SmartGUARD/Advance Guard products include building materials such as studs, plywood, joists, rafters and OSB panels. The lumber and plywood products are pressure-treated with naturally-occurring minerals called borates. Borates prevent fungal decay and are deadly to termites, carpenter ants and roaches - but safe for people, pets and the environment. Borates interfere with termites' metabolic pathways when ingested through feeding or grooming, effectively killing them. Any surviving termites avoid the protected wood products. This solution is even effective at terminating a voracious and highly destructive species, the subterranean Formosan termite - nicknamed the "super termite."

"Florida residents are facing a crisis," says Tarun Bhatia, business development manager for U.S. Borax. "Formosan termites have already infested 90 counties and parishes in the southeast - including counties in central Florida - and are continuing to spread at an alarming rate. Formosans congregate in colonies ranging from one to ten million termites and often cause tens of thousands of dollars worth of damage before homeowners even know they're there. The only way to deal with these aggressive insects is to use an aggressive solution."

Many builders in Florida rely solely on traditional soil treatments to protect homes against termites. A chemical barrier is placed at the foot of the house to keep termites away. Soil treatments typically last from five to seven years, but Formosan termites can build nests above ground, allowing them to bypass the soil treatment. Soil barriers and baiting systems also fail to protect the house from decay fungi, drywood termites and other wood destroying organisms.

"We recommend using soil treatments in conjunction with the SmartGUARD/Advance Guard solution," says Ainsley Ahlo, owner of Structural Pest Control in Aiea, Hawaii. "Soil treatments alone are simply not enough to offer the kind of long term protection needed to combat Formosan termites, and once homeowners notice they have a problem, certain parts of the house may be ready to collapse. SmartGUARD/Advance Guard products offer built-in protection that lasts for decades."

Although new to the Florida market, borate treated products are standard in other parts of the world. Borates have been used for 50 years as a successful line of defense against decay and wood borers in New Zealand. In Hawaii, about 80 percent of all structural wood used for housing is treated with borates to protect homes against Formosan termites.

"It doesn't take very long for termites to infest your house," says Honolulu homeowner Nestor Garcia. "Within a year or so, you can have that problem. I've never had that problem in the six or seven years that I've been in this home, and I will never have that problem as long as I know the wood is treated with borates. That's peace of mind."

SmartGUARD/Advance Guard products are being introduced in Florida at a time when more than 100,000 single-family and nearly 50,000 multi-family homes are being built each year. The products are as safe as they are effective. Borates are essential to plant life, an important part of a healthy human diet, and borate-treated products require no special handling or disposal. The products are also affordable. On average, using borate-treated products adds $1.50 per square foot to the construction cost of a home.

For a 2,000 square foot home, that translates to about $3,000. This is a one-time expense; far lower than what homeowners often spend repairing damage caused by termites.

About Borax
Borax mines one of two world-class borate deposits on the planet and supplies nearly half the global demand for refined borates. The company is the acknowledged world leader in borate chemistry and technology development. Borates are minerals containing boron, the fifth element on Periodic Table. Trace amounts exist in rock, soil and water. Boron is one of seven essential micronutrients for plants, and part of a healthy human diet. Refined borates can be found in a wide variety of household and commercial products, including glass, fiberglass, ceramics, soap and detergents, personal care products, fertilizers and wood preservatives. Borax celebrated 130 years of continuous business in California this year and is part of the world's leading mining company, London-based Rio Tinto. For more information, visit www.borax.com.

About LP
LP is a premier supplier of building materials, delivering innovative, high-quality commodity and specialty products to its rapidly growing retail, wholesale, homebuilding and industrial customer base. For more information, visit www.lpcorp.com.

About Osmose
With national and international operations, Osmose has earned a reputation as the trusted source for wood preservation and wood maintenance technologies. While Osmose's core business is improving the performance of wood, the company also develops proprietary repair and maintenance technologies for concrete and steel. Today, Osmose products and services span the utility, railroad, marine, transportation and building supply industries.