What is the best waterproofing coating for outdoor pine

[Tapster]

I've searched Thai Visa for this and surprisingly found nothing.

Advice please:

I built a 5x3 metre indoor climbing wall in South Africa, from standard plywood and 2x4 pine.

Now I have moved it to our house in Thailand and it lives outdoors in Phuket.

It had to be cut in two to fit it into the container and then it was put together as in the photos below.

The climbing surface is painted with paint and sand for texture and grip.

I have coated all exposed wood with Chaindrite.

What I need to do before the rain comes is waterproof the pine.

I've looked online but can only find various types of varnish.

What I'd really like is some sort of deeply penetrating coating - I've read about epoxy resin or a mixture of polyurethane in acetone, both of which penetrate quite a bit. Also there are natural oils, but it seems they need to be reapplied every year or so.

What do the TV experts recommend for a long-lasting, rarely-to-be-reapplied waterproofing solution for pine, and where might I get it, please?

[jimmybkk]

How did you get the sand to stick? Did you mix it in with the paint?

I'm no expert but here's what I use for all my waterproofing needs (apologies for the blurry images - got a problem with the cam on my phone):

You can use them on pretty much anything - timber, stone, cement etc. and you can find them at HomePro, in the cement section usually. They're made by Bosny and they're not expensive - about 260 baht for the acrylic and a bit less for the silicone. I prefer the finish of the silicone and it definitely soaks into the substrate, but I think the acrylic is probably more durable.

Although it says not to on the tin I usually dilute them both with a bit of thinner and they each require different thinners - IIRC one can be thinned with AAA and the other with turps, but don't quote me on that and I can't remember which is which - you'll need to experiment. You'll know if it's not the right thinner PDQ because you'll end up with a blob of "gum" on your brush/mixing stick.

Good luck with it all - it looks like a nice project.

[HooHaa]

ihve been using something called everwood,

its expensive but you get a huge amount.

not sure where it is available from however as it was sourced by the builder.

it has to be applied before any other paint or treatment however.

[Tapster]

Thank you, Jimmy.

These are just the type of thing I'm looking for.

I'm not too bothered about the finish as nobody will see the back of the wall, so it comes down to which one works better.

It sounds like you've found the acrylic to be more waterproof than the silicone, right?

Anyway, I'll check them out, thanks.

About the sand on the climbing wall, I lay the wall on its back and painted the surface. Then I covered the wet paint with sand, let it dry, brushed it off and painted again.

The original paint I used claimed to be textured with sand but, after thorough mixing, it was still patchy so I tried the method above and it worked very well.

Cheers

[Tapster]

@HooHaa

Thanks for the tip.

Gripseal "Everwood" is made in South Africa (so the Internet tells me). The specs look good, however I haven't found any links to suppliers in Thailand, nor any mention of the product in Thailand.

I don't suppose you're in Phuket and could ask your builder where he got it?

[jimmybkk]

@Tapster - I can't really say that I've found the acrylic to be more waterproof, but it appears to be similar to a regular lacquer or clearcoat in the way it is applied and the way it protects, i.e. you apply a coat, wait for it to dry (about an hour) and then apply another coat. It sits on top of the timber and forms a seal that the water cannot penetrate (at least that's the theory).

With the silicone, to be honest I don't really understand how it works. You apply a coat which is absorbed into the timber, then apply another coat before the first coat has dried - what the manufacturer refers to as wet on wet... When you're done the timber has changed very little in appearance (unlike with the acrylic which leaves a gloss finish) but when it rains or when it gets wet the water "beads" and runs off.

The reason I think the acrylic may be more durable is because it effectively creates a protective layer on top of the timber that may offer some protection against scratches and dents, whereas I don't think the silicone offers this.

For the sake of a couple of hundred baht I would suggest buying one of each and doing some experimentation. Let me know if you have any problems finding these and we can figure out a way of sending them to you if needs be,