Thompson’s WaterSeal Semi-Transparent Waterproofing Wood Stain and Sealer, Chestnut Brown, 1 Gallon

Our deck was neglected by the previous homeowners and it was in pretty rough/weathered shape with a ton of mildew growing all over the wood since our home backs up to mature trees, so it was long overdue for some maintenance. After pressure washing, chemical cleaning/brightening (don’t skip this step if your deck is in bad shape, it makes a BIG difference in how well your deck will take the stain!), and sanding, I made sure we applied this semi-transparent stain and sealer immediately after everything was dry to avoid the wood taking on any water since we get rained on pretty often.Thompsons is a well-known name for water-resistance, so I figured it was worth going with them for our deck stain and sealer. The “Chestnut” stain we bought looks a bit more red and chalky when it is fresh out of these cans (if you don’t mix it well before applying, a gray-ish liquid separates from the stain pretty quickly, so I am guessing that part is either part of the sealer or maybe just part of what evaporates after application?), so I was a little taken aback since I believed this would be more of a brownish color stain. The look of the wood after this stain dries definitely still has a reddish tint to it, but don’t worry too much about how it looks initially as it will dry and cure a few shades darker than the initial application by the end.Having never attempted this type of work before, I didn’t realize how dry those poor boards were after sanding! Once I completed the first coat, it was apparent the stain didn’t quite cover everything as evenly as I had hoped since the wood absorbed a lot of the stain initially. It is certainly possible that the wood prep wasn’t perfect, so perhaps going a higher degree on the sandpaper may fix that? I won’t blame the stain for that as it’s possible this is the result of user error as I did not sand down to 220 grit, so it might just have been my fault.Fortunately, Prime saves the day once again and I was able to get the 2nd batch of stain immediately and wrapped it up the same week. With that second layer of stain on there, things went from pretty good to fantastic! The second layer definitely seems to have added a good bit of durability, so I think it should last us several years of heavy use, and with kids and a dog out there all the time, it certainly sees some foot/paw traffic!We ended up getting a storm a little over a day after I finished up the second coat, so I was able to see the water seal in action right away! As you can see in the close-up of the deck board, the water is sitting on top of the wood thanks to the sealer coat!Overall, I highly recommend this stain/sealer, just be aware that for both aesthetics and functionality, you may want to double the amount needed to cover your project as dry. Even if the issue was due to not sanding to a fine enough grade, cracked wood is likely going to soak up a lot of that stain after you sand it either way, so it is always better to be safe than sorry!

Love this stain & sealer! We’re having our landscaping torn out and redone, both front and back yards and our Pergola re-built. In our estimate for the work, we also added in to have our wooden deck stained and waterproofed. The estimate for the just the deck came out to about $1,600.00. With that said, I decided I would attempt to do it myself as a 64 years old woman with osteoarthritis in my left knee, lol! I’ll tell ya, this stuff is great! So easy to apply, I was even able to do it! I used a brush with a long extension handle found here also. The color I bought was Chestnut and I think it turned out very pretty. We live a dry climate so drying time was pretty fast. The sprinklers hit a corner of the deck yesterday and the water repelled great with just one coat! It’s a thin consistency which for me worked well. I didn’t buy enough to finish the job and I wanted to finish it the same day so I went to Home Depot to pick up more. They don’t carry it so I just re-ordered from Amazon. It was delivered overnight! Home Depot carried a different brand that’s over $40.00 per gallon. Thompson’s is a better value I feel. Love this product!

What a refresh! Will see how it holds up but I don’t mind applying each year since it’s a small area. Love the color with my brick. Easy to apply and clean up. Took about 90 min to do this stair area.

This product is easy to paint on and dries quickly. The color is a little more red than I wanted but great quality overall. I would buy this brand again.

Replaced the acorn and blended in well. This product saved my deck and steps.

Used this stain on my back porch area. Uploading a before and after (one coat). Went on super smooth and easy! Love the color. It says to let dry for 24-48 hours before getting wet but had unexpected rain 12 ish hours after applying and it held up just fine thankfully! Dried super quick. Super impressed with this stain.

I applied this semitransparent sealer over hand picked redwood T&G boards. I chose each board for the great color variation redwood offer. It turned out exactly as described in the product overview; nice dark tan and the light/dark variations in the wood grain are easily seen. Product goes on smoothly, dries quickly, lightens as it dries. Be sure to shake the can to mix contents, wear gloves ( paint thinner cleans hands) , don’t stack newly coated wood on anything until it dries! When wet and allowed to dry, it sticks to what you layer the board on. I coated both sides and all edges , but rested each plank on a minimal contact surface at each end so the planks are above the workbench.I coated about 120sqft of T&G redwood , single coat, and still had maybe 1-2 qts left.

Although the stain completely covered my utility trailer decking in a suitable manner (using two separate applications) I noticed the stain starting to peel/lift after 6 months after application. Prior to application, I thoroughly cleaned and dried the trailer deck boards. This stain was more watery during application as compared to the other stain I normally use on my house deck (Cabots).I do not recommend this stain.