I am just about ready to put up about 350 ft of Azek Trimboards to replace the old “cardboard” fascia boards on my house. I have read most of the older posts but figured I would see if anyone with some long term experience might have any last minute tips or hints. I have the Azek adhesive for the few joints I will have, and am using stainless trimhead screws. What are you guys using to fill the screw holes with ? I figure any good caulk that is made to work on pvc materials should work.
Any hints appreciated.
Bill Koustenis
Advanced Automotive Machine
Waldorf Md
Replies
caulk is for joints. Spackle is for holes. I use bondo
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Pif,
What if you are not planning on painting ? I don't think I have ever seen white bondo.Bill Koustenis
Advanced Automotive Machine
Waldorf Md
here's a link..
http://forums.taunton.com/tp-breaktime/messages?msg=44500.97Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Try a marine supply house look for product called adtech and get white hardener, its white on white.
exterior spackle then, but it is likely to yellow.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
I have used a spackle that is rated for exterior use. The supply house where I bought the azek had the glue and spackle. The only other tip ,409 cleaner does a good job of cleaning pencil marks and smudges from azek.
mike
Just thought I would post the reply I got from Azek about the nail holes:
To fill nail holes, you will want to use a polyurethane or acrylic based caulk or exterior spackle.
œIf painting, bondo will work for filling nail holes
œ If boards are not going to be painted, a good way to achieve a solid clean nail hole fill is to: overfill the nail hole with the caulk, let it dry, then cut the excess flush to board with razor blade.
œSilicone based caulks are not recommended as they do not adhere well to AZEK Trimboards.
Bill Koustenis
Advanced Automotive Machine
Waldorf Md
You may want to reconsider. Most everything will weather differently than the Azek, even the Azek gluelines. I've used Azek and Royal products and there is color variation within the product (less with Azek) enough to look shabby. I've found that Rustoleum will cover well, stick well without surface prep, and has not resulted in any callbacks.
Second item; the maximum span / minimum support requirements are just that. The plastic is not self supporting. Give it all the help you can. It is beautiful, unless it droops.
berferd,
I hope that you are not right, even though I am beginning to second guess my choice already. I finished one 24 ft section along the back of the house this last weekend, and it does look nice, however I was surprised at how "flimsy" the product is. Made it pretty difficult to install it straight ! I have already purchased all of it, and dont think I could return it at this point. If it goes up and stays straight, it will be well worth the investment, not having to paint etc.
Thanks,
Bill Koustenis
Advanced Automotive Machine
Waldorf Md
Edited 5/9/2006 9:36 pm ET by MrBill
I install blocking behind it and nail it every 6" with 18ga SS finish nails. If you can still do that, it's worth it. It is a wonderful product, but not without some drawbacks. You should be able to remove the screws and put blocking behind what you've already done. After it sags and droops it needs to be heated and restraightened. A pain, at best.
As for not painting it, I would refer you to the mfgrs. literature. You need to paint or some how cover any cuts, or penetrations. The glue will show up over time and the nail (or screw) holes will need to be covered. There is no time easier to paint it than when it is being installed. Much easier than after it is dirty and needs to be prepped.
Welcome to a relatively new frontier.
berferd,
If I had wanted to paint, I could have saved a bunch of money by getting preprimed pine and painting it. The whole idea was to save some of my valuable time :( I have only done one section, and still have not put up any soffit, so it is open for blocking. Now I am having to rethink the entire project, possible with putting blocking up on all of the house between the trusses which are on 24" centers. Sigh, guess I should have bought the real wood and painted. I have not ripped off any of the rakes yet, so I dont know how they attached the present junk. Hopefully, there are some solid rake boards behind it.
Anyone want some Azek cheap ? .... just kidding, the stuff is going up one way or another !
Bill Koustenis
Advanced Automotive Machine
Waldorf Md
Bond and fill, http://www.advancedtrimworks.com/bondfill.htm
This stuff is made for PVC trim. Works great as a filler or glue, same color as you azek.
How do you keep this stuff from hardening in the miixing nozzle? I did 1 job and went through 12 nozzles. It gets really annoying and ends up ridiculously expensive considering all the wasted material in the nozzle and the multiple nozzles needed.
It is annoying. I wait to fill nail holes and defects untill a large portion needs to be done, then do it all at once.
