20 Best Waterproof Finish For Wood (2023 Updated)

The finish left by the product is very soft. After three days of drying I flipped the wood panel over to finish the back side. When I moved the board again I found the finish had slightly stuck to the board it was sitting on and I now have a distinct line across the part.

Even worse after leaving for a week I installed the part in the boat. Sitting on the board caused the finish to shift and created wrinkles. I don’t know if I did something wrong in the application or if it needs multiple weeks to full cure.

In either case I regret the decision on this product and will likely end up pulling off the boat next off-season to strip and re-do with a different product.

I bought a quart of the Marine Wood Finish to seal and finish a weathered solid mahogany bench after a great deal of sanding prep. A couple of points for purchasers. As another reviewer pointed out this is not like a clear varnish or satin varnish.

There is an orange yellow color out of the can. On very dark wood like end grain the yellowish tone shows up. On the reddish brown grain it did not. The can was labeled SATIN finish but after three coats: first two thinned with mineral spirits then a light sanding with 220 sandpaper and full strength final coat,the finish was very good and pretty deep, but if it were any glossier you could see your face in it.

It also does a pretty good job of filling the open pores in Mahogany, but not as well as a pore sealer. But for an outdoor bench, the extra work and expense of filling pores was not necessary. That’s a plus.

The directions on the can are different than the directions on the website as far as thinning the initial coat. The label does not say mineral spirits is a suitable thinner – just says to use the Total Boat 100 proprietary thinner.

I followed the web directions which said mineral spirits and that worked fine. Yes, I would recommend this product with the caveats above but NOT if you are looking for a satin finish.

This is our second purchase of the TotalBoat Marine Wood Finish as we’ve had success with it on the brightwork of our backyard built 20′ LOA, 8′ Beam, Ply on Frame Pacific Northwest Dory. We started using it when we first mounted the White Oak Rubrails when the hull was on the strongback.

We also used it on our White Oak Sole and the AshToerail. White Oak is a bear to finish and keep clean, but this material, after a year, has held up to the harsh Sun and Environment of the Sun Coast of Florida.

We highly recommend it!.

Product arrive more quickly than anticipated. I applied the marine wood sealer, using two coats as directed and we’ll see how long it lasts.

So far so good. It’s only been a few weeks since I purchased this product so keep that in mind. It applies very easy, I’m using it on my new cedar deck. It’s rained a little and I have noticed that the water on the cedar is beading up.

I’ll apply a second coat later this year.

This company has the best customer service I’ve ever experienced. Incredibly knowledgeable employees who are willing to spend the timefully understanding the customers concerns and goals and even though I had some self-inflicted issues, they continued to support and coach me through the process with their product.

I’m a fan. Buy direct with them!.

Worked ok. Coastal gray semi transparent sealer over somewhat yellowish pressure treated wood. Used a Wagner sprayer to apply. Project was a pergola, consisting of large wood structure and high end lattice semi rough cut wood.

Had to be careful to apply enough material. ,,or the yellow would show through. Pretty difficult. especially on the rough lattice. Even though I waited for the wood to cure out. after several weeks. it seemed a tad difficult to get an even finish.

I ran a roller over the spray job as I went. for even results. Overall I liked the results. but it was an exhausting project.

This product seems to work as advertised, but I’m not sure it’s been down long enough to give a good review (applied 2 weeks ago). The stain applied very nicely and it was the color I expected. It added a little color but allowed the wood grain to come through.

It dries quickly – so you have to work with a purpose. When the first rain came – water puddled up and didn’t absorb into the wood. The can did arrive damaged. It didn’t leak but it was definitely dented and bowed.

I’m surprised it didn’t leak.

Applied this exactly how the directions indicated onto a BRAND NEW deck, 6 months later it’s peeling and flaking off and looks like garbage. Absolute waste of money. Do not buy this product.

We had one window on a job that was supposed to be stained. One of my guys didn’t realize that because all the other windows on the project were being done with just flat-out-flat on bare wood. So he went ahead and put flat-out-flat on all the windows before i had a chance to stain that one.

