Three major types of protective coating of wood and wood-based materials have been considered. These three types include the coatings based on carboxyl-containing water-soluble polymers which are easily cross-linked by inorganic salts or OH-containing compounds, pH-sensitive coatings and polymer multi-layer structures. First of three mentioned approaches allows affecting permeability and enhancing the prevention the loss of water from the surface of wood to its surrounding. The advantage of the second approach is its ability to vary and purposely adjust the polymer composition and the number and distribution of -COOH groups in the chain which make the originally water-soluble polymers completely insoluble. The strong feature of the third approach which includes broad use of hydrogen-bonded films produced by layer-by-layer self-assembly is the possibility of manipulation of coatings stability after construction.