Stopping Powder Post Beetles

[maradcliff]

I bought an antique horse drawn wagon at an auction. For it's age, it's in good condition. However, the wood is infested with powder post beetles and I can see fresh dust by some of the holes.

I am looking for a method to kill all live beetles inside the wood.

What can I use?

Someone recommended using an insecticide sprayer and soaking the wood with straight bleach. Will this work? I prefer using something which is not poisonous or harmful to the environment. Bleach would fit this need. It is a poison, but will not leave harmful residue and aside from making the wood lighter, it should not cause any damage, and is also cheap to buy.

Will bleach work? What else can I use? What if I sprayed with kerosene or another oil?

Mark

[Lar]

In article , [e-mail] says... :) I bought an antique horse drawn wagon at an auction. For it's age, :) it's in good condition. However, the wood is infested with powder :) post beetles and I can see fresh dust by some of the holes. :) :) I am looking for a method to kill all live beetles inside the wood. :) :) What can I use? :) :) Someone recommended using an insecticide sprayer and soaking the wood :) with straight bleach. Will this work? I prefer using something which :) is not poisonous or harmful to the environment. Bleach would fit this :) need. It is a poison, but will not leave harmful residue and aside :) from making the wood lighter, it should not cause any damage, and is :) also cheap to buy. :) :) Will bleach work? What else can I use? What if I sprayed with :) kerosene or another oil? :) :) Mark :) :) If the day time temperature is over 88 degrees, cover the wagon in black plastic and leave in the sunshine for a couple of hours.

[Goedjn]

Bribe somebody at a nearby shipyard to hoist the thing up in front of a radar array, and microwave the sucker.

Barring that,

You should use timbor or boracare.

[maradcliff]

Not at the prices I am seeing for that stuff. But I can see it's just a borax product. Why not just use boric acid?

Mark

[HeyBub]

Call a termite company. If they can tent and fumigate an entire house, they ought to be able to handle a wagon.

[Goedjn]

Well, boric acid will work, mostly, but "just a borax product" is kind of like calling mortar "just a calcium product".

Aside from being a different chemical, boracare has some sort of penetrant (ethelyne glycol?) to get it deeper into the wood.

If you're buying antique carriages at auction, doesn't it seem strange to be quibbling about $40 for preservatives?

[Tom The Great]

imho:

I will suggest one thing, then you can discount any of my further advice. Get incontact with an antique furnature restorer. Maybe someone knows one, and you can get some free advice since you might later want to get the wagon restored by them.

Now my advice, not a furnature restorer, don't apply anything to the item, you don't know what it will do to the wagon. Wood might discolor, and fasteners might fail.

Good luck, and please post a follow up with your results,

tom @