When it came time to put the stain on, i went right ahead and was very confused as to why the stain wasn’t absorbing. I took my gloves off and rubbed the wood and realized that it already had a coat or two of flat-out-flat on it.

I am a carpenter with a couple decades of experience with woodworking and i didn’t realize the stuff was there until i touched it. This should give you an idea of how flat it is. I also like that, although General Finishes does not tout its eco-grooviness in any way, Flat-Out-Flat is pretty non-toxic stuff.

A deep dive into the MSDS sent up no red flags for me, which is rare for products that aren’t explicitly made for chemically sensitive people.

This is the second project I’m using this product on. It does exactly what it says it will do. The first project had several pieces I painted a very pale gray. With this top coat, the appearance was just slightly darker.

They did disclose if using on bright white or very light colors, a yellowish hue will be seen. However, it is barely noticeable. The second project was a dark blue (more royal blue) desk. Im thrilled with how both projects came out! I highly recommend this top coat!.

I used this product to stain a 6ft x 15in board that is part of a piece of furniture I built. The color was simply white, semi-transparent. I followed the directions to apply the stain with a high quality synthetic brush.

When I went to wipe off the excess with a clean rag as instructed (immediately, within 2 min), I found that the rag stuck to the product as I tried to wipe. This made the result extremely splotchy. I stripped the splotchy stain off to start over, but before doing so I called Minwax to get some advice.

After explaining what I was experiencing, the individual ended up suggesting that I use a damp rag to wipe off the excess instead of a dry one. This did work a little better, but also removed most of the product.

I decided to try something radical. I bought some plain Brillo sponges. I stirred the stain and then wiped some stain onto the sponge with the stirring stick to prime it. Then, I poured a stream of stain along the entire length of the board.

I used the sponge to quickly spread the stain, and then made light passes across the board from end-to-end, with the grain, to gently smooth out the stain. I held the sponge with both hands while doing this, being careful to minimize the amount of pressure applied.

This technique gave me a pretty reasonable result. Minwax, please update the directions and provide a corresponding video to help people apply this product in a way that will work with this extremely thick, fast-drying stain.

Many people are wasting money, and worse a ton of time and effort trying to make this product work. Have some compassion for all these poor folks. Thx!.

I have a 100 year old table and chair set that I spent a solid month refurbishing. I sanded it down very well, but with it being 100 years old, it still had plenty of little knicks and dents in the wood.

So I chose chalk paint to paint the table legs and chairs as it is so dense and also very flat that it conceals imperfections very well. The paint job was perfection, and I was so pleased with it. Then I made the mistake of putting Miniwax Matte finish Polycrylic on top.

First of all, it’s not matte at all. The sheen is much closer to semi-gloss. I stirred the can literally 100 times in both ways (I counted it out in my head) so I know that no components were separated in the can— in other words, this was not a user-error.

I also applied a very light coating. I thought after my first coat that it just needed to dry in order for the sheen to diminish. Nope. Still very high shine. It ruined the texture of my chalk paint completely, and revealed every single blemish on all of my chairs.

I was distraught. Also, it yellowed in some spots, and I know for a fact that it was not caused by tannins because I coated the chairs with shellac everywhere prior to applying the white chalk paint to seal the tannins from seeping through.

Thinking I had maybe a bad batch of paint, I borrowed some of the same matte polycrylic from my mother to hopefully conceal the sheen (after sanding off the yellow streaks) and it did the SAME THINGG!! I’m mad, and disappointed to say in the least.

Don’t buy the matte polycrylic, it’s just so disappointing.

I bought when I discovered my 15 year old can of Varathane Diamond had turned to gel. The store didn’t have interior (there used to be only one) and I though “how different can it be?”. Well. it means it when it says not for interior.

I put it on a stair railing and the results are awful. It doesn’ t flow and self level like my previous experiences with Varathane Diamond Coat. Does anyone want 9/10 of a litre of this stuff? I have no use for it.

2 stars because it does say that it’s not for interior, I wouldn’t be happy with the results even on an exterior item.

Great product when applied correctly. Nice clear, hard finish. Easy soap and water clean up. Applying multiple thin coats is best for a smooth finish and prevents seeing brush strokes. This finish dries quickly so DON’T overbrush or you will see brush strokes.

