Customer Reviews for Olympic Maximum 5 Gal. Clear Exterior Waterproofing Sealant

Gives our deck a nice color and coverage! We had it on less than 24 hours when an unexpectes rain moved through and it beaded up nicely. I will say if you have new wood thay gets a lot of sun expect it to not go as far as the can says and budget to buy more. We ended up needing 4 cans when per the can coverage directions we should have only needed 1.

This stain works great and the walnut is a nice color!

Was looking to clear coat my nice new western red cedar fence and I’m now the proud owner of a gold fence. This should never be labeled as “clear”. Absolute garbage

We have a 40 year old deck that was cracked and dirty. We washed it with Oxy Clean, let it soak in for 30 minutes then carefully power rinsed it. The next day we sanded the boards and blew all the dust off. Then proceeded to put my first coat on. Although they state it is dry in 24 to 48 hours, we left it for three days and applied a second coat. Olympic Maximum was easy to apply and clean up was a breeze. We used the Clear which is amber and are pleased with the look. After a rain the deck boards where waterproof and did not absorb the water at all. Hope we will be as happy after this winter to see how it holds up.

I read the reviews about the color and they are correct in that the "clear" is yellow tinted. However, my swingset was already stained with a sunproof stain and needed waterproofing. Because this can be used over already stained wood, this was a great option. It has rained several times and our swingset is in the line of fire for a few sprinklers- holding up great!

Brand new fence RUINED!! My husband put it on I was thinking ok well it’s still wet it will lighten once it dries I was wrong my new fence is now school bus yellow it is awful and has ruined my fence!!! Now what?!? Your can says CLEAR and Home Depot told us it is clear and it is nothing of the sorts!! I’m so upset about this because I cannot adored to build a new fence and I hate it!! Looks like garbage now!

We bought Olympic Canyon Brown Exterior Stain and Sealant from Home Depot by looking at the color seen on the web page. Color shown on the Home Deport webpage and actual color on my deck looks so much different. I have receipt and picture of Home Deport page and picture and video of my deck. My deck looks so dark. I wasted money on color and paid someone to stain my deck. Very disappointed with Olympic product and Home Depot.

Recently had our 12x24 deck power washed to remove old stain, dirt and mildew. Purchased 2 1 gallon cans of Olympic Maximum Cedar Stain & Sealant and had it professionally applied. We were very pleased with both the product and the end result as our deck looks great. Would highly recommend it.

Very nice clear coat for my outdoor swing. It has a yellowish tint to it and I believe that it really makes the swing look nice. I applied two coats to my swing and frame.

Before and after

First off I use 15 gallons. I have a lot of fence. New construction so some of the fence was new. I purchased a backpack 4 gallon sprayer from Harbor Freight for $ 20. It worked great & cleaned up nicely. I am pleased with the color it's a golden hue. And it all depends on age & clean up of the fence to determine the hue.

Love this stuff, it covers well and cleans up easy.

A lot of these reviews and pictures are clearly by people who have very poor preparation and then blame the product for their incompetence. Stains like paint DO NOT adhere to dirt! Other complaints are about the color. It’s like a honey glaze, not clear per se. But I like honey glaze so it works for me. I actually need a bit more to finish as five gallons wasn’t enough if y’all wanna hook me up with a coupon that’d be lovely!

This has an amber hue to it and will stain your wood project. It does not dry clear, it does not apply clear, and it is not clear.

I followed the directions to a "T" - 6 months later, it's flaked to pieces. Warranty is a joke - I wrote a letter to PPG (tracking confirms delivery), 6 months later, no response. HD paint manager had no idea about warranty. Warning all my friends.

Product seems to be high quality- Problem is the color shown online vs the color as it dried on the fence- This product appeared to be a light semi transparent brown. My fence was stained so dark it looks more like a Dark Espresso. So disappointed.

Ruined $2,100 worth of beautiful new cedar. Followed the directions explicitly. Outraged to learn it’s a known problem and Olympic customer service advises that the product NOT be used on new wood, recommending it age for 3-6 months first!! See photos.

I had problems deciding between Russet and Dark Mahogany. I was looking at the in store sample that only had the DM to show, the 4-fold brochure and the website. I felt like mahogany would have a deeper cool color while russet was warmer. The 4-fold made them look brown with a hint of either of those colors IMO...BUT the website's computer made graphics to show color looked different...Russet looked cooler while DM looked warmer. I was trying to be in the same realm as our deck which looks like a royal mahogany but I didn't want my fence that dark. I couldn't find any real life pictures where I could clearly see the color of the DM stain. In the end we went with Russet... It seemed to come out much more red than expected and not so brown and only shows the texture of the wood but not the variations in color which I was sad about too. In the shade it's OK and seems alright with my deck but in the sun it looks very red. Part of me wonders if the DM would have been better but again the samples Olympic uses are very misleading and their website shows it as even warmer color than the Russet and my Russet color does closely align with their website color more so than the 4-fold. I'm upset that it's not what I was imagining...the color is nice so that's why I'd recommend it but just not what I was looking for.

