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Stiffening Azek

Quickstep | Posted in General Discussion on July 19, 2009 02:11am

I made some window boxes from Azek. The fronts are frame and panel and they turned out looking pretty nice if I must say so myself. Maintenence free Azek seemed like a good idea at the onset, but now I’m worried that the fronts of the 44″ wide boxes may bow once the boxes are filled with dirt. I’m planning to re-inforce the fronts with aluminum “L” channel, but more often than not, you folks come up with some ingenious alternative. What have you got this time?

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Replies

  1. User avater
    Huck | Jul 19, 2009 02:24am | #1

    maintenance free plastic flowers?

    View Image bakersfieldremodel.com
  2. User avater
    Dinosaur | Jul 19, 2009 03:07am | #2

    Viagra. Gunner told me it works for him.

    Dinosaur

    How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not brought
    low by this? For thine evil pales before that which
    foolish men call Justice....

    1. User avater
      Huck | Jul 19, 2009 03:09am | #3

      yeah, but after 4 hours, viagra fallsView Image bakersfieldremodel.com

      1. User avater
        Dinosaur | Jul 20, 2009 04:30am | #13

        yeah, but after 4 hours, viagra falls

        Izzat experiential or apocryphal?

        Dinosaur

        How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....

        1. User avater
          Huck | Jul 20, 2009 04:56am | #14

          It said it on the tv ad - it must be true.View Image bakersfieldremodel.com

          1. User avater
            Dinosaur | Jul 20, 2009 05:47am | #15

            Snork.

            Dinosaur

            How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....

        2. Piffin | Jul 20, 2009 08:26pm | #17

          prophetic 

           

          Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

          1. User avater
            Dinosaur | Jul 21, 2009 05:20am | #19

            Freudian. You'll note he typed 'falls' instead of 'fails.'

            Dinosaur

            How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....

          2. User avater
            Huck | Jul 21, 2009 07:07am | #20

            viagra falls.  rhymes with niagra falls.  sheesh, don't superimpose yerall neuroses onto me!View Image bakersfieldremodel.com

          3. User avater
            Dinosaur | Jul 22, 2009 03:49am | #21

            Well, Niagara has another 'a' in it, but WTF. That's another neurosis.

             

            OTOH, is it true that Azek dust reduces the urge to masticate?

            Dinosaur

            How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....

          4. User avater
            Huck | Jul 22, 2009 04:03am | #22

            Yeah.  I used to work with a hispanic, and we had a niagara car wash in town - he'd always pronounce it nee-a-gar- a.

            The boss used to always come by the jobsite and say "How goes the battle?".  Finally one day he asked me, What is this bottle the boss is always asking about?  So then I started asking him, Como va la botella?

            I digress.View Image bakersfieldremodel.com

          5. calvin | Jul 22, 2009 04:03am | #23

            I think that was masterbate.A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.

            Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.

            http://www.quittintime.com/

             

          6. DonCanDo | Jul 22, 2009 05:37am | #24

            Uh oh, I don't think the posse is gonna like that.

          7. calvin | Jul 22, 2009 06:08am | #25

            Well, the hen posse might not, but those guys with the badges know that there's nothing in violation of the terms of service in that post.

            no?A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.

            Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.

            http://www.quittintime.com/

             

          8. User avater
            Dinosaur | Jul 22, 2009 07:06am | #26

            Yes 'No'...because the word people think you wrote is spelled with a 'u', not an 'e'.

            Sounds like you might get off on a technicality.

             

             

            But just to be on the safe side, wear a respirator when yer cutting that ####.

            Dinosaur

            How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....

          9. calvin | Jul 22, 2009 01:20pm | #27

            This place? get off on a technicality?

            surely you jest.

            edit:  alright, lets see-maturbate.

            tried again-stand alone   ----   masturbate

            So, no x's, must be a "good" word.

            A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.

            Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.

            http://www.quittintime.com/

             

            Edited 7/22/2009 6:22 am ET by calvin

          10. Billy | Jul 22, 2009 04:47pm | #28

            Better to talk about m---bait and add something about fishin'.

