you want something to apply yourself then that isn't an option.


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

If it's built right and the fountation gets pretreated you should not need to treat the wood.
If you insist then you can treat it with this or just get the rough framing up and any extermiator can do it for you.
http://www.doyourownpestcontrol.com/timbor.htm


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## House2HomeLLC (Feb 17, 2013)

Phone didn't let me finish. Bora care can be bought as a do it yourself product and there is a blue tint you can purchase seperately in order to give it a color so you can see where it has been applied. This is what I use when I build sheds for people so I don't have to pre order the wood.


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## noquacks (Jun 5, 2010)

House2HomeLLC said:


> Phone didn't let me finish. Bora care can be bought as a do it yourself product and there is a blue tint you can purchase seperately in order to give it a color so you can see where it has been applied. This is what I use when I build sheds for people so I don't have to pre order the wood.


Or you can make your own- all that is is some 20 Mule Team Borax (from grocery store), plus a dilute solution of regular anti freeze (ethylene glycol). Mix and stir , gradually adding the borax til it doesnt dissolve anymore (saturated). Paint it on.


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

Still trying to figure out why you think you need to go to all the extra effort and expence.
Something I'm missing?


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## Westies (Feb 22, 2013)

*Treatment for lumber in new construction*

If you use any of the boric acid spray-on solutions (I recall esp. for termite repel) don't do what a pest control firm did to us when I was new to housing stuff. 

So the worker of this well known pest chain service goes to our basement and sprays the solution up at the plate and ring board of our foundation (atop concrete walls). Of course he coated the nearby copper pipes of our hydronic and plumbing system and it took me awhile to see the corrosion (esp. at joints of course), and washing with mild bases (baking soda paste) did not stop the degradation. I replumbed within 3 years.

The house wasn't built with the zinc coat joist hangers of today but I assume the boric acid would eventually damage those and fasteners too.

Careful, chemistry can bite!


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## storageman (Apr 18, 2013)

I would only use wood that is manufactured by Louisiana Pacific. They use a special process that makes the wood siding resistant to nasty insects, termites and moisture. For more information on LP and the boric acid, visit the Louisiana Pacific website. I found this link here for LP siding used in storage buildings.


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## user1007 (Sep 23, 2009)

I liked treating walls of renovations with bora care or something like it. It is inexpensive and can help with things like roaches and ants. It certainly does not hurt anything to add it. As mentioned, the primary ingredient is Boron or Borax is one other trade name. I think Abatron still sells it but so do many others. Bora care comes as a liquid concentrate. Buying the ingredients in powder form and mixing your own is much cheaper if you want to spray it on. Otherwise you can just dust cross members. 

Good old cheap plastic bottles of roach powder are mainly boron too. Diatamaceous earth used in swimming pool filters sprinkled on cross members is another possibility. It is cheap too. 

Careful with run-off. Boron in high concentrations can render soil sterile for a long time. It's use an herbicide (it is one thing that actually works on Creeping Charlie) is banned in some states for this reason. Otherwise, it is a natural occurring mineral.


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