General Finishes Exterior 450 Water Based Topcoat, 1 Quart, Flat

Worked great. Very carefully packaged. Nice product

Always the best , general finishes!!

Works great

Great product all of the general finishes stuff are

This is the best I have ever used. I am 68 years old, and I have used dozens of water-based and solvent based varnishes. This has the right balance of quick dry and stay open properties. Outstanding when spray applied. The final finish is beautiful. Low drip too.

This definitely makes a great finished surface. Follow the instructions carefully and you’ll be fine. Temperature definitely matters as it was a bit cold when I used it so dry time was slow. Overall I am happy with the results.

In a front entry door application (white oak), I’m quite pleased with the results obtained with this GF Exterior 450 product. However, its application requires a bit more “technique” than other topcoat poly/urethane products produced by GF.Specifically, in brush applications the product goes on more like a shellac, rather than a typical water-based topcoat. That is, the product sets up so fast that it does not tolerate a lot of brush strokes (rework) over a newly wetted area.So, as with shellac, you want to avoid overloading your brush, then brush (wet) an area, and then keep the wetted area moving (expanding) by stroking subsequent brush loads into the previously wetted area. Don’t try to level brush strokes that appear in the wet product, as it self-levels beautifully upon drying. Also, if you see areas that appear cloudy white (likely due to too heavy of a coat) leave them alone, as they will dry clear. As well, even if you do mess up an area, in just a 2 – 3 hours it can be lightly sanded and easily recoated.Not to wear out the shellac analogy, but using a good quality medium soft nylon or natural bristle brush is essential for applying this fast-setting topcoat product. In retrospect, if you can use a HVLP spray outfit that’s likely a better choice over a brush application. For reference, I applied the product in near ideal ambient conditions (low humidity / <80F). All applied coats were thinned 8 - 10 percent with water.I did five light coats on the in-place door sanding out lightly (320 grit) only after coats 2 and 3. On bare white oak grain raising was minimal, and final results, in satin, produced a soft pleasing sheen with a rich honey oak appearance similar to an oil-based product.Exterior durability of a water-based product is an open question, but all GF products, in my experience, are of superior quality. So, I’ll take the leap that 450’s performance will be comparable to a good quality exterior varnish.

Great product and it was received very quickly. I have used General Finishes products for many years and they are very durable and stand up to outside condition for a very long time.