PVC Trim

[Peter Stahl]

For those of you that use PVC trim, how do you fill in nail holes? I just redid one half of my garage door brick molding, would have done the other side but it looked like a storm was coming in. What I did was caulk the joints and used 15 gauge 2-1/2" finish nails. I left them close to the surface and will just paint over them. Any suggestions on filling the holes? I had one door I did in wood several years ago because the bottom edge was rotting, replaced it with wood. Following year I did the other door with PVC brick molding, filled the nail holes with caulk which shrank. Trim still looks good though. Any suggestions are much appreciated.

[Mark Bolton]

Always filled with quad or any other urethane. May take 2 coats if you really want to try for smooth

[roger wiegand]

Azek screws that come with with the little plastic bungs that drive into the hole.

[Jason Roehl]

Lightweight spackle works just fine. Can be wiped flush without shrinking, or left a little proud and sanded off in 30 minutes to a couple hours. Takes a couple coats of paint to cover.

[Peter Stahl]

Three goo options so far, thanks.

[Lisa Starr]

Our whole house is trimmed in Azek type product. Best answer we found was the DAP Platinum Patch. Just slightly over fill, let dry and super quick sand. Small holes were a 1 application job.

[Shawn Siegrist]

My local supplier has a putty crayon that I used to fill in nail and screw holes. Worked perfectly, practically invisible!!!

[Peter Stahl]

I used caulk when I did the other door a couple years ago so maybe I'll try the quad that was mentioned. No rush I still have the other side to do. Thanks for all of the replies.

[Darcy Warner]

https://www.fastenmaster.com/products/cortex-loose-plugs-for-pvc-trim.html

The only way I will install that garbage.

I do use azek when the situation dictates it, but around here it will eventually open up 3/4" in the winter an eventually never close back up in the summer.

Caulk will attract dirt, PVC sucks to paint. It really needs abraded, or it takes 6 coats to cover and it scratches off if a leaf hits it.

[Peter Stahl]

https://www.fastenmaster.com/products/cortex-loose-plugs-for-pvc-trim.html

The only way I will install that garbage.

I do use azek when the situation dictates it, but around here it will eventually open up 3/4" in the winter an eventually never close back up in the summer.

Caulk will attract dirt, PVC sucks to paint. It really needs abraded, or it takes 6 coats to cover and it scratches off if a leaf hits it.

But other than that you like it right, lol. Sorry I couldn't resist.

[Jim Becker]

According to a good friend who is an excellent general contractor, different PVC products seem to expand/contract at different rates. He stopped using Azak not long after completing our addition in 2008 for that reason. We've actually experienced one place on a foundation cap where expansion/contraction was a real problem, but the vast majority has been stable. Some of the wood trim has not fared quite so well...

At any rate, I use what Jason mentioned...works fine. For larger holes I'd probably plug with the same material and sand smooth.

[Patrick Walsh]

I always use cortex screws. I’m not a fan of the plugs so I just toss them.

I used to use Bondo, trick is light coats. But eventually it cracks at the perimeter of the hole. Till then it looks seamless, you can’t find the fasteners.

I gave that up and use one of two products both linked below. The advantage is these two products actually have a chemical reaction and melt the filler into the hole vrs bondo or any other kind of filler. The stuff actually doesn’t sand so bad either. But I have always been a set ever dam nail hole in ever clad board and ever piece of trim kinda guy so I’m used to days if not weeks of sanding depending in the project.

True story. Years ago, long ago when I was just a kid and painting contractor I was painting the exterior of a 25k sq ft mansion. The owner was a big time real estate developer all over the world. Anyway he would show up a couple times a week and land his helicopter in the back yard.

Anyway we were painting the whole house with what was then Schroder now Fine Paints of Europe. It’s a euro oil enamel original for boat hulls. So the whole yard is torn to shit a giant construction site. We have the whole back of the house setup and like 3-4 guys on a spray gun/ the whole thing has a coat of fresh oil paint and he lands his dam helicopter. Needless to say we were sanding the shit out of the custom 1” mahogany claps For days. Point is every nail hole on that house was Set and filled with bondo. Kinda just normal practice around my parts. Everytime I have ever gone back to a house I did that to the Bondo pops. Not so in Azek with one of the two suggested products as they melt together. But your nails they need to be set fairly deep. Screws just make installing Azek way more easy. It’s inherently wavy this it must be mounted to a flat surface below. Normally sheathed, the screws will let you correct a bit of wave as they pull the material around.

My whole house is Azek trim every glued in Azek plug or a lot of them have popped. The ones I use the products bellow going on five years later are still hiding. It’s not perfect but nothing is. All my corner boards and columns are miter folded. All corners mitered glued and screwed, not one single failure. Seams are hidden behind corbals or the like. Soffit is rebated into the back side of the facia. And long runs of facia are ship lapped then screwed appropriate to allow for movement as for it to not crack and fail someplace else. It’s a bit of work but looks great when it’s done, has a very crisp clean look and no rot.


https://azekexteriors.com/products/fastening-accessories/adhesives

https://www.acehardware.com/departments/plumbing/solvents-and-cements/pvc-cement/4614293?gclid=Cj0KCQjwirz3BRD_ARIsAImf7LOHnC3Yh_7m l2bIpEBoVzCGwc5c6O4OtYbBcgVMvu-MOuyZwCREqvwaAjMVEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Personally I like the stuff and I live in the northeast. You have to know how to hang the stuff to avoid the movement. And doing so just takes using the stuff over and over again. It can be done and is done all the time with great success.

[Brian Elfert]

I thought a major reason to use PVC trim is so you don't have to paint it?

