PVC Trim

[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/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.

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.