I received products for review. The opinions within this post are of my own and I was not influenced in any way. Please do your own research before purchasing products or using services. Your opinions and results may differ.
Almost every weekend, for seven months out of the year, my family goes camping. Rather than "rough it" we have our own camper parked at a campsite and it sits there all year long. It's our home away from home. Because we are there so often, I want my camper and the site it's on to have a reflection of cleanliness and proper maintenance.
A couple years ago, during the move from one campsite to another, we acquired a deck and steps left by previous owners. This was exciting to us because we didn't have to purchase or build our own. The only downfall is that the deck and steps needed either painted or stained to look good. Finally, that time came when Thompson's Water Seal sent us waterproofing stain and deck stripper to do the overdue project.
The steps were natural and didn't have previous stain or paint on them so the only thing I needed to do was stain them. I first wiped them down with a rag to remove dirt and debris, then I prepped the waterproofing stain. There are several cautions and instructions on the can that need to be read before diving in, for safety purposes.
The steps were painted over with one coat of waterproofing stain. The color gave them a nice brown wooden polished look, while still showing the actual grain of the wood.
The picnic table was next. Again, I went over it with just one coat. There was a dramatic improvement from how it looked before and how it looked after staining the table.
The biggest project was our deck. It required first using the Deck Stripper. It contains corrosives so it's important not to let it come in contact with skin. As it shows in the picture above, the deck was two-toned with different paint colors and it was showing signs of paint chipping. After carefully applying the deck stripper and letting it sit for a bit, I chipped off the excess paint and proceeded to stain my deck.
As you can see from this picture, the bottom of the deck is now all one color and has a nice, cohesive look. I used two coats of stain for the deck to get a darker brown tint. Temperatures need to be above 50 degrees and during daylight hours to apply the stain. The deck stripper can be applied at any time. Staining the deck twice, the steps once, and the picnic table once used a gallon and a half of waterproofing stain.
Because all of these items are outdoors in all kinds of conditions, I'm glad to know that I've not only added a much nicer color, I'm also preventing water damage and the coating resists mildew & UV damage. Using Thompson's Water Seal deck stripper and waterproofing stain, the area around my campsite has an updated, fresh look.
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