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/product...-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/product...-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/f...ries/adhesives

https://www.acehardware.com/departme...B&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?