Boron The 5th element in the Periodic Table, was discovered by Joseph-Louis Gay-Lussac and Louis-Jaques Thénard, French chemists, and independently by Sir Humphry Davy, an English chemist, in 1808.

Among its many uses, the most common is of a low toxicity pesticide that penetrates and protect all types of wood, including plywood and composites, from infestations of wood boring insects such as termites, Powder post beetles, carpenter ants and decaying fungi. My specific problem is dry rot fungus, contained in some of the sub flooring and foundation sills in the basement.
After doing some research, I found the best solution was a topical application of a borate/Boron solution directly onto the infested wood itself. This method is used in many historical house restorations throughout the U.S. and outlined at the U.S. Dept of the Interior historical house restoration guides. This will kill off any current infestations and future ones for many years.

But the problem was finding a supplier. No one sells it anymore (if they ever did), from the huge box stores, down to the to the corner hardware stores. They either never heard of it, or didn’t know where to get it. I finally found a source at a company call Quality Borate, that sells a product called BoraSol™ WP (Na2B8O13). A molecule consisting of 8 boron and 13 oxygen atoms, has a high boron content, aong with all that oxygen, must be a good oxidizing agent as well.

They usually sell in large quantities (inquiring if I wanted just one ton or two), but graciously agreed to send me a sample of 25 pounds (see photo), which should adequately treat all the exposed wood in the basement. (This should finish off just one of a hundred different projects that need attention - and no, I don't feel overwelmed yet.)