How To Treat Wood For Termites

How do you treat wood for termites? In this guide, we will discuss the features of termite-treated wood and the best termiticides to protect wooden structures in your home.

Termites take great pleasure in destroying woods.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, termites destroy over 600,000 homes in the US every year. The cost of repairing the damages they cause in the country reaches up to $2 billion annually.

This calls for more effective methods in the management of the pest, to reduce the damages homeowners face. One of such very effective methods that can be employed, is the treatment of wood for termites.

How is this done? You may wonder.

Well, in this article, we will show you how to be protected from termites by treating your wood with termiticides. So basically, you will learn how to treat wood for termites on structures using a variety of methods.

Preparing For Termite Wood Treatment

Termite infestations are not always easy to spot. In most cases, before you realize it, the termites have already eaten deep into your structures. And if you let them, they can eat down your house.

This is why termite proofing is very essential.

If you have no way of ascertaining the level of infestation you face or you lack proper knowledge about how termites operate, the first thing to do is call for termite control experts.

They will carefully inspect your entire house and inform you of the level of infestation and the damage already caused. The company would also suggest methods that can be very beneficial in preventing termites from coming back to your home.

However, if you can determine the level of infestation yourself, there are several ways to treat a piece of infested wood to wipe out termite colonies living in it.

Find how if termites eat these wood types.

Why You Should Treat Wood For Termites

Termite wood treatment comes with a lot of advantages.

First, it prevents termites from infesting your home. You can also use it as a preventive measure to block other pests from turning your house into theirs.

Apart from that, termite wood treatment saves you a lot of money which you may be forced to spend repairing damages as a result of infestations. If termites can be prevented from making a habitat out of your house, then the damages they cause can be prevented too.

Also, this option is one of the most effective methods of eradicating termites in a very short time. If properly done, you should begin to see results almost immediately.

Methods Of Treating Woods For Termites

There are several methods with which you can deal with wood termite infestations.


  1. Removing The Infested Wood

The first and easiest way is to remove the wood from your house and replace it with another. Though this depends on the position the wood is in your home.

If it is in a place where removing it may affect the entire structure, you may need to call for professional help.


  1. Coating The Wood With Anti Termite Paint

Anti termite paints are specially formulated with chemicals that repel or kills termites. When used to paint wood, they can go a long way to prevent termites from infesting structures.

There are several types of such paints you can use. One is Wood Protektor.

The good thing about this paint is that it doesn’t change the natural color of the wood. When applied to woods, it penetrates and goes deep inside, preventing any form of termite infestation.

The paint can be used to treat all kinds of wood for termites. You can apply it to the wood using a brush, swab, or spray.

Wood Protektor does not affect the strength of wood, so it is completely okay to use it in treating any kind of wood.


  1. Drill-And-Fill

This method has to do with drilling holes into the wood and filling it up with any termiticide you choose. This method is mainly used to treat an already infested wood.

The advantage this method has over the previous ones is that it takes the insecticide directly to where the termites are.

If you already have the termites inside the woods, this is the easiest way to eliminate them.

After drilling and filling the holes with a termiticide, you would need to close them up using putty or any wood patch. This will prevent the holes from turning into entry points for other pests out there.

For this method to work, you can use a termiticide like Cedar Bug-Free Termiticide to eliminate the termites. This concentrate emits a scent that causes the breathing pores of termites to close. Once that happens, they cannot re-open, leading to the death of the termites.

The termiticide does not only kills termites but also eliminates other kinds of pests from your home. So you stand to gain more when you treat your woods for termites using this chemical.

Safety Tips For Treating Untreated Woods For Termites

When it comes to treating woods for termites, you must apply some precautions to keep yourself and those around you safe. Some of the things you should do to stay safe are:

  • Read through the manufacturer’s instructions on the label of the chemical you want to use for treatment.
  • Ensure you put on gloves, safety goggles, and filtration masks during treatment to protect your eyes, lungs, and skin from the effect of chemicals.
  • Remove kids and pets from the area where wood treatment is going to take place.
  • Allow the treated woods to dry before using them again.
  • If there is a leftover of the chemical mixtures used during treatment, carefully close and store them in a safe place, out of the reach of children.

Best Termiticides To Use For Anti Termite Wood Treatment

Below are some of the best concentrates that can be used to treat woods to prevent termites from eating them.


  1. Bora-Care

When it comes to treating woods for termites, Bora-Care is widely regarded as the number 1 termiticide. The concentrate is mainly formulated for wood treatment, giving it an edge over every other chemical poison for termites.

The good thing about using Bora-Care for anti-termite wood treatment is that you don’t have to go through the stress of finding out the exact place the termites are and applying it there.

You just need to spray it evenly all over the exposed surfaces of the wood and it will penetrate deep to do its job. Regardless of the part of the wood where the termites hide, Bora-Care will locate them there.

Once you treat wood with Bora-Care, any termite that ingests it dies almost immediately. Another thing you need to know about this formula is that it stays in the wood forever. You don’t have to apply and re-apply it.

Once you apply it, it goes deep into the wood and stays there forever.


  1. Termidor SC

Termidor SC is a good wood treatment concentrate. The challenge with it is that it is only effective when you use the drill and fill method of treating wood for termites.

Without drilling holes into the wood you want to treat and filling it with the chemical, you may not see many results with Termidor. This is because it doesn’t take time for the effect on wood to fade.

Apart from that, the chemical kills termites by contact. Without that contact, termites can still move about freely. That is why you must drill holes on the wood if you are going to use this chemical compound to eliminate termites infesting your structure.

Termidor SC will wipe out termite colonies from your home and keep it protected for up to 10 years if you go about it the right way. It is one of the most effective termiticides to treat wood.


  1. Quaternary (ACQ)

This chemical formula was designed to be applied directly to make wood undesirable to termites. Treating your wood with Quaternary ACQ is a sure way to keep it safe from termite infestations for a very long time.

The concentrate is mainly made of Quaternary Ammonium and Copper, which makes it very effective in repelling and killing termites.

Once applied to woods, the effects can last for a very long time, keeping termites away from your home completely.

Conclusion

Termites cause a lot of structural damage every year in the United States and around the world. Being social insects, the presence of one could be an indicator that there are lots of them nearby.

In this article,  we have discussed how to treat wood for termites using various methods and termiticides.

Are termites causing problems for you at home? Are the critters about to eat down your structure?

Consider eliminating them, using any of the chemical compounds listed in this guide to treating your woods. You won’t just be killing them alone that way, you will also be preventing them from finding their way back to your home.

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