Sealing wood

[ohm]

What are you guys using to seal your wood work with? I noticed some are using Thomsons water seal, can you paint over it or should I use something like Kilz primer for that and Thomsons for the unpainted parts. I was originally going to use my supply of Marine Epoxy but I think I want to keep that for nicer more suiting projects, like the 16 ft Canoe that I have planes for, mod it with a flat transom and drop the 5 hp Buccaneer on back

 

[ben2go]

I have used thompsons and exterior house paint.Let the paint dry for a few days before installing.It maybe dry to touch but against aluminum and wood it will start peeling.

 

[russ010]

I painted my wood with some paint I had left from painting my decks.. I've used Cabbots before, but I like this this stuff I got from Sherwin Williams more.

I'm more prone to use a dark colored paint than something like Thompson or some other brand of water seal. I guess I just like to be able to see that I didn't miss any places when painting with the paint. My decks have been holding up good considering they are in GA where the humidity is 500%.

 

[squatch]

Just some plain old acrylic enamel like red devil or rustoleium is a million times better than thompsons waterseal. That stuff is worthless for anything. Taking your money out of your wallet and setting it on fire is a better value.
If you truly want to seal wood well marine epoxy such as west systems is the way to go. Plane old paint works pretty well for on the cheap. The brush on kind not spray paint.

 

[ober51]

I just water sealed my deck - I am thinking of putting a marine varnish on top of that as well.

 

[pbw]

I've been using several coat of "insert name here" water proofer. I think they are all about the same. I'd like to try Linen Seed oil at some point but its not cheap!

On the topic of water proofers, does more than one coat work? I think its a myth.

 

[ohm]

Well in that case, I might just use the epoxy, I have about 2 1/4 gallons of the stuff so I well try to just use the 3 quart kit and keep the 1.5 gallon kit for something else.

 

[crazymanme2]

I've used spar varnish with great success.

 

[squatch]

Spar varnish is very good as well. Linseed oil will darken the wood with exposure to uv(sunlight). I love tung oil but it is expensive and other than ax handles ect i haven't used it much outdoors. In my experience I haven't had much luck over the years with the so called clear waterproofers. There are some great extterior wood treatment and sealers but most of them are not cheap. It all depends on how long you want it to last. Most anything that is applied to wood in a marine enviornment needs to be redone occasionally. Sunlight beats it up. even marine epoxy needs a good coat of spar varnish to protect it from uv. I guess the obvious example is a home deck. How many years did you get out of the best product you have used on it?

 

[ober51]

Spar varnish is very good as well. Linseed oil will darken the wood with exposure to uv(sunlight). I love tung oil but it is expensive and other than ax handles ect i haven't used it much outdoors. In my experience I haven't had much luck over the years with the so called clear waterproofers. There are some great extterior wood treatment and sealers but most of them are not cheap. It all depends on how long you want it to last. Most anything that is applied to wood in a marine enviornment needs to be redone occasionally. Sunlight beats it up. even marine epoxy needs a good coat of spar varnish to protect it from uv. I guess the obvious example is a home deck. How many years did you get out of the best product you have used on it?

I think this is probably right on the mark - I have decided to go ahead and apply at least 3 coats of spar varnish over the water sealer. This project has been fun, but I am in rush to do it again soon.

 

[smoody]

On the topic of water proofers, does more than one coat work? I think its a myth.

If you read the instruction it states that 1 light coat is recommended (Thompsons water sealer)
After the first coat the wood is "sealed" (if you believe it) The additional coats just sit on top of the first coat and is not absorbed into the wood leaving a tacky feel that collects dirt.

 

[ohm]

Well I think I am going to switch to painting the wood because I found this
https://www.svensons.com/boat/?p=HydroPlanes/DoodleBug
It just looks like too much fun and I already have a suitable motor for it, I probably wont build it for a couple of years but the epoxy well keep and I think it is a more suitable use for it. I think I well just get some inexpensive exterior paint to paint the underside of the seats and when I get them all done before I carpet it I well put the second coat on the inside of the hull and spray the outside of the wood as well, after its primed first of course.