# staining after thompson;s waterseal



## sirwired (Jun 22, 2007)

Hmm... I would try deck cleaner applied with a sprayer, and then scrubbed, to see what that does to the spots.

Unfortunately, Thompson's Water Seal is a _really_ bad product. If you can get the spots off, re-seal with a different product, and if you can, do so with a tinted instead of clear product, as the tint helps it last a little longer. IIRC, some folks here have decent luck w/ Cabot and Wolman products.

SirWired


----------



## slickshift (Aug 25, 2005)

Yes, sirwired's suggestions will work well

After three years there isn't any Thompson's left on them (it was gone after the first year), but you'll need to prep them anyway


----------



## joewho (Nov 1, 2006)

Solid body stain will cover the water stains, semi-trasparent will not.

You'll need a deck cleaner with a "brightener" to get rid of or minimize the water stains.


----------



## Barry M (Feb 28, 2007)

Even though you may not see much sealer left on the fence it is still there. Spray water on it and watch it bead up as opposed to absorbing into the wood if you don't believe me. You need to use a deck sealer stripper to remove all remnants of old sealer. If you don't, the new sealer will not adhere properly and will fail prematurely.

The stripping process is the same as cleaning it, you just use a stripper instead of a deck cleaner. I would use a pressure washer to clean/strip the fence as opposed to brushing it. Just don't use more than 1000psi or so.

After stripping you need to apply a brightener, which is an acid that will neutralize the caustic stripper. This prepares the wood for sealer and will get rid of the water stains at the same time. Let dry for a couple days and then stain it with a quality oil based semi-transparent deck stain from a paint store, not a big box store. Hope this helps.


----------



## DIYHelper (Feb 28, 2007)

If you are looking for some products, I've used Benjamin Moore's REMOVE for the first part, and BRIGHTEN as the neutralizer with a lot of success. I'm sure everyone has favorite products, but these worked well if you're not sure what to look for.


----------

