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Borate is a mineral that is mined from California. When borate is applied to wood, it makes the wood poisonous, so pests will not feed on the treated wood. If borate powder or a wood product containing or coated with borate powder is consumed, it kills the microorganisms that produce enzymes in the insect’s stomach, which means the insect cannot absorb nutrients and will die.

Spring and summer are beautiful times of year, but one of the biggest issues for log home owners is that termites and other wood boring insects come out of hibernation. Warm months are often full of the perfect weather for these insects to thrive, and each year, these bugs cause hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of damage to wood structures. While wood homeowners cannot control where these bugs live, they can control how appealing their home is.

Borate is a product used as a wood treatment that is used to protect wood from pests, bugs, wood-boring insects and decay-causing fungi. It has been widely used for more than four decades to preserve log homes, frame houses, wood artifacts and even wood boats. It is a naturally occurring mineral salt mined in California, and is completely safe to use in the home and on wood products that are in high-traffic areas.

Since there are no natural forces that break down borate, it will remain in the wood indefinitely. However, water damage and other erosive elements can wash the borate treatment off the wood, so be sure to seal the treatment with a stain or other sealant after applying the borate. To be safe, you can reapply borate treatments every six to 10 years to ensure maximum protection. Contact your local coating and wood home preservation store for information about the best practices for your area.

Termites eat away at wood, which leads to structural problems and eventual collapse. This blog post will provide information about how to identify termite infestation so that you can get the problem taken care of.

One of the biggest concerns of living in a wood home is termite and pest control. We have all heard horror stories of termites and other wood-loving bugs burrowing into a wood deck or eating up a wood structure. So how...

With all the confusing rhetoric out there about BORATES and how they protect wood from fungi and wood destroying insects, it's hard to determine the right products and methods of application, HELP!