Anybody here make anything cool out of AZEK?

[Jason White]

I know it's not technically "wood," but PVC trimboards are the bee's knees as far as exterior trim goes. Plus it mills and paints just like wood.

Sorry if it sounds like I'm drinking too much Cool Aid, but after repairing and replacing so much rotten wood on my house this summer, I'm all about the "plastic wood."

So, anybody here do something cool or unusual with PVC boards?

I'm also a big fan of a product called "Bond & Fill." It's a new-ish fast-setting adhesive and filler made expressly for PVC trimboards.

Jason

[Jeffrey Makiel]

Although not Azek, I made a cupola, a garden gate, decorative pilasters and decorative quoins from synthetic materials like Trex and Never-Rot. A computer rendering of the cupola is shown below. The real deal is still sitting in my sunroom in three pieces awaiting a new roof.

Like you, I too have no desire to use natural wood on the exterior of my home anymore.

-Jeff :)

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y84/Beff2/Cupola-2800x640.jpg

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

I don't know about 'cool', but I'm in the process of making columns/sleeves for the posts on my deck out of a composite like Azek (to sleeves are totally decorative). The pine used by the builder has rotted from the inside, and they all need to be replaced. I'm gradually replacing exterior trim with composite as needed. Any tips on fastening/gluing, etc?

[Jim Becker]

Personally, no...but my contractor used a bit of it to construct the custom porch columns on our addition. Between the material and the SW Duration paint, they will be standing and looking good long after I'm no longer around to care!

Interesting stuff to mill, however....the white fluffy "snow" goes everywhere and sticks to everything! What you cannot use it for, however, is anything "structural". It's truly "trim" material with great looks and weatherability, but VERY "bendy"...

[Bill Houghton]

Our Victorian house has very tall baseboards made of channel rustic siding with a cap molding. For our bathroom, I used some plastic trim (not sure if it was azek) with plastic cap molding. Not as pretty as real wood (mainly with the molding: the plastic pattern is kind of vague, no sharply defined lines), but under the paint it looks fine, and I'm not worried about rot.

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

Jim - we had our house and trim all painted with SW Duration paint a few years back, and IMO this is why the boards rotted from the inside. I believe the pine just wicked up the moisture from where the bottom met the decking, and simply had no place to go. The SW paint was SO good at sealing it, the moisture just stayed in there. When I pulled one of them apart, it was soaked on the inside. the rest of the trim looks good, though.

[William OConnell]

I know it's not technically "wood," but PVC trimboards are the bee's knees as far as exterior trim goes. Plus it mills and paints just like wood.

Sorry if it sounds like I'm drinking too much Cool Aid, but after repairing and replacing so much rotten wood on my house this summer, I'm all about the "plastic wood."

So, anybody here do something cool or unusual with PVC boards?

I'm also a big fan of a product called "Bond & Fill." It's a new-ish fast-setting adhesive and filler made expressly for PVC trimboards.

Jason

Some raised panels
http://www.indianisland.us/Gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=272&g2_serialNumber=2
I trimmed this house with lots odf it
http://www.indianisland.us/Gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=267&g2_serialNumber=2

[Jason White]

Technically, AZEK (and other brands like Kleer, Koma, etc.) are not composite, but are "cellular" PVC. Composites usually have things like recycled plastic and wood fibers or sawdust in them.

I glue and screw all my trimboards together. I also screw them to the house using regular deck screws. I countersink the screws and fill the heads with Bond & Fill because it cures in 5 minutes and I can sand flush and paint the same day. 2-part epoxy works well, too.

As for adhesive, the Bond & Fill is supposed to have a higher PSI strength than the regular water-based solvent type glues (similar to what plumbers use for PVC pipe). Bond & Fill, I'm told, is a 2-part acrylic adhesive. I buy mine at the local lumberyard. You won't find it at the borgs.

Jason


I don't know about 'cool', but I'm in the process of making columns/sleeves for the posts on my deck out of a composite like Azek (to sleeves are totally decorative). The pine used by the builder has rotted from the inside, and they all need to be replaced. I'm gradually replacing exterior trim with composite as needed. Any tips on fastening/gluing, etc?

[Peter Quinn]

I am using a brand available locally called 'Kleer Wood' celluar PVC, similar to Azek but I find it mills a bit easier and has a slightly less spongy look that is easier to fill than Azek. Plus my favorite local lumber yard stopped selling Azek and offers Kleer exclusively now, so I'd have to drive further to get Azek.

I use gorilla low VOC PCV cement for bonding, less squeeze out than Bond and Fill and much less expensive. Bond and fill may be stronger but I find that strength highly unnecessary given this is a product meant to be fully supported by framing and nailed or screwed on a 6"-8" schedule. I have pummeled test pieces glued up using the gorilla solvent, it just wont break. I do like the Bond and fill to hide trim screw penetrations. I got a predriller meant for composite deck screws that allows you to pre drill and countersink in one operation, with a built in boot type depth stop that gives me a place to put the bond and fill and ends any mushrooming of trim head screws. I like using tape miters for building boxes with it, works great.

I used the PVC trim for a porch renovation (column boxes, coves, wainscot on the column bases, etc), built a basement window extension jamb with it, and have replaced a few pieces of trim around the house. I even made some back bands for a paint grade interior trim package with it; you can heat it a bit and it will take a pretty good bend!

I hate working with it, completely nasty dust that sticks to everything and stinks like skunk pee when cut, but I love its service properties. I keep it to non hand contact surfaces. For instance I fabricated the porch rail from mahogany, I just don't like the feel of the PVC, but all the trim around it is plastic! Really hard to tell visually once its painted, but one touch gives it away.

[Bill Houghton]

stinks like skunk pee when cut

I had wondered exactly what smell that was when we cut our stock. I assume your comparison is based on careful research, and I admire your willingness to sacrifice for science!

[Jim Becker]

Jim - we had our house and trim all painted with SW Duration paint a few years back, and IMO this is why the boards rotted from the inside. I believe the pine just wicked up the moisture from where the bottom met the decking, and simply had no place to go. The SW paint was SO good at sealing it, the moisture just stayed in there. When I pulled one of them apart, it was soaked on the inside. the rest of the trim looks good, though.

One has to wonder how the moisture got in behind the boards in the volume necessary to cause that kind of wetness and rotting...perhaps from wicking at the deck as you say, but did you have issue elsewhere, too? Was it pre-primed on all sides?