Thompson’s keeps water out, but allows UV rays to penetrate to give wood that weathered look.
I have used it extensively on a wood deck I built at my last home and it worked as advertised. The wood did not rot (over 25 years) but acquired that grayed look you want. I say use it on your bridge, regardless of what others are telling you. That’s my 2 cents. (https://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)
The span came out great, Devon. Nice work!
Bob
Chris Kieffer said:
Devon Sinsley said:
Okay the gods have spoken…
Devon, I know you have been running about a quart low since your surgery. But, do you have any idea what you have just done? Some of these guys heads are big enough already.
Bridge looks great BTW
Wow…Chris just called Mr Marty a “Fat Head”
Fat heads rule!
Devon Sinsley said:
But if dealer does what you say it does Rick then why do people use it on their decks?
Deck boards lay flat and are usually around 6" wide PT lumber unlike your nice wooden bridge …seal it if you wish as it’s your RR and your rules. I only presented my comment from my minimal outdoor experience working with different materials finds and faults here in PA however climates and weather vary and not all experiences are the same.
If you stated the wood species for your bridge I missed it ?
Nice work on the bridge Devon, looks like a proper Howe. My Howe has weathered the elements for 11 years, made with old growth Redwood, without any sealer + we have pretty wimpy weather here in California. Yours may last 50 years(https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif) Looking forward to the installation.
It was made of Western Red Cedar. And I know plenty of cedar decks and redwood decks that were sealed with Thompson’s water seal. My parents included. I have also seen the results of untreated cedar decks. Lets just say my parents decks outlived theirs.
With that said I am going to forgo sealing it and see what happens. I might make another project and seal it just to test the theory. Same time same exposure and see which one lasts longer.
Didn’t get much time on the bridge this weekend. I did hand lay the rails and guard rails on it. I need to install the decking now and then it will be ready for mounting.
You might consider blathering on some boiled linseed oil. Just a thought.
I use a mixture of 25% ebony stain/75% linseed oil for these kinds of projects, mostly turnout ties.
I coated my oil derrick with used motor oil from the lawnmower.
David Maynard said:
I coated my oil derrick with used motor oil from the lawnmower.
I’ve seen this done, successfully, too.
