Is Borate Treated Lumber Safe

The laminate or particle board formed can be treated during the production process with various borates including zinc borate.

Is borate treated lumber safe.

The msds sheet does not really address this. 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. Is treated wood as strong as regular wood. The active chemical is disodium octaborate tetrahydride and the product is marketed as advance guard treated lumber.

Boracare is non toxic but you still need to be safe when using borates. 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. Culpeper borate treated wood products are also backed by a lifetime limited warranty.

You can read more tips on how to remove paint in my 3 part series on paint removal techniques. 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. There are numerous advantages to using borate chemicals on lumber. 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.

Protection at its finest. View and download our borate safe handling instructions. What is pressure treated lumber. Although they are highly toxic to wood boring insects and fungi they exhibit low toxicity to humans and other mammals.

Treated plywood and zinc borate treated osb are performing very well against termites. Is borate treated structural lumber safe for using in vegetable gardens. When using pressure treated wood indoors check the label. Once the wood has been treated and kept dry the borate protection is extremely long lasting.

Answers to these questions and more. 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. Can you paint pressure treated lumber. 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.

Lumber treated with cca contains arsenic and is not safe. Dry rough lumber absorb borate chemicals readily.