What can I treat my concrete floor with to keep insects away after I install a sub floor?
I have a new home and I am installing subfloor starting with 1 1/2 inch of rigid foam and then 5/8 OSB. I have found that when we have cloths on the concrete floor in the laundry room, that 'carpenter' insects gather under the cloths. The cloths pile is only there long enough for 5-6 loads to complete and their there already! I never see them anywhere else in the basement.
What's to stop them from gathering in large quantities under the subfloor's insulation? What can I treat the concrete with to stop this?
Boric acid, it comes as a powder and undisturbed has a long residual effect (50 years). And if your over 50 your mom probably washed your cloths in it (borax) so it is somewhat safe.
How to Repair Sheetrock: Water Leaks : How to Add Insulation After Sheetrock Repair
Not sure if you can still get it in the US or not, but Ortho used to make something called Chlorodane (sp?) which seemed to work magically on anything that walked, crawled, or flew, and remains active for a very long time, like several years.
I have heard of it being used to treat for termites fairly recently (within the last two years) so it may still be out there, just for restricted uses. I think there was some question about whether it was safe for in-home use, as far as ingestion by pets and children. On a crawl space, in the walls, or under a sub-floor may still be ok.
References :
Boric acid, it comes as a powder and undisturbed has a long residual effect (50 years). And if your over 50 your mom probably washed your cloths in it (borax) so it is somewhat safe.
References :
http://www.pestproducts.com/timbor.htm