The product itself is great. I love this brand so much. I use it on woodburnings and it doesn’t change the color of the wood and is easy to apply. It will last a good while as well. There was just a rather large shortage of varnishes to choose from when I bought this – hence the 4 star.

Normally I use the indoor kind for my wood art but they were completely out of stock.

store has online in stock but had none This is not the frist time this has happen so i have to travel 20 miles to get instead 2 miles

We purchased 5 five-gallon buckets of this wood finish to treat 2 privacy fences that were recently pressure washed. After rolling for an afternoon, we decided to get an airless sprayer to complete the rest of the work.

This wood finish sprayed on well. It still looks pretty good after a few months. The neighbors behind the first fence we did compliment us on it and said they were planning on washing and staining their fence now also.

I wish this wood finish worked in one coat, rather than needed a follow-up coat so the fence doesn’t look blotchy. I would recommend using an airless sprayer with the product if you are putting on more than a gallon.

The only thing that disappointed me was that the buckets don’t have a built-in pop-out spout to aid in pouring. I have purchased 5-gallon paint buckets before from other manufacturers that have a little spout that pops out.

You need to buy an extra spout if you want to easily pour this product into a paint tray or sprayer bottle.

I am a (frustrated) amateur when it comes to staining wood. I have tried a half dozen different stains, and was not especially satisfied with any of them (not Behr products). However, THIS one is the only one to totally satisfy me with regards to ease of use, ease of clean-up, and beauty of finished product.

I have used the cedar naturaltone and the redwood. I used the stains to treat plain pine wood for raised garden beds and it worked perfectly. The beds look like more expensive wood at a fraction of the cost.

They are protected from water, sun damage, and mildew (OK, confession: mildew is not much of a problem here in Arizona!) I highly recommend this product, though I can’t comment on its durability yet as I’ve only used it for the last 2 months.

In the past I’ve used latex primers, alkyd primers and other recommended wood sealer/primers to prep for outdoor painting and have seen the effects of weather on my exterior home projects including porches and railings.

The last bunch of years i’ve been using Flood CWF-UV water based as either a sealer without paint and as a primer under exterior latex paint. One project was a raised boardwalk made of treated 2×6 lumber.

The Flood held up under traffic and the paint stayed on nicely. I just go with the Flood now. It seems to penetrate better than the primers. The natural dries slightly yellowish. If I get drips I can see the runs but it always dries perfectly.

I’m no expert but I much prefer the Flood for exterior wood projects now.

I enjoyed this deck stain. Yes, there is better quality out there but that comes with a hefty price tag so it’s really just about what you are looking for. Personally. I wanted something affordable that looks nice and protects my deck while also giving an all over coverage and even color to the wood.

This product did just that and looks absolutely beautiful on the wood. If your on a budget and looking for a good affordable stain for your deck, I think this product is great! Like I said previously, yes there is better out there but for the price, this product works just fine.

Redwood semi-transparent oil-based stain: before and after pictures. This playset was coated twice and used 4 gallons out of a five gallon bucket. The stain is oily and wipes off metal easily; not as easy off of plastic.

The five gallons was well mixed. No noticeable separation or layering of the stain when first opened. It was still stirred before application though. Brushes, rollers, and pads were used. This stain would work well in a sprayer.

This stain seems less viscous than a solid stain. Imperfections in the wood show through this stain. The second coat gave it a consistant appearance overall. Light colored wood filler will show through this stain no matter how many coats are applied.

I would use this again only on wood that has a consistent (previously stained or bare wood) color at the start of the stain application. Power washing marks will show through this stain even with two applications.

Surfaces remained oily to the touch for many hours after the second coat was applied. Unsure how long the color will last. Good price for decent stain. 4 stars overall. This site states that the pictures were too big to upload.

I stained both sides of a more than 300 foot, four foot high cedar fence, and I could not be happier with the results. The stain was very forgiving, easy to apply, and has a uniform color despite some inconsistent application on my part.

It also dried quickly holding up to a storm 16 hours after the project was completed. I did power wash several days prior, and it being a two year old fence, I had dry wood to work with when I applied the stain.

