Water seal for deck (stain, wood, sanding, cheaper)

[ansky]

My deck currently has stain on it. Instead of staining it again I was thinking of applying Thompson's water seal. Will that work considering the deck has already been stained?

[akck]

Yes you can use Thompson's, but my experience is that it only lasts a year before you need to re-apply.

[ansky]

Originally Posted by akck

Yes you can use Thompson's, but my experience is that it only lasts a year before you need to re-apply.

That's fine. I think that will be cheaper and easier than trying to stain again. The stain was applied by the previous homeowner and I think I would have a very hard time matching it.

[James1202]

Originally Posted by ansky

That's fine. I think that will be cheaper and easier than trying to stain again. The stain was applied by the previous homeowner and I think I would have a very hard time matching it.

Our former home had a wood deck that the previous owner didn't do anything with (no stain, no waterproofing). Over a 5 yr. period we sanded, stained, and waterproofed it and discovered a couple of things:

1) re-staining (without sanding) every 2-3 yrs. created a subtle colour variations, where the sealant remained; which gave the wood a certain character we thought made it look more "rich" and/or "aged" which we liked.

2) Thompsons' did a great job. One year we skipped a re-application and water still beaded throughout the Summer. In the Autumn, however, we were seeing soak-through.