Spray or other way to protect a few pieces of wood?


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Old 07-16-17, 01:10 AM
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Spray or other way to protect a few pieces of wood?

I'm working on a house in Central America.

Around here, most of the houses are built from concrete and metal. These are the only materials that have any chance of surviving the bugs and humidity.

I recently discarded a lot of termite-edible material that had been foolishly installed in the ceiling (cielo raso). There isn't much left in the house for the termites to eat, and the in-house nest (ewww) is gone.

I plan to finish this house with all termite-proof materials (pvc, tropical hardwood, glue-filled MDF). However, there is a wooden closet that I would like to keep. Most of this closet is made from hardwood, but there is some softwood present.

Does anyone know if there is a chemical that I can spray on/in the closet to make it totally inhospitable to termites? There are currently no clothes inside, and it can be kept empty for at least a few weeks.

A chemical name is better than a brand name, as brands differ between here and North America.
 
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Old 07-16-17, 04:03 AM
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In Costa Rica I go to the local hardware store (which is where I have to go to buy insecticides) and talk to them.
 
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Old 07-16-17, 03:10 PM
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BORA-CARE® » Nisus Corp

http://nisuscorp.com/images/uploads/...s_boracare.pdf

Bore-Care will penetrate unfinished wood, meaning bare wood only. If painted or stained or sealed then that must come off. The second link is for the label for Bora-Care. It will show you the active ingredient which is available in other brands as Bora Care is off patent now. Nisus is a good company that will give you phone support. Shell used to make one and maybe still does. The chemicals that you want will be a consistency of a gel or honey-like. The powders that you mix with water will not penetrate the wood more than 1/8” or so, unless the wood is wet inside which will draw the chemical to the moisture. Use warm water to mix with the honey like material and stir it only. Shaking it won’t help at all. Only stirring puts it into solution. Clean your eqpt well every time you use it. Usually it is a 1:1 mixture, meaning 1 gal concentrate to 1 gal water, 1 qt concentrate to 1 qt water, etc.

Read the labels and sales materials carefully as some will penetrate the wood thoroughly and others will stay near the surface. I suggest the more expensive materials that penetrate thoroughly due to the climate and nature of termites down there. Here in my own house I’ve used both during building and re-modeling.

I see that hardwood is present and none of these will penetrate as well into hardwood as it will into softwood but I would still do it. Is there any chance that you could treat both sides of the wood? I’m assuming the wood in question is 1” thick or less so it will still work though may need multiple treatments.

Hope this helps. Keep us posted.
 
 

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