Painting things around your home is a way to save money and make the place look much better.
Although there is a bit of skill involved in painting, most homeowners will eventually be able to figure it out.
Thompson’s Water Seal is a product many homeowners have applied to decks and some other areas where water damage can occur.
Prior to painting over any type of water sealant, you must make sure that your paint is compatible.
We have all the information you will need in order to make sure you can get your painting project completed successfully.
Can You Paint Over Thompson’s Water Seal?
It is not recommended that you paint over Thompson’s Water Seal.
The information on the manufacturer’s website goes on to describe what could happen should you try to simply paint over the water seal.
Essentially, the sealant is designed to make any type of liquid that falls on the seal bead up and prevent it from penetrating or sticking to the wood.
The water seal is very sleek, and it keeps things moving over it and not letting them stick to the surface.
The same thing can be said for paint.
If you try to paint over the sealant, it will essentially be working to push the paint off the wood as you are trying to put it on.
Your paint will also have a hard time penetrating the seal, and it may essentially just harden on top of the piece.
This means that it will eventually chip off.
There are, however, some ways you may be able to paint over the seal if you first follow a procedure for preparing the area.
How to Paint over Thompson’s Water Seal
As we mentioned,you are not going to want to paint directly over Thompson’s Water Seal.
If you do, you risk the paint beading up and not being absorbed by the wood.
If you have just painted your project with the water seal, you are going to have quite a project in front of you.
If the water seal was first installed fifteen years ago, then this will be quite a bit easier on you.
Most of the time, you will be able to tell how new your water seal is by how much the water beads up on the surface.
Take a look at the piece the next time it rains.
You will be able to see if the seal is still effective or if it is not working quite as well.
This helps to give you a general idea if it is safe to start your process.
Here are the steps we would take to paint over an area that was once covered with Thompson’s Water Seal.
Step 1: Gather Supplies
The first step in this process is to gather the supplies that you will need.
You will need a paint stripper, a power washer, a power sander, and some general maintenance supplies.
In order to run the power washer and the sander, you will need your basic hoses and electricity as well.
In addition, you will need a bucket and a roller to apply the paint stripper to the wood.
This process will take a bit of time, but in the end, you will be quite happy with the way it turns out.
- Power sander
- Sandpaper
- Power washer
- Wood stripper
- Paintbrushes and rollers
- Buckets
- Access to electricity and water
Step 2: Wood Stripper Mixture
Purchase a wood stripper that will work on hydroponic materials.
This means that it will penetrate the Thompson’s Water Seal and be able to start breaking it down.
This type of stripper is typically a bit more expensive, but it is going to do a better job of actually removing some of the water seal.
The mixture should be put into a bucket and then applied to the area from which you are trying to remove the water seal.
You will put it on with a paintbrush and allow it to do its magic and start breaking down and stripping the area of any Thompson’s Water Seal residue.
As great as a wood stripper is, it will not be a final solution for this process.
You will have several more steps to perform to make sure that you fully remove this water seal and have everything ready for paint.
Step 3: Power Wash
Next, you will want to take a power washer and spray off any areas you intend to paint.
You will also be spraying off the wood stripper that you just applied to your surface.
The hope is that, between the wood stripper and the strength of the water from the power washer, the Thompson’s Water Seal will start to break down and come off.
As we mentioned, if your area was recently sealed, this process is going to be quite a bit more difficult than if you haven’t sealed it in years.
Once your power wash is complete and the area has been given at least a day or two to dry out, you can move to the next step.
This drying time is essential as it will allow for the surface to handle the sanding much better.
Sanders and wet wood are not going to be a good mix.
Step 4: Power Sander
Next, you will need to take a power sander and sand down the area you plan to paint.
There are two reasons behind this sanding process.
The first is that the sander is going to continue to remove any of the leftover Thompson’s Water Seal which may remain on your deck or wood piece.
The sanding will break down those last remaining pieces and start to even out the surface.
The sanding can also help to roughen things up a bit so that the primer will stick better.
When the primer is applied, it needs a rough surface to be able to grab on.
Step 5: Primer
The next step is to apply the primer.
Make sure that the area is clean after completing your sanding.
You will want to wipe down or vacuum depending on where you are in your home and what you are working on.
Painting over the dust from sanding will cause the job to be uneven.
Once you have put down one coat of primer, you can then add another directly on top.
Make sure that you pay attention to the drying times on the primer, as you won’t want to paint over a wet primer.
Step 6: Test a Corner
Once the two coats of primer have dried and everything is ready for the final coat of paint, it is time to test a corner and see if you are finally ready to paint over Thompson’s Water Seal.
The test area should be small, and you should apply a bit of paint and then wait for an entire 24 hours to make sure that it worked.
At this point, you should see that the paint will be able to soak into the project, and it is not beading up at all.
If you have followed all of our steps, you should have no issues with this, and you will be able to see that the paint is sticking just fine.
Step 7: Complete the Project
At this point, you should be ready to complete painting your entire area.
If you have followed our steps along the way, the final coat of paint will come out perfectly.
This process is one that will likely take you a week or so to complete.
The problem with skipping steps in the process is that you will end up with a bit of a mess somewhere along the way.
At some point, the paint won’t stick, and you will be starting from scratch.
Take your time and complete this project the proper way so that you never have to do it again!
Can You Use Thompson’s Water Seal Indoors?
You may have noticed that our process of removing the water seal involved a few things that you would not normally do indoors.
This is because Thompson’s Water Seal is not intended for use inside.
It is a product that is only safe to use outdoors.
Can You Use a Water Seal on Concrete?
You can use a water seal on concrete, and Thompson’s Water Seal is a great one to consider.
If you need to remove the water seal from the concrete, you will have to look for a stripper that can help you.
Power washing may help a bit, too, but the process is a bit more extensive than it is when working with wood.
If you are planning on trying to paint over concrete that was once sealed with Thompson’s, you may need to use a large power washing disc or sanding pad to get the project done.
We highly recommend taking on this project only if you have truly decided that this is how you want to proceed with your outdoor concrete.
You may be better off waiting until most of your seal has broken down entirely.
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