It did come out a bit darker than the image on the can shows, though part of that is certainly from the fence being cedar to begin with, and the end product is a wonderfully rich color. This was comparatively inexpensive to other brands I considered.

Highly recommend.

I would very much like to recount my original review on Ready Seal Stain company. When we started this project we ordered redwood after doing some further research on stain colors I found that alot of people ended up with orange tints when staining their fences and this is because of the wood that the fence was used to construct it.

Some woods in their state have a yellow his to them causing the outcome to look orange. After speaking with one of the reps at Ready Seal who suggested doing the second coat in mission brown to counter out the orange we found that it worked perfect.

It’s a but Darker than we originally wanted but the orange tint is gone. And the strain looks beautiful. Sorry Ready Seal you have our business for life.

The penetrating sealer worked well. The second coat was applied while the first was still damp (per the instructions) and it eventually soaked in and dried clear. I ran out of the Vermont Natural Coatings Water Proofer and needed to finish some more wood so I bought a similar product made by Valspar.

What a mistake! The Valspar product didn’t work near as well as the Vermont Natural Coatings product. and it didn’t didn’t dry clear (went on yellow and dried yellow. Yuck!). Since the Vermont Natural Coatings products are only available online I will get another gallon to prepare for my next project.

Excellent. Water was not absorbed by wood. Nice to see the water beading on top. No color change. Used this to allow the natural grey color. Delivered to northern coastal Maine in two days! installers very pleased with application—I was very pleased with how fast it went! Now I’m going to buy products for interior staining and conditioning.

Love that this stuff exists. Maureen ter Poorten.

We have a board on board 6 foot fence, approximately 140 linear feet including the two gates. Having had 2 lung cancer surgeries I was looking for something we could use that had low/no VOC and would actually work.

Several neighbors recommended different products (Olympic; Arborcoat; etc. ) but we chose Vermont Naturals after researching on line. Prompt delivery and an amazing product – no smell and easy to apply.

Water just rolls off the fence – and it is truly clear – no change in color to the beautiful wood (white cedar). We love it!.

TraduireAfficher dans la langue originaleI have been using this product on furniture I am building from reclaimed white oak. The first piece I built was during the winter, so I had to apply the finish in the basement.

I would say this is low odour and fast drying. Easy cleanup because it is water based. The clear finish did alter the colour of the wood, but that was too be expected and I am pleased with the results.

Several months later I have bought another can for a third project. The finish has been durable so far in rooms occupied by students.

TraduireAfficher dans la langue originaleThis water based polyurethane does not have fumes and is very easy to apply. I sanded and waited more than the suggested time between coats. I was happy with the result; however, there are several scratches on the surface that were made just by placing objects on it (no pressure).

Unfortunately, I will need to sand everything again and I will probably apply an oil based polyurethane next time.

TraduireAfficher dans la langue originaleThis was a good product but unfortunately due to user error I was unable to properly use it. I originally planned to use it to make glittered ornaments in replacement to poly acrylic but this is a satin finish.

At first the ornaments didn’t look as bright but after a couple of days of drying it worked out. Will do in a pinch but it’s better if you buy the glossy finish.

My previous experience with General fishes has been very good. Therefore my expectations for “Exterior 450” were the same. This finished while it was significantly more expensive, did not perform any better than the more common “Depot and hardware store” exterior finishes.

Used the finish on outdoor benches in several locations; Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Portland, OR. Applied several coats at each site. At every location, the finish allowed water penetration and the eventual water stains, mold, and need to refinish yearly.

Disappointed.

I used Redwood to paint pine siding of my cabin. The product was very easy to apply with super stainer paint brush and clean after. Good coverage. Redwood color transformed the cabin beyond recognition while covering imperfections.

It simply looks beautiful. I got lots of complements from the neighbors. I’m a very happy customer.

This product appears to be fantastic! My deck has needed attention the last two summers, but Illinois weather has not cooperated. It’s been too rainy and the temperatures have been too high including the humidity levels.

