17 yr old Thompsons waterseal

[mommicked]

I was offered(free) an unopened 5 gal can of Thompsons Waterseal clear wood waterproofer when i went to dump household chems at the county site yesterday.guy said it was stored in his attached garage.I couldnt resist.Will it work as good as new stuff or should I buy some newer?.Date on can is 10/25/93 i plan to put it on a treated deck about 3 yrs old.

 

[Outsider]

Re: 17 yr old Thompsons waterseal

Put it on, the worst tht can happen is you have to do it again ...

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: 17 yr old Thompsons waterseal

boat deck or house deck.....????

 

[Tig]

Re: 17 yr old Thompsons waterseal

I just used a 17 year old can of the stuff. I bought it to treat a picnic table, the summerof my 10th wedding anniversary. Changed my mind and stored it in the garage, subjected to -20c every winter. It was fine. It does settle so shake it well. Otherwise you will find it thick and waxy in the bottom of the can.

 

[mommicked]

Re: 17 yr old Thompsons waterseal

Thanks guys,Its for a deck on the house and I didnt think about how to mix it in the topless can.I guess I should put it in the sun and maybe roll it around the yard a while,or haul it down a dirt road in the back of my truck!Do paint wholesalers have mixing machines/shakers for 5 gal. cans?

 

[steveclv]

Re: 17 yr old Thompsons waterseal

It's called a Paint Stirrer - it goes on the end of an electric drill and costs about $9 from Home Depot.

Best to use it on a corded drill rather than cordless but both will work.

 

[mommicked]

Re: 17 yr old Thompsons waterseal

steveclv,this can only has a pour spout,no lid.do you open the whole can like a soup can?

 

[Tig]

Re: 17 yr old Thompsons waterseal

A few options
1) Pour a quart or so into a smaller can and recap the big can. Turn the big can upside down and shake it or roll it around to get things moving.
2) Or just use a stick and swish it around though the pour hole.
3) I've made my own paint stirrers out of steel rod for use in a power drill.
Bend the rod into the shape at the bottom of this post. Make it long enough to reach the bottom of the bucket. Thread it through the pour spout and turn slowly. It stirs up pretty easy.

With my old can of Thompson's I didn't shake until I noticed it was getting thicker and cloudy. It was half used by this time.
The next can, my wife picked up for me. First serving was clear as expected. Second time I poured there was a distinct brown colour to it. It was brown Thompson's that had settled. Who knew they had colours? After that I shook every can. (and read the labels)
In both cases it seems to have protected the wood well shaken or not. So shake as best you can and once you have a little out of the can shake it some more.

 

[Boomyal]

Re: 17 yr old Thompsons waterseal

....Will it work as good as new stuff .......

Probably but the new stuff does not work very well from the outset. Thompson's water seal is to wood sealer/preservative as WD40 is to lubricant/penetrant. In other words, next to worthless.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 17 yr old Thompsons waterseal

^^^What he said

New Thompson's is worthless and a waste of time so 17 year old Thompson's oughta be a real treat. That crap is basically colored wax. Did my deck with it and it was bad again in less than a year.

 

[ajgraz]

Re: 17 yr old Thompsons waterseal

Maybe it used to be better and 17-yo stuff is a treat?

 

[mommicked]

Re: 17 yr old Thompsons waterseal

Very good responses.I thought TWS was one of the better ones.But Ive never used any before.The deck On our latest home is in alot of shade most of the day, its turning green in spots and getting slick when wet (lots of rain lately).Id really like to add some grit to the traffic areas for my old dogs who still want to fly down the stairs after deer and squirrels like they're 2 yrs old!I used grit/nonslip w porch paint for a boat floor that worked well.Will this TWS stick it to the deck?or do I need some kind of varnish or .......Thane,for that? I guess I (get what i paid for) nothing! a 5 gal bucket of crap!I definately want whatever I use to work,the deck is 25x 35 and growing,lots to seal w the rails and stairs etc.

 

[jlinder]

Re: 17 yr old Thompsons waterseal

I have an old pressure treated picnic table I wanted to treat. (about 17 years old also). Does TWS work for this?

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 17 yr old Thompsons waterseal

Will this TWS stick it to the deck?

No it definitely won't.

When we re-did our deck (after painstakingly sanding the TWS off) we used Flood products. So far, so good.

 

[mommicked]

Re: 17 yr old Thompsons waterseal

What about multiple coats?would that help w it lasting?or would it take forever or never dry completely?

 

[Tig]

Re: 17 yr old Thompsons waterseal

Thompson's will not add any grit to your deck. I find it even makes things quite greasy at first. My can of TWS aged because I did not like it for decks or picnic tables. It allows the wood to weather which isn't all that nice to look at. I used it this year to protect a subfloor from rain and snow while I built walls and a roof. It worked fine for that.
If you do want to use it, I'd suggest that rather than multiple coats you give it a coat each year until you run out.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 17 yr old Thompsons waterseal

I don't think you can even really do multiple coats well because the second won't penetrate the first.

 

[mommicked]

Re: 17 yr old Thompsons waterseal

Thanks to everyone for your replies.my decking boards,(original 1984) I replaced 4 yrs ago;and A large addition added 2 yrs ago are not sealed at all. already aged 2 and 4 yrs.And need wtrproofing now.I have surplus of the oldboards for repairs/cracks ( some stored outside)Im going to test a board w TWS and the old Behr waterproofer I have and see what they both do before I waste time and or ruin my decking boards.Thankyouall again

 

[PwrBtr]

Re: 17 yr old Thompsons waterseal

Here is a response I got from Thompsons Water Seal when asking if I COULD use their products on teakwood.....

Thank you for taking the time to contact ThompsonBs. We appreciate your interest in our products.

Unfortunately we do not have a product we can recommend for teak wood. The natural oils in the wood play havoc with our products: not allowing them to penetrate, pushing them out of the surface, turning clear coatings brown. The only option this these types of woods are aware of is using a teak oil.

I am sorry we couldn't be more helpful. Please respond with e-mail history if you require additional assistance.

Regards,

Kevin
ThompsonBs Product Support

 

[stackz]

Re: 17 yr old Thompsons waterseal

Very good responses.I thought TWS was one of the better ones.But Ive never used any before.The deck On our latest home is in alot of shade most of the day, its turning green in spots and getting slick when wet (lots of rain lately).Id really like to add some grit to the traffic areas for my old dogs who still want to fly down the stairs after deer and squirrels like they're 2 yrs old!I used grit/nonslip w porch paint for a boat floor that worked well.Will this TWS stick it to the deck?or do I need some kind of varnish or .......Thane,for that? I guess I (get what i paid for) nothing! a 5 gal bucket of crap!I definately want whatever I use to work,the deck is 25x 35 and growing,lots to seal w the rails and stairs etc.

um, just go rent a pressure washer and pressure wash the deck clean. a can of gas and whatever water you use and the deck will come out looking brand new.

THEN seal it if you want once it dries....

depending on how long it takes, you'll probably notice other things like your driveway, etc that you'll want to pressure wash as well lol. I know I always get carried away.

edit: dang it, just realized how old this thread is