Truly Insulation Plus services cover attics and crawl spaces, but only in attics can we offer pest protection. Why? The answer lays in the product. Comprised of mostly recycled newsprint, blown cellulose can be infused with pest control. When produced, newsprint and other recycled materials are shredded, sprayed with oils and coated in borates. Then, the insulation is baked to help infuse and adhere the boron to the material. Other common insulation materials, like fiberglass and rock wool cannot achieve this feat, as they are super-heated in production to temperatures that break down the borates. Also, since they are porous materials, trying to add oils or a boron dust to “suspend” a pest control product is impossible. As for foam, the high temperatures during production and during the curing period again destroy the pest products. This leaves blown cellulose as “Truly” the lone ranger of pest control-able insulation materials.
Boron is a naturally occurring mineral found in all kinds of household products like soaps, detergent, deodorant and even makeup! Boron is a versatile mineral that has been used for years in pest control. When ingested by certain pests, the boron destroys a pest’s ability to digest, essentially killing it from the inside out. Don’t be afraid: as mammals, it takes massive doses of boron to have any negative affect on us, more than you could ever come in contact with or consume. But for small, self-grooming pests, it only takes a small amount to be devastating. Therefore, TIP insulation is infused with no less than 12.5% orthoboric acid, an amount deemed by the EPA to kill and control self-grooming pests like: roaches, ants, silverfish, earwigs, termites* (including Formosan), crickets, sow bugs, darkling beetles, millipedes, centipedes, and booklice. These pests will walk through the insulation, picking up the borates as they travel. Then, when its family bath time, they ingest the product while cleaning each other. Not long after, your pest problem starts to fade away. No other insulation product can say the same!
(* Not a stand-alone termite treatment)