If using it as an adheasive you definatly will eat up tips, but if filling any gaps it is definatly worth it.
More bad news? I don't want to make you regret your decision, rather we all do this to help each other. If you don't have to make the mistakes we have learned from . . . why not? As for soffits, I skin them with OSB and pin the vinyl on with 2 nails every 6" for 6", or less, stock.
I use Vinyl trim as often as it is possible as a reduced maintenance feature. Paint will stick to it better than wood and it is a dream to paint. The home I'm presently building is over 11000 sq ft and has an attached indoor pool covered with a greenhouse. To warranty the finish on the pool room interior trim over wood would be unthinkable. A little more harsh than outdoors. Vinyl works well if you accomodate it's needs, which may be a little more work up front, but much less later.
Good luck!
Pardon the hijack.
Yer not the same Bill married to a Marianne are you?
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Damm, I miss that stuff
MrBill,
I've used MH Ready Patch to fill the Azek holes and had no problems. The bondo can get messy. Maze nails (http://www.mazenails.com) sells white painted SS nails that make life a lot easier. I learned that on the second round of trim.
Frosty
Edited 5/10/2006 9:35 pm ET by frosty1
Bill,
as for cutting it, I have both the cordless and electric Makita saws for cement siding. Put these on an EZ Smart rail and your cutting problems are solved.
Burt
I picked up a handy tip from Mike Guertin: When cutting Azek, or any plastic trim for that matter, spray your clothes with static guard. Otherwise, the "sawdust" from cutting the trim will stick to you like snow in a blizzard.
Justin Fink - FHB Editorial
As a DIY'er, all the promotional literature I read on Azek and similar products says that you use it just like wood - cuts like wood, nails like wood, glues like wood etc.
I pulled a rotting weather vane cupola off my roof and need to reproduce it. I was thinking that I would use Azek, or similar, boards. Might be expensive but I'd never have to do it again and it would keep me off the roof. But, after reading this note, it sounds like this material is a pain in the butt that needs special handling. For example from what I gather, you can't nail it up just like wood, you need to take special steps to adjust for its flexibility. Am I getting the wrong impression? Would this be a bad application for this material?
George
Like any plastic, I wonder what it's going to look like after 10 years of exposure to UV.
Like any plastic, I wonder what it's going to look like after 10 years of exposure to UV.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't one of the main purposes of paint to protect from UV exposure?
But I think I hear your point --- what is this stuff going to look like 10 years from now? We've all seen a lot of new wonder products come on the market, and then get pulled off the market a few years later as unforseen problems emerged.
Coincidentally, I just used Azec for the first time this week. I bought it because I had a need for very wide (19") trim boards that will be installed in a horizontal plane. I was afraid that any wood product would rot and warp in this extreme application. Other than the annoying static cling of the "sawdust", I've been pleased with the results.
Hopefully I'll still be pleased 10 years from now!
Sphere,
Nope, Wifes name is Colette.
As far as cutting it goes, I had no problems. I used my Dewalt miter saw with the blade that came in it and it cut like butter. Also had to cut one piece for a corner trim and used my circular saw with a carbide tipped blade and it worked great. I glued a couple of scraps together last weekend, will see how they are bonded on Saturday. I will try to get some pics to post of the project this weekend. I have very few joints to glue so I dont think that will be a problem. I will probably tear off the rakes on one side of the house this weekend and see what is behind them. The present material is some type of "cardboard", probably MDF or similar.
Thanks for all the replys so far !
Bill Koustenis
Advanced Automotive Machine
Waldorf Md
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't one of the main purposes of paint to protect from UV exposure?
Now that's another thing I wonder about Azek (now we admit that it isn't really no-maintenance :-)):
Given Azek expands in heat, what does that expansion do to any paint job on it?
whenever I need to glue small peices together, I use regular pvc glue. You get about 30 seconds of working time, so be fast.
I make my corner trim peices by glueing them up with 2x6's for caulls and pipe clamps before installing them. makes for a nice looking water tight corner board. don't forget to ease all the exposed edges - makes it look better and less prone to paint failure. I keep a palm router with a 1/8th radius bit handy for this.
drbqwood,
I've wondered about using regular PVC glue myself; the Azec brand stuff is very expensive!
When using regular PVC glue, did you have any problems with excess glue showing through the paint or anything like that?