Clear Penetrating Epoxy Wood Sealer is a thin epoxy that penetrates deeply into the surface of wood. It completely seals abnormal porosity in timber. It seals wood from water ingress yet leaves a microporous finish that allows wood to breathe.
Furthermore it will chemically bond your top coat of paint or varnish to the timber. Because of this it will significantly increase the life of your topcoat. If you are using it internally – you may not need a topcoat at all.
Penetrating Epoxy Wood Sealer – FAQ
When do I need a penetrating epoxy wood sealer?
You use Clear Penetrating Epoxy Wood Sealer to:
- Prime timber before painting or varnishing it. You can get varnish finishes that last 20 years with CPES as a primer.
- Finish interior wood. More natural and quicker than varnish, more durable than oils. It’s a quick and easy beautiful finish for interior timber ; stain proof and with enhanced grain.
- Consolidate, harden and restore strength to timber that has rotted. It finds rot that you cannot see, restores strength and allows permanent repairs.
Why is Smiths CPES the best penetrating epoxy wood sealer?
Smiths Clear penetrating Epoxy Sealer (CPES) is the best penetrating epoxy for wood because it:
- Is carried in a unique solvent blend that ensures deep penetration into the wood fibres or rot.
- Stays bonded to the wood fibres as it is crafted using expensive resins that once cured flex with the wood itself. This furthermore makes it resistant to knocks as it flexes rather than cracks under impacts.
What is the difference between Cold and Warm Weather Formulas?
The two formulas are designed to work at different temperatures. as such they have:
- Different curing properties – CW formula cures faster at any given temperature. It is designed to give similar working and curing times to Warm Weather formula but achieved at lower temperatures
- Different solvent blends – Warm Weather Formula is less volatile, so evaporates slower at any given temperature
Do I have to prime timber after treating it with Smiths Penetrating epoxy wood sealer?
No – Clear Penetrating Epoxy Wood Sealer is the worlds best wood primer because it:
- Glues your topcoat to your wood – CPES forms chemical bonds to almost every modern topcoat as it’s slow curing formulation is still curing when the initial topcoat is applied to the timber
- Penetrates deeply providing a sound and secure base for your topcoat, be it varnish or paint
- Enhances the beauty of your timber by bringing out the grain of it
- Can give you varnish finishes that last up to 20 years with proper maintenance
Can I use fillers on top of timber treated with CPES?
Yes, you can use fillers on top of Clear Penetrating Epoxy Wood Sealer. We recommend our own Fill-It lightweight flexible and waterproof filler, which you can buy at a discount with CPES included as a rotten wood repair kit, but any decent filler will adhere to CPES. Always ensure the solvents have evaporated fully to ensure you have a stable base before applying filler.
More penetrating epoxy wood sealer questions and answers can be found here.
Smiths Clear Penetrating Epoxy Wood Sealer
- chemically bonds to the structure of the wood
- chemically bonds the top coat of paint or varnish to the timber
- it is simply the best wood primer there is as it chemically bonds paint to the top layers of wood fibres
- is as flexible as the wood itself
- allows the wood to breathe
- seals porosity and stabilises wood
- resists rot and decay
- reduces maintenance costs dramatically
Priming Wood for Varnish or Paint with Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer
We market it as MultiWoodPrime in America because it is so good at priming wood for paint or varnish.
Christian, pictured above on Taurus, achieved a 16 year life from the varnish finish on this boat in sunny climates. Clear Penetrating Epoxy Wood Sealer was the primer that gave the epifanes varnish that long life.
We have published an ongoing durability test of Epifanes over CPES in the UK. You can see it along with full instructions of how to do it here: how to varnish properly.
Interior timber protected just with CPES Wood Sealer
It is perfectly possible to use just CPES to achieve a beautiful finish and perfectly sealed wood if it’s exposure to UV light will be minimal.
For example we treated the doors below with just one coat of Smiths Penetrating epoxy Wood Sealer and nothing else. They are as a result:
- Stain proof
- Water proof
- Beautiful – with wonderfully enhanced grain
- Interior use only – they have very limited resistance to UV light
Furthermore this treatment took very little time indeed. Thus it represents a technique that offers stunning results with minimal effort.
Click here for the full story of how to seal and protect interior timber from water and staining.
Exterior timber protected with our Penetrating Epoxy Wood Sealer
It is possible to use just CPES penetrating epoxy to protect and lengthen the life of timber used externally. This technique requires maintenance, as the UV light in sunlight will degrade the epoxy. We call it sacrificial sealing which acknowledges the maintenance requirements of it.
The technique of sacrificial sealing can offer the following benefits:
- Secure to walk on when wet as it’s not a gloss finish
- A more natural looking finish than a varnished finish
- Much simpler application than varnishing
- Much simpler maintenance than varnish
- Failure is not catastrophic. If the finish is not maintained there is no requirement to sand back and start again
The results can be stunning, like Vicky’s magnificent Iroko deck pictured below. Read about it in hardwood decking preservation.
Because we know that this is a higher maintenance finish, we are conducting real world maintenance experiments to help you assess this technique of epoxy sealed wood outdoors.
CPES Temperature variations
Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer is provided in two temperature variants, a Cold and a Warm weather formula. Both the solvent blends and the chemical curing properties differ between the two. There is a good overlap of temperatures where you can use either variation to prime new wood prior to applying varnish or paint. See here for more information on whether to use Warm or Cold CPES.
Sealing Wooden Worktops
Oils are traditionally used to seal Wooden worktops. This is a finish that requires regular replenishment, and offers limited durability. Failures occur:
- Around water, as insufficient protection is offered by the oil, and the worktop starts to rot
- Cosmetic failures caused by staining or contamination of the wooden surface during use
Smiths clear penetrating epoxy wood sealer seals wooden worksurfaces far more effectively. The indoor environment with little UV light ensures the finish lasts well. Retreatment is typically needed every two or more years. It protects excellently against water ingress, and edges around sinks and tap holes can be very thoroughly treated to ensure that rot does not start there.
The sealer is more expensive than oils, but the application time is far quicker, and the maintenance requirements are far lower.
Full details of how to obtain a consistent natural wood matt finish are in this article.
It should be noted that Smiths CPES is not tested and approved for food preperation surfaces. As such we would not recommend it be used on direct food preperation surfaces such as chopping boards etc.
Restoring and Sealing Wooden Hot Tubs
Use Smiths Penetrating Epoxy Wood Sealer to restore Cedar hot tubs that have started to rot.
Add significant durability to wooden hot tubs by treating them with CPES prior to commissioning them. This will significantly reduce the moisture levels in the timber, and thus prolong it’s life.
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