Thompson’s WaterSeal Semi-Transparent Waterproofing Wood Stain and Sealer, Chestnut Brown, 1 Gallon

Great coverage Great final finish. Well worth the price. Dries quickly. Easy application with a paint brush.

I've used this previously, a great product. It was nice to pick it up at the front door. Easy to use, looks nice on the wood gates.

Better to buy on here. Like the product

Our deck was neglected by the previous homeowners and it was in pretty rough/weathered shape with a ton of mildew growing all over the wood since our home backs up to mature trees, so it was long overdue for some maintenance. After pressure washing, chemical cleaning/brightening (don’t skip this step if your deck is in bad shape, it makes a BIG difference in how well your deck will take the stain!), and sanding, I made sure we applied this semi-transparent stain and sealer immediately after everything was dry to avoid the wood taking on any water since we get rained on pretty often.Thompsons is a well-known name for water-resistance, so I figured it was worth going with them for our deck stain and sealer. The “Chestnut” stain we bought looks a bit more red and chalky when it is fresh out of these cans (if you don’t mix it well before applying, a gray-ish liquid separates from the stain pretty quickly, so I am guessing that part is either part of the sealer or maybe just part of what evaporates after application?), so I was a little taken aback since I believed this would be more of a brownish color stain. The look of the wood after this stain dries definitely still has a reddish tint to it, but don’t worry too much about how it looks initially as it will dry and cure a few shades darker than the initial application by the end.Having never attempted this type of work before, I didn’t realize how dry those poor boards were after sanding! Once I completed the first coat, it was apparent the stain didn’t quite cover everything as evenly as I had hoped since the wood absorbed a lot of the stain initially. It is certainly possible that the wood prep wasn’t perfect, so perhaps going a higher degree on the sandpaper may fix that? I won’t blame the stain for that as it’s possible this is the result of user error as I did not sand down to 220 grit, so it might just have been my fault.Fortunately, Prime saves the day once again and I was able to get the 2nd batch of stain immediately and wrapped it up the same week. With that second layer of stain on there, things went from pretty good to fantastic! The second layer definitely seems to have added a good bit of durability, so I think it should last us several years of heavy use, and with kids and a dog out there all the time, it certainly sees some foot/paw traffic!We ended up getting a storm a little over a day after I finished up the second coat, so I was able to see the water seal in action right away! As you can see in the close-up of the deck board, the water is sitting on top of the wood thanks to the sealer coat!Overall, I highly recommend this stain/sealer, just be aware that for both aesthetics and functionality, you may want to double the amount needed to cover your project as dry. Even if the issue was due to not sanding to a fine enough grade, cracked wood is likely going to soak up a lot of that stain after you sand it either way, so it is always better to be safe than sorry!

I applied this semitransparent sealer over hand picked redwood T&G boards. I chose each board for the great color variation redwood offer. It turned out exactly as described in the product overview; nice dark tan and the light/dark variations in the wood grain are easily seen. Product goes on smoothly, dries quickly, lightens as it dries. Be sure to shake the can to mix contents, wear gloves ( paint thinner cleans hands) , don’t stack newly coated wood on anything until it dries! When wet and allowed to dry, it sticks to what you layer the board on. I coated both sides and all edges , but rested each plank on a minimal contact surface at each end so the planks are above the workbench.I coated about 120sqft of T&G redwood , single coat, and still had maybe 1-2 qts left.

Great product. Great price.

I ordered Chestnut Brown semi-transparent to color and seal a wood lattice on the side of my house. Please be forewarned that the Chestnut Brown is much closer color-wise to Sedona Red. I had high hopes that the color would dry more brown, but it did not. I wanted something easy to use that would add some neutral brown color and protect the existing wood — this ain’t it.The red tones in the sealer are frankly not good and something I wasn’t expecting based on their product color swatch and photo on the outside of the can. So, now my easy job is now a multi-day job because I’ll be painting over this.

I purchased this last summer 2024. I brushed this on our 16x18 deck which was built 3 years ago and it needed a stain/sealer application.I won't purchase this product again, after we had snow a month ago my stain/sealer is peeling terribly. I feel like I wasted time and money on such a product that didn't hold up to my satisfaction.