[000.0-001.2] News.
[001.2-006.5] The average homeowner spends between $4,000 and $7,000 on moisture remediation across the
[006.5-011.3] life of their home, and that does not include the cost of pest control treatments or replaced
[011.3-012.4] lumber.
[012.4-017.5] The Amish almost never have these problems, and it is not because their houses are newer.
[017.5-020.4] Many of those farmhouses are 150 years old.
[020.4-023.2] It is because of use number 16.
[023.2-025.4] Wood treatment with VORACS solution.
[025.4-029.5] This is the technique that an Amish builder named Amos showed me at a barn raising outside
[029.5-031.4] of Mount Hope, Ohio.
[031.4-036.0] You dissolve one pound of borax and one pound of boric acid in one gallon of hot water.
[036.0-039.7] You apply it to any exposed wood with a garden sprayer or a paintbrush.
[039.7-043.0] It soaks into the wood and crystallizes inside the grain.
[043.0-044.7] Turmites will not eat it.
[044.7-047.2] Carpenter ants will not bore through it.
[047.2-053.4] Fungus and rot cannot establish themselves in it, and it lasts for the life of the wood.
[053.4-058.2] This is the same chemistry behind a commercial product sold under the trade name BoraCare,
[058.2-061.2] which retails for about $120 a gallon.
[061.2-064.9] The Amish recipe costs about $6 a gallon to mix yourself.
[064.9-069.2] Now, here is how you apply this to a house you already own.
[069.2-074.8] You go into your attic, you go into your basement, you go into your crawl space, anywhere you
[074.8-080.3] have exposed framing, lumber, joists, rafters, subfloor undersides, sill plates, you spray
[080.3-083.7] or brush the solution onto those bare wood surfaces.
[083.7-086.2] You do not need to remove drywall.
[086.2-088.2] You do not need to tear anything out.
[088.2-090.4] You just treat what is already exposed.
[090.4-092.0] The borax soaks in.
[092.0-093.0] It crystallizes.
[093.0-097.6] And from that day forward, those structural members are protected against termites, carpenter
[097.6-101.2] ants, wood boring beetles, and rot fungus.
[101.2-102.9] That is used number 16.
[102.9-104.6] That is the kitchen and the attic.
[104.6-107.6] Now walk with me out to the tool shed and the yard.
[107.6-112.8] Use number 17 is closely related, borax dust in wall cavities.
[112.8-117.6] If you ever have a wall open during a renovation, even just for an electrical box or a plumbing
[117.6-122.4] repair, you pup a small amount of dry borax powder into the cavity before you close it
[122.4-123.8] back up.
[123.8-129.3] The powder settles into the framing and provides decades of pest protection for that wall section.
[129.3-132.9] Use number 18 is borax in the soil around the foundation.
[132.9-137.7] A light dusting of borax in a six inch band around the perimeter of your house creates
[137.7-140.5] a barrier that termites will not cross.
[140.5-144.5] The Amish do this once every three or four years around the foundation of their barns
[144.5-146.0] and outbuildings.
[146.0-149.2] Use number 19 is borax on firewood.
[149.2-153.0] Before you stack firewood for the winter, you can dust the bark with borax to prevent
[153.0-157.0] the wood boring insects that live in firewood from migrating into your house when you bring
[157.0-158.9] the wood inside.
[158.9-162.9] This is one of those tricks that nobody ever tells you, and it is the reason a lot of
[162.9-166.8] older homes end up with a beetle infestation in February.
[166.8-169.8] Use number 20 is borax for the chicken coop.
[169.9-176.4] A sprinkling of borax in the bedding controls mites, lice, and the ammonia smell from droppings.
[176.4-178.0] The chickens are unharmed.
[178.0-180.1] The pests are eliminated.
[180.1-182.0] Now the soil itself.
[182.0-185.1] Use number 21 is the garden application.
[185.1-191.3] A very small amount of borax, about one tablespoon dissolved in a gallon of water, applied to vegetable
[191.3-196.2] gardens once per growing season, corrects boron deficiency in the soil.
[196.2-201.4] One is a trace mineral that almost all American agricultural soils are depleted in, and a deficiency
[201.4-207.7] causes cracked tomatoes, hollow stems in broccoli, and poor fruit set in squash.
[207.7-212.2] The Amish have been correcting this for over 100 years with a tiny pinch of borax mixed into
[212.2-213.6] the watering can.
[213.6-218.0] The University of California Cooperative Extension published a paper in 2020 confirming
[218.0-223.8] that this practice increased yields in deficient soils by between 15 and 22%.
[223.8-228.9] Use number 22 is borax as a weed killer in driveways and walkways.
[228.9-234.6] A heavier application, about a cup of borax dissolved in a gallon of water, poured directly
[234.6-240.3] on weeds growing in cracks, kills them, and prevents regrowth for the rest of the season.
[240.3-244.9] Now we are getting close to the finale and I want to make sure you understand something.
[244.9-248.7] Everything I have just described is sitting in a box that costs less than a meal at a fast
[248.7-250.6] food restaurant.
[250.6-255.9] And everything I have just described is something the cleaning products industry, the pest control
[255.9-260.7] industry, the home maintenance industry, and the gardening products industry would very
[260.7-263.1] much prefer you never learn.
[263.1-268.6] Use number 23 is one I almost did not include because it sounds too simple, but it works.
[268.6-270.6] Borax is a fruit preservative.
[270.6-276.3] The Amish in Lancaster County, when they store apples in the root cellar through the winter,
[276.3-281.0] lost a tiny amount of borax onto the wooden storage shelves.
[281.0-286.6] The borax prevents the mold that would otherwise spread from one bad apple to the rest.
[286.6-290.8] They do not put it on the apples themselves, just on the shelves.
[290.8-294.5] The apples store for six to eight months without spoilage.
[294.5-297.9] Use number 24 is borax as a seed treatment.
[297.9-307.9] A very dilute solution about one teaspoon of borax on the shelf.
[307.9-318.0] A very dilute solution about one teaspoon of borax on the shelf, a very dilute solution