Treating Reclaimed Wood For Insects

Take your reclaimed wood outside and wrap it in a heavy plastic.

Treating reclaimed wood for insects.

This can be done by placing the wood in a chest freezer or commercial freezer if you have access to one and leaving the item in for at least 72 hours. Hand sand corners edges and other areas. Step 2 sand the entire surface of the wood along the grain with a sander and 250 grit sandpaper to make it smooth. You don t want the critters invading the inside of your home.

Here are the methods one can use to treat reclaimed wood for bugs. Treating wood with a water seal helps it repel moisture blocks harmful insects and keeps the wood looking its best. These chemicals will not only keep invaders like termites away but kill any pests remaining on the lumber s surface. Place it outside in the sun on a hot day.

Step 1 wash the wood with soap and water and allow it to dry completely. The goal is to get the core temp. Pressure treated wood since pressure treated wood is infused with pesticides to prevent rotting and bug infestation it is a common assumption that pressure treated wood is a good choice for reclaimed wood projects to avoid the insect issues. Removing or preventing bugs in reclaimed wood.

This video is a demonstration of an experiment in killing wood boring insects in lumber furniture and other wooden objects. Prime the reclaimed wood with termite resistant solution to protect the wood from termites and other insects prime the lumber with a borax solution. In fact of all the projects we ve created there was only one time i actually saw a bug on a piece of reclaimed wood. I ll admit the idea of bugs living in the wood we bring inside gives me the heebie jeebies but it obviously hasn t kept me from using reclaimed wood in our projects.

My first thought about reclaimed wood especially if it s been outside was bugs being inside of it. If you suspect a piece of wood has bugs you ll need to hit it with some insecticide of your own. Plus they are epensive. One of my sources kiln dries his reclaimed barn wood killing off any bugs and removing moisture from the material.

Make sure you have rubber gloves on for this step. It seems as though everything i read says to treat the wood with costly pesticide glaze type thingys. Wrap wood in plastic. I have a fear of making some beautiful project and then having it begin to crawl.