I was deciding between Russet and Dark Mahogany (DM) using the 4-fold brochure and the website. It seemed both were contradicting samples. One was showing cooler colored on one and the opposite of the other. I was trying to be in the same realm as our deck which looks like a royal mahogany but I didn't want my fence that dark. I couldn't find any real life pictures where I could clearly see the color of the DM stain. In the end we went with Russet... It came out more red than expected and not so brown and only shows the texture of the wood but not the variations in color. In the shade it's OK and seems alright with my deck but in the sun it looks very red. IDK if DM would have been better. Russet does closely align with their website color more so than the 4-fold. I'm upset that it's not what I was imagining...the color is nice so that's why I'd recommend it but just not what I was looking for.

Our treated wood deck is less than a year old. Since it’s just my wife and I, the deck gets little use. To protect the deck, I purchased Olympic Maximum based on Consumers Report review. I power washed and cleans the deck thoroughly before applying one coat. Weather was clear for days after. After a few weeks we started noticing grey splotches all over the deck (see pictures). They can’t be removed.

After receiving some outrageous quotes and a very stretched contractor base, I decided to do the whole thing myself - approx 1400 sqft of 20-year old occasionally-watersealed deck. - Did the project over the course of a month (April/May) around perfect weather conditions. Approximately 8 full days. - Prep of old deck was Powerwashed, Stripped, Powerwashed, Cleaned, Powerwashed, and actually hit with a wire brush then vacuumed. - Painted the entire deck with a 4" brush then topped with a coarse roller. Painted all vertical services (and some rough spots) with a brush. It was absolutely backbreaking work. It came out beautiful..... and after a full Summer it still looks brand-new. Most importantly - and TBD - I hope that it lasts the 10 years advertised. Feel free to ask any questions....

Excellent product! Our front portico and back deck were stained beautifully! My husband, who had never before stained a deck, received so many sincere compliments. We’re very pleased with the Olympic Stains brand and plan to stick with this product.

This product has the best performance overall for exterior T&G pine.

I built a redwood gate and needed to finish it. So many choices. Spanish style house in Southern California and I see this trend of dark finished wood I wanted. After reading many reviews I noticed Olympia Max had really great reviews. I took a best guess chance with the 711 Coffee color. I couldn't be happier with the results. Completely looks like the trend I was trying for. I highly recommend this product and this color. Again, this was over natural redwood lumber. Your result might be different over cedar or something else. Apply only 1 coat (one time). Don't go back. This is semi-transparent and 2 coats makes it semi-solid. The volume goes a long way on this product. I bought a gallon and still have three-quarters left after doing the gate. Hope this helps.

I clean and stain my 12' x12' deck every summer. It's about 15 years old. For the last three years I've used Olympic Semi-Transparent Cape Cod Gray. It's perfect and just the color I expect it to be. It's gray, Not teal.

Very disappointed with this product! This is the first time I have used Olympic Waterproofing Sealant. Have used Thompson clear waterproofing sealant many times prior, but it wasn't available this year at Home Depot. I purchased this Olympic product as it seemed to be the closest available product in stock. Had previously applied Thompson with a sprayer to have it apply evenly; although Olympic product application directions said it could be applied with a sprayer, it could NOT. The consistency was like paint & too thick to applied with sprayer. Opted for other suggested application methods, used a paintbrush on stairs & railings/ roller on deck surface. When pouring out of the can, the product looked to have an amber color to it, I assumed because it was "clear", that it would dry clear. Unfortunately, it dried creating a very uneven color to the wood. Unfortunately, I will be embracing a "rustic look" to the wood and hope that it fades and blends with the sun.

Easy application. Looks great. Very pleased with it. Highly recommend.

Very nice color. Looks more orange when applied at first but turns redish as it dries. I’ve used the same product in my wooden fence and it holds up for years. Hopefully it has the same longetivty when applied to decking

We used Olympic Maximum 5 gal. Cedar Exterior Stain and Sealant in One. It is beautiful! Perfectly even application. We couldn't be more please with it. Easy to use in sprayer. Price was a little higher than others, but I'd say it was well worth the expense for the quality.

We used this for our chicken coop. What a mistake!!!!! We applied several coats over a week ago so that it can cure before putting our feathery little ones in the coop. It rained like crazy today. Well guess what... water made it's way through. We are lucky our feathery friends weren't in there. They would have been soaked! We want our money back. This product is a waste.