Thompson's Water Seal

I added 3/4" plywood to my benches in my Jon Boat in order to attach the quick release swivel brackets. I did this in May of 2013 and coated them with 3 coats of Thompson's water seal. I just added a casting deck in the front made of plywood and I am debating on painting the casting deck instead of sealing it. Has enough time passed (3 months) to paint the water sealed benches also so they match?

If it is questionable, I will paint the casting deck this year and then just paint the bench plywood next year.

Thoughts??

Re: Thompson's Water Seal

In my experience, paint does not take well on wood that has been sealed. I think there will be a noticeable difference between pieces that have been sealed, and those that haven't.

Re: Thompson's Water Seal

Another retired guy said:

In my experience, paint does not take well on wood that has been sealed. I think there will be a noticeable difference between pieces that have been sealed, and those that haven't.

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For a certain amount of time until it wears off or indefinitely?

Re: Thompson's Water Seal

There are a number of waterproofers that work well under paint. I hate to break it to you but TWS not only doesn't work well under paint, but its the worst sealer there is. All it is is some wax dissolved in a solvent.

Pressure wash it, pour some boiling water on it and let it stand out in the sun and weather for a few weeks and hopefully it'll lose the wax. Regardless, once the Thompsons wears off you have dark colored open grained wood that won't match anything when its painted.

If it were me I'd cover it with nautolex and be done with it. That stuff is fairly cheap by the yard and it'll outlast paint 10 times over.

The seat tops in the pic are my homemade plywood tops covered with nautoloex.

Re: Thompson's Water Seal

If you wash them with TSP (TriSodiumPhosphate, Get it @ Lowe's) and then a Heavy coat of Acetone, and then a couple coats of Primer then 2-3 coats of Rustoleum Pro Oil Based Paint I think you'd have a finish on the seats that would last a very long time.