            Billy

          11. calvin | Jul 23, 2009 12:07pm | #29

            billy,

             

            Better to talk about m---bait and add something about fishin'.

            that's what I always say.A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.

            Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.

            http://www.quittintime.com/

             

  3. calvin | Jul 19, 2009 04:19am | #4

    Two things might work.

    Put potted plants in, surround with pine needle mulch or some peat or like lightwt. material.

    Ribs below the top, welded (azek glued) at least once or twice in that 42 inches.

    A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.

    Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.

    http://www.quittintime.com/

     

    1. User avater
      popawheelie | Jul 19, 2009 05:45am | #7

      I was thinking of ribs as well. Just down from the top so they don't show as much.

      Basicly, attach the front to the back at the top a couple of times. "There are three kinds of men: The one that learns by reading, the few who learn by observation and the rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves."Will Rogers

    2. Piffin | Jul 19, 2009 03:42pm | #10

      "Ribs below the top, welded (azek glued) at least once or twice in that 42 inches."Good idea - like ferrules in an AL gutter 

       

      Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

  4. ajs | Jul 19, 2009 04:56am | #5

    Two years ago I made some Azek flower boxes, some 60" and some 70 " long, with the faces made from 1 x 10s, sloped outwards at a 15 degree angle. I added a single rib/stiffener in the middle of each box, with the top of the stiffener about 1 -1 1/2 inch lower than the sides so that it would be less obtrusive, and put some drain holes in the bottom, probably 1/2 inch diameter. For assembly I used Azek PVC cement backed up with stainless screws.

    The boxes are placed on top of a 4 foot high stone wall alongside a covered walkway and they have been left there, filled with dirt, all year long. They only get a little rain, but plenty of snow blown on them ( southern NH) and have survived the two winters of freeze/thaw cycles just fine with no signs of bowing.

  5. MikeSmith | Jul 19, 2009 05:04am | #6

    install some fore n aft stiffeners

    Mike Hussein Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
  6. User avater
    Sphere | Jul 19, 2009 02:39pm | #8

    Think like a canoe or rowboat and add a thwart or seat ...a divider below the soil level that ties the front to the back.

    Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks

    Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations

    "If Brains was lard, you couldn't grease much of a pan"
    Jed Clampitt

    View Image

  7. Piffin | Jul 19, 2009 03:40pm | #9

    Probably too late now, but I make flower boxes with no bottoms and sized to fit the plastic trays from the garden center - about three sizes available.

    That way the plastic tray full of dirt is lifted out end of summer and no pressure or rot on the panels.

    Also have seen the top edge made with an extra piece making a lip over so the perpendicular resists flex - in wood. I don't know if that would help in Azec.

     

     

    Welcome to the
    Taunton University of
    Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
     where ...
    Excellence is its own reward!

    1. oldbeachbum | Jul 20, 2009 09:27am | #16

      great minds and all.....

      I've done the same using those cheapo wallpaper dunking trays. (They were out of the more permanent ones at the time)  The Mrs. doesn't mind as she usually plants anuals in them anyway. 

      Maybe we could get Seeyou to make us some nice copper thingies instead? 

      I'm not flippin' you off.........just counting cubits

      Your standard of living will eventually diminish to your standard of buying.  Think about it.

  8. DanH | Jul 19, 2009 04:49pm | #11

    2x4, cut to fit, wedged between the bottom of the box and ground.

    As I stood before the gates I realized that I never want to be as certain about anything as were the people who built this place. --Rabbi Sheila Peltz, on her visit to Auschwitz
  9. ajs | Jul 19, 2009 10:21pm | #12

    My earlier reply was not clear about how I built my Azek boxes. The rib/stiffeners connected the front to the back, the way that Mike Smith and Sphere suggested.

  10. timestamps | Jul 21, 2009 01:52am | #18

    Dado the front panel to the bottom using a dado blade or router...of course this needs to be done prior to glue up! Yikes! Hope that helps.

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