Is Borate Treated Lumber Safe
Treated plywood and zinc borate treated osb are performing very well against termites.
Is borate treated lumber safe. Is treated wood as strong as regular wood. Boracare is non toxic but you still need to be safe when using borates. What is pressure treated lumber. You can read more tips on how to remove paint in my 3 part series on paint removal techniques.
Culpeper borate treated wood products are also backed by a lifetime limited warranty. The msds sheet does not really address this. Step 2 protect yourself. Borate treated lumber is preferred by contractors and homeowners for building lasting protection into any home.
Borate treated lumber resists whatever nature dishes out including the devastating formosan termite whose colonies can eat 1 000 pounds of wood a year. Field test data also exists for exterior uses of borate treated wood. Lumber treated with cca contains arsenic and is not safe. Treated with disodium octaborate tetrahydrate dot and is a preservative that is epa registered and meets the standard 5 requirements of the american wood preservers association.
When using pressure treated wood indoors check the label. Protection at its finest. Is borate treated structural lumber safe for using in vegetable gardens. An internet search found borate treated wood available under several brand names including advance guard and hi bor both made by a company that used to sell a lot of cca treated wood so they should be just as easy to obtain.
The active chemical is disodium octaborate tetrahydride and the product is marketed as advance guard treated lumber. Once the wood has been treated and kept dry the borate protection is extremely long lasting. Depending on the composition used wood chips or wood saw dust the wood particles are fused with a resin system and placed under high heat and pressure to form a large board. Dry rough lumber absorb borate chemicals readily.
View and download our borate safe handling instructions. Boracare can only be applied to bare wood so the first thing you need to do is remove any paint or finish from the wood. Lumber treated with sodium borate sbx or micronized copper quaternary mcq is generally safe as long as you don t use it for a food surface or in a place where pets can chew it. There are numerous advantages to using borate chemicals on lumber.
Although they are highly toxic to wood boring insects and fungi they exhibit low toxicity to humans and other mammals. Answers to these questions and more.