"Robert11" wrote in message
...
Hello:

Have a deck that is made (thank goodness) from pressure
treated wood. Deck is about 20 years old.

Will be wanting to apply some product like Thompsons Water Seal
to it.

Questions:

a. Is Thompson's the brand to use, or are there "better" products
available ?

b. How is this stuff applied ? Just swabbed on with a big, cheap,
paintbrush, or... ?

How about spraying it on ? If so, would you still need to smooth the
liquid with a brush ?

c. The underside of the Deck is high enough to walk under.

Should I also apply this stuff to the underside ? Brush or spray ?

d. How does one get the sides of the planks, seeing that there is about
an 1/8 inch gap, only ?

Important to do the sides too ?

e. Does pressure treasted wood absorb any of this product, or is it
pretty much of a surface treatment ?

Just out of curiosity, how about regular wood: surface only ?

Thanks,
Bob
What I did was use Thompson's deck cleaner, sprayed it on and let it sit for
20 minutes then power washed it off, that did a great job, better than just
power washing alone. However, I had heard that Thompson's water seal was not
good so opted for Olympia (or is it Olympic?(cans are gone) clear deck
sealant which contains linseed oil and that did a great job. I used a
sprayer for that. Did the immediate area around the house siding with a
brush so as not to get it on the vinyl siding. Any that does happen to get
on the siding can be cleaned up with mineral spirits. My decks kind of just
sucked it up as it had been weathered for so long. All three decks look new.
It was gray and dull and against the new siding looked like crap. I thought
about using one of the tinted deck treatments then saw the neighbor
struggling to scrap and sand it off to redo his.

Stone