Borate is one of the best ways to protect the unpainted wood in your home from future termite infestation—and to help contain any activity that may already be present.

Exterior paint does a decent job of protecting wood on the outside of your home, but it’s far from foolproof. As exterior wood seasons, it can crack. Certain areas—like the ends of rafter tails tucked tightly against fascia boards—often go unpainted altogether. A swarming termite only needs a gap the width of a sheet of paper to start a new colony.

Inside your home, the framing in most attics, garages, and crawl spaces is completely unpainted. Termite swarmers often enter these areas through vents. Once inside, wherever they land is fair game—there’s nothing on the wood to stop them from chewing. Because most people don’t routinely crawl around their attics or slide into their crawl spaces (and who can blame them?), termite activity can go unnoticed for years. What starts as a small issue can quietly grow into a major one that ultimately requires fumigation.

Painting your interior framing isn’t a realistic solution—the cost would be astronomical. A borate treatment, however, is a cost-effective alternative that can last indefinitely.

Borate works by eliminating the protozoa in a termite’s digestive system. Without these microbes, termites can’t process wood. They starve, or—quite literally—become fatally constipated. Borate is also relatively harmless to humans and pets; it’s found in common products like toothpaste and detergent.

Another major advantage of borate is reach. Attics and crawl spaces often have areas that are visible but physically unreachable—like the framing around a chimney tube. This wood is especially vulnerable because temperature fluctuations create condensation, which attracts termites. In my experience, roughly eight out of ten homes with chimneys have activity in the surrounding framing. Because borate is applied as a spray, a good electric sprayer can often reach into these otherwise inaccessible spaces. Borate products contain sodium, which helps the solution absorb into the wood instead of beading on the surface.

Under normal circumstances, if an inspector finds termite activity in inaccessible chimney framing, the typical recommendation is fumigation. But what if your home shares a structure with a neighbor who refuses to tent? What if fumigation simply isn’t an option? Even though borate treatments are considered preventative—not remedial—treating all the surrounding wood can still help contain the infestation. If swarmers emerge and try to start new colonies, they’ll likely chew through treated wood and be stopped before they ever get established.

Not All Borate Treatments Are Created Equal

Unfortunately, not every termite technician approaches borate work with the thoroughness it requires. Crawling through attics and drag­ging hoses or sprayers isn’t anyone’s favorite task. At some large companies, technicians are overloaded—especially at the end of the month—when two, three, or even four borate jobs might be scheduled in a single day. That’s more than a person can realistically complete without cutting corners. Since borate work happens out of sight, it’s often the first thing to suffer.

How to Make Sure You Get What You’re Paying For

If you’re hiring a large company:

• Avoid end-of-month appointments. That’s when techs are pushed the hardest.
  
  
• Ask your inspector how many gallons of borate the job requires. They should be able to give you a reasonable estimate.
  
  
• Ask the technician the same question when they arrive. Their answer should closely match.
  
  
• Pay attention to time spent in the attic. If the technician is in and out in a few minutes, the job was almost certainly not done thoroughly.
  
  
• Know your attic layout. If your attic spans the length of your home, you should hear the technician moving through the entire space.
  
  

How California Termite Does Borate Treatments

At California Termite, our priority is simple: provide treatments that actually work. A borate application is only as effective as the person doing the spraying, so we never rush jobs or cut corners. We don’t ask our technicians to do anything the owner of the company hasn’t done—or wouldn’t do—himself. Our goal is happy customers, and that means taking the time to do the job right, every single time.