Ready Seal defies those weather barriers! After stripping the previously used product from the deck and cleaning away the caustic residue, we waited two days for the deck to dry well. Application of Ready Seal went exceptionally well.

Amazingly no start-stop marks could be found. This product blended well with no extra work. We applied with both roller and brush. For such a large deck the product did an awesome job of coverage. After one coat the water repels so well – it’s like a new waxed car, the water just beads up on the wood.

This was the results after only six hours before another rain passed through the area! Looks like maintenance should be easy and a follow up application can be applied in temperatures of 35-90+ degrees.

I’m so glad I found this product. I will definitely be using it again!.

Less expensive than Ace Hardware plus free delivery vs 130 mile round trip to Ace. I have used this product for 20 years now on log home and redwood deck. Product quality is high and consistent. If you apply product thickly you will end up with longer cure times and some gummy surfaces.

This penofin product is really great. The results bring out the woods beauty. I put it over wood the had a water sealer. Even though I thoroughly sanded the fence, not all the seal was off. This causes the oil to be shinny when it covers the sealer.

Better to do it on bare wood.

Great product! I bought this for ipe deck upcoming spring project but I tried on teak shower bench first. It came out with deep natural color ,wood feels very nicely penetrated. Great service and fast shipping.

We have a wood patio set from Ikea. Unfortunately the finish didn’t last and needed complete redo. Ikea was no longer selling the matching stain. This turned out good as it forced me to try this product.

After washing the set with some soapy bleach mixture I sanded all the top surfaces. Then applied the semi transparent stain and sealer in the custom mixed Sable color which is almost an exact match. The end result was amazing, looks better than new.

The key is making sure you don’t apply in direct sun as dries really fast. Aldo wet on wet if doing second coat. I don’t know how long it will last but should be much longer than the original finish.

Hello, I used Behr semi transparent stain on my deck after cleaning and prepping the surface. I applied 2 thin coats and it looked great. It was quite tacky for a long time as others have noted but this eventually resolved.

After the first winter the stain started to peel significantly and by the end of the first full summer it looked horrible. There is a portion of my deck that is covered and this has held up fine. I have now fully sanded the remaining surface in preparation of re-doing the project.

I am very reluctant to use this product again but need to do so to match the remaining covered deck surface. I would sure appreciate some advice and warranty coverage to repeat this process. Thanks so much.

I live in southern AZ, the sun makes any surface very hot. This stain begins to blister after 2 yrs. Then I have to sand the entire deck and benches before I can apply new coat. I use an air compressor to make sure the surface completely free of dust.

I use the recommended 2 coats, 24 hrs between coats. I apply this before our Monsoon season (starts early July) and it does really well repelling water. If you live in a part of the country where the temps are moderate, this stain may be perfect for you.

WARNING. I used the product exactly like it said on my deck. The color never set. It leaves brown residue on the bottom of your shoes and you track it in the house. I washed it several times. Pressure washed it three times.

I had to cover my deck with outdoor carpet. After two years, I pulled the carpet up, washed the deck, pressure washed. It still has residue. This product should be taken off the market.

I applied this product to my fence iver 3 yrs sgo snd it still looks like it did from day one. BEHR Premium Semi-Transparent Waterproofing Wood Stain & Sealer is a penetrating oil-based stain that beautifies and protects your exterior wood surfaces.

This product is available in popular exterior premix colors and can also be tinted to a range of other exterior colors. This product is ideal for both horizontal and vertical surfaces. After application, this product will resist rain after 4 hours which provides project flexibility during unsure weather conditions.

I used this product, based upon recommendation of in-store personnel. The Transparent Waterproofing Wood Finish Penetrating Oil was an upgrade of the product used the prior year on newly-installed fence and was a great improvement over the previous version.

It covered the fence more evenly and resisted effects of direct sun exposure experienced with previous product. I am very happy with Behr product, as well as with in-store expertise with this project; it should provide on-going protection of the fence for the future!.

I applied this to an older deck that gets full sun all day long. The deck soaked up the finish readily. With the application of two coats using a brush, the deck looked great and still does 3 years later.

Prior to putting this product on the deck I had used traditional deck stains and they showed wear within two years. I hardily recommend this penetrating oil.