Borate Use Increases In Hawaii

A new borate pressure treatment is becoming hot construction news in the Hawaiian Islands.

Introduced to the Islands in 1992, borate treatments have expanded rapidly. About 99Vo of the treated framing supplied on Oahu by Honsador is now pressure reated with borates, says president Nick Cleghorn.

A new cganization, PacChem, has been established !o provide support services to Hi-Bor borate users in Hawaii. Sub-licensees, who either are or will eventually be producing HiBor treated franing, are Hilo Wood Treating Co., Inc.; Midpac Lumber Co., Ltd.; Honolulu Wood Treating Co., Ltd., and HPM Building Supply.

While boates have not been widely used in the past as a wood preservative, they were first mined in the U.S. in 1876 and have been used in everything from insecticides to brain tumor trcafrients.

U.S. Borax's hademarked HiBor reportedly is effective with Douglas fir, long the favored species in the Islands. The borate treament is able to penetrate the Douglas fir framing lumber.

The borate treaEnent provides protection ftom wood decaying fungi and wood destroying insects, including the voracious and all-too-prevalent Formosan tennite. It is designed for above-ground use where the material is not pennanently exposed to rain, such as in frarning, the major market for pressure treated wood in Hawaii.

Many warranties for pressure treated wood were conditioned on the use of a soil hea[nent every three years. The U.S. Borax warranty of Hi-Bor is not conditioned on periodic treafiient, but does require an inspection every three years.

Tad Ogi, president, Honolulu Wood Treating, says, 'Wood treated with CCA or ACZA preservatives will still be used for construction with direct exposure to the weather, such as d@ks, fences or landscape timbers, but it is great to have the borate alternative for framing lumber."

Fed Projects Spur Metric Use

Pushed by federal construction, virtually all U.S. construction could be converted to metric within the next five to ten years.

Most federal agencies met the goal of designing all new projects in metric by January 1994 and some exceeded ir.

Federal construction appropriations total over $50 billion with about $20 billion ready for or in rhe design or construction stage. By 1996, federal metric work will approach $50 billion, not including state and local matching funds.

With so much money allotted to federal construction, it is likely that eventually all construction will convert to metric.

6thBuilding Expo In Mexico

The sixth Expo Cihac '94 international building and housing exhibition will be held Oct. 3-9 in Mexico City.

The Mexican counterpart of the U.S. National Association of Home Builders, Centro lmpulsor de las Construcci6n y la Habitaci6n sponsors the arurual exhibition to stimulate the impon and export of products, construction technologies and services between Mexican and foreign enterprises. Attendance is expected to reach 33.000.

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UNIQUE HORIZONTAL GRAIN PATTERN FOR EXPOSED AND SINGLE PIECE APPLICATIONS.

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BCI Jorsr r-BEAMS.wHrcH MAKE RESIDENTIAI FRAMING FAST AND COST EFFECTIVE, THEY ARE LIGHTER. STIFFER AND QUIETER THAN DIMENSION LUMBER. FLANGES'I-3/4'& 2-5/16"; DEPTHS 9-1/2'to 20".