[roger wiegand]

I thought a major reason to use PVC trim is so you don't have to paint it?

Nope. Rot resistance. It pretty much only comes in white around here, so unless you have a white house it needs to be painted.

The house we bought 20 years ago needed almost all of its outside wood trim replaced by the time we sold it eight years ago due to rot. Undoubtedly there were better choices the builder could have made for wood species, but the detailing actually wasn't bad. The currently available, fast-grown "white wood" used by most builders simply doesn't have any inherent rot resistance.

The new house has painted WR cedar siding and Azek trim. Eight years on there are, so far, zero issues with rot, expansion issues, or paint retention despite using a dark color at the very limit of the recommendation.

[Patrick Walsh]

I think many not in know or without experience using it that it doesn’t need paint. But honestly it looks like crap if you don’t paint it. But I see it done just not on nice homes.

The first thing is any end or edge cuts have a bit of porosity and texture to them and grow mildew/mold/fungus. Second is the nails and screws, even with the caps kinda look very unfinished, it’s just not a finished enough look for me or most. Even the most careful installer is gonna fail on getting it up and looking as good as no paint.

My experience is it paints and holds paint like a piece of cake. Much more so that say old wood trim that’s needs tons of prep. The preparation is simular if not exactly what I would do to new wood trim. Simply scuff with like 60-80 grit. One to two coats in Insulix Stix primer filler and caulking in between coats. Then two coats of a high quality latex soft gloss like Ben Moore or Sherwin Williams. If done this way it holds paint like the dickens.

Bare wood would get two coats of oil prime followed by two coats of latex so imop its the same.


I thought a major reason to use PVC trim is so you don't have to paint it?

[Patrick Walsh]

There are a few more products now or at least a couple. You probably know of them. Boreal, it’s fly ash and poly glue mixed together sold as eco friendly as the fly ash just gets buried. It’s a bitch to work with die to the massive amounts of dust it throws. It also destroys blades. The hammer mushrooms are Out of control and it’s also brittle. But it stands nice by comparison to Azek and makes the installer look like a real pro if he stands all his joints properly.

Then there is this wood impregnated with some chemical. It’s not PT comes more primed and looks nice. I won’t speculate anything about it as I have never used it. But yes ore primed trim boards are just airbags and i refuse to use them. Then I could hardly afford custom killed mahogany trim for everything. And then you know I personally don’t want a final sided house. Nor do I want the paint And rot repair maintenance Of a typical painted New England home. Like you this was my compromise.

I’ve done full exteriors now going back well over five years “like the whole house, both new and old” and generally the stuff looks good. It’s not perfect but it’s problems are much less than crap pre primed presents in our area.


Nope. Rot resistance. It pretty much only comes in white around here, so unless you have a white house it needs to be painted.

The house we bought 20 years ago needed almost all of its outside wood trim replaced by the time we sold it eight years ago due to rot. Undoubtedly there were better choices the builder could have made for wood species, but the detailing actually wasn't bad. The currently available, fast-grown "white wood" used by most builders simply doesn't have any inherent rot resistance.

The new house has painted WR cedar siding and Azek trim. Eight years on there are, so far, zero issues with rot, expansion issues, or paint retention despite using a dark color at the very limit of the recommendation.

[Jim Becker]

Not painting it would only even be possible if your home has white trim...but even then, leaving it fully exposed isn't a good thing.

[Brian Elfert]

I ordered a new exterior door from Menards two years ago and I ordered it with the PVC/composite frame in the Sandtone color. My intention was/is not to paint it.

The trim on my house is factory painted Smartside trim and no rot after five plus years.

[Jim Becker]

Yes, prefinished does eliminate the need to paint it...that saves time and generally provides a very attractive surface, too.

[Darcy Warner]

Several suppliers were offering pre finished PVC trim.
I think the last batch I used was Excell. Even supplied me with color matched plugs.

I use to try and fill the screw holes and paint, but whatever you used eventually popped and looked like you used plugs anyway, so why go through all the effort. plugs look just fine for exterior trim.

[Larry Edgerton]

https://www.fastenmaster.com/products/cortex-loose-plugs-for-pvc-trim.html

The only way I will install that garbage.

I do use azek when the situation dictates it, but around here it will eventually open up 3/4" in the winter an eventually never close back up in the summer.

Caulk will attract dirt, PVC sucks to paint. It really needs abraded, or it takes 6 coats to cover and it scratches off if a leaf hits it.

I was on the Versatex contractor advisory board until Azek bought them out and helped write their installation manual, and the problems that you are referencing are just wrong. Its not wood and you have to do it different. As far as paint if you are getting scratches easily you did not paint it right, it holds paint better than wood. You can't use the same paint products, at least not the primer. the primer has to be an adhesion promoting primer applied after a quick scrub with 100 grit to create micro scratches, then a good paint coat on top. I spray and use one coat of primer and one of color. Colors come with a heat index and dark colors are out if you are using this product in direct sunlight. Causes too much expansion because of heat. If dark colors are necessary,, find another product.

Installing it as you would wood will lead to failures, but there are tricks that will allow success. You always have to keep in mind the temp yu are working at and consider that in how you apply. For example if yu are applying at close to freezing the material is as short as it is going to be, and so it can be installed tight, but if it is 85 degrees it will be shrinking and you need to do something to allow for this to happen when the temp drops.

http://crookedtreejoinery.com/?page_id=14

Here are some pics of a restoration I did on an Italianate, all of the cream boards that you see are Versatex, including the columns. My own house, a reproduction schoolhouse, is all Versatex trim, facias, soffits, freeze and barge boards and there are no failures after ten years. I like the product, but it has to be treated like what it is and allowances for expansion and contraction designed in.