2 questions - been saving them up!
Hopefully these questions are not going to something major. I have an old oak swing that has weathered. What is the best thing to put on it to make it look new again? I don't want to paint it, I like it natural looking. I've used a bleach & water mixer before on my deck then put Thomason Weather seal on it, would that work? Yesterday I noticed a small hole in the siding on my house. Yes, I'm sure my dear son did that, he manages to do things like that without telling me. Do I have to replace the entire piece of siding or can I do something else? The hole is a bit bigger than the size of your thumb. If I just leave it will I have insects getting in there? I know I couldn't handle that. If a snake crawled up in there I'd have to move. Thanks for your help. Lisa
Thompson's Deck Wash is basically bleach and water. You could use that. I would sand the swing with a random-orbit sander, then coat it with a weatherproofing product. And don't get Thompson's. I am Thompson's worst nightmare because I am responsible for more potential Thompson's customers going home with something else than I can possibly count. Thompson's Water Seal is good for exactly two things: fencing, because it's so quick to apply to a huge expanse with a bug sprayer; and masonry, because it soaks in better than anything else. But Thompson's Water Seal is about the consistency of tap water. Finishes that do work, in order of preference: Sikkens Cetol is the best, but it's hard to find and nearly $60 a gallon when you do. Worse: you apply it in three coats, and you use two different products to do so. Apply one coat of Cetol 1, then two coats of Cetol 23. When it's applied according to Akzo Nobel's instructions, it's guaranteed to last three years. (Note: in Europe Akzo Nobel has a licensing program in place for painters. If you don't have an Akzo license for Cetol, they won't sell you any. It's kinda like Corian in the US, where you must be DuPont-certified to install Corian before you're allowed to purchase the sheet stock.) Behr Premium Waterproofer is less than half the price of Cetol and it's very good. It has a one-year warranty. Next comes Flood CWF-UV. Also with a one-year warranty. Then start looking at either Behr Waterproofer or Olympic Waterproofer--they're both very good. I also like spar urethane, but it takes a long, long time to dry. You don't want to apply catalyzed finishes yourself. They are exceptionally durable, but have the strange and nasty habit of killing painters who don't have the proper protective equipment. (There are three kinds of cat coatings--epoxies, esters and urethanes. Epoxy has a long list of hazardous chemicals in it. Esters--isophthalic polyester, orthophthalic polyester, vinylester--are thinned with acetone, which is more flammable than gasoline. Urethane contains two chemicals--polyester polyol and diisocyanate--and the second one is capable of killing you dead with little provocation, like it did to the people in Bhopal, India.) My choice? Taking price, availability, ease of use and safety into consideration, Flood CWF-UV is what I'd use. You can get it at a lot of places, it's not expensive and it works. What kind of siding? -- --jmowreader