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pvc "lumber"

3K views 20 replies 12 participants last post by  deniseO30 
#1 ·
I want to build a somewhat narrow and long skylight hatch over my galley area and lI'm ooking at the PVC lumber as a way to build it vs mahogany or teak. It's claimed to be UV stabilized whatever that means LOL. But aren't rub rails made of pvc or vinyl? it will be a winter project most likely :D
 
#2 · (Edited)
UV stabilized means it won't break down as fast from sun degradation! By this I mean early plastic lumber would start to break down IE; get chalky or get cracks in it after a couple of yrs of direct sun exposure. You can use it, but it will be a lot heavier than regular lumber. Also the expansion and contraction rate will be greater so your joints will move more. the other factor is that the color will fade over time and there is really no way of keeping it crisp looking, once it starts to fade.
 
#4 ·
EVERY wood to plastic replacement I have worked with just has a different issue


White PVC fence looks great BUT loves to grow green stuff and other mold

Trex no matter what they say is heavy ,weak ,fades and grows mold

The Plastic lattice work I installed has such a high fail rate Lowes stopped selling it
 
#7 ·
Denise,
Take a ride over to Dubell Lumber in Cherry Hill. They have a good selection of deck products. A while back I was looking at some decking there that had color and "grain" all the way through (actually subtle color variations when it was extruded). You can cut and route it like wood and the edges can be mitered and glued with a glue that will chemically "weld" the joint together.

It would be fine to use this for something like a skylight where it would be supported, but unsupported it will sag over time. It's just not as stiff as wood.

You'll want to use something flexible like LifeCaulk or butyl tape to seal the plexi to the plastic trim. The details will depend on how you build it but keep in mind it does move more than wood as it heats/cools.

When you're routing this stuff I like to do light passes and it helps to have a second person with a shop vac catching the plastic as it comes off the router. Otherwise the static electricity will have it sticking to everything and it makes a real mess.

Post some pics if you do this project. I've done some stuff using white PVC but I haven't played around with the colored "wood tone" stuff yet. I'm curious to see how you like working with it.

Jim
 
#8 · (Edited)
I'm interested to hear more.

I just recently made a couple things out of Azek.

1) I thought it is paintable. Azek says this:

"• AZEK Trim does not require paint for protection, but accepts and holds paint very well.

• If you choose to paint use a 100% acrylic latex paint with colors having a Light Reflective Value (LRV) of 55 or higher.

• For darker colors (LRV of 54 or lower), paints specifically designed for use on vinyl/pvc products such as, but not limited to, Sherwin-Williams VinylSafe™ coatings. These paints/coatings are designed to reduce excessive heat gain."


2) It is claimed to be UV resistant and is designed to be used as unpainted exterior trim on houses. This is comparable to outdoor use on a boat.

3) I couldn't find weight info in a short search but I don't think it's heavier. I do think it's much less stiff than wood. In any structural application I would expect you to need much for PVC lumber than actual wood. But in an application as a spacer for a hatch that wouldn't apply.
 
#9 · (Edited)
Denise, Whats wrong with good old wood? Yea, teak is like $24 a board foot, but there is mahogany or ipe or white oak or maybe cypress.

Hey, by the way, hows your ash?

EDIT: also Iroko around $7 a board ft. Golden Brown, excellent substitute for Teak.
 
#10 ·
Denise...

You can paint the PVC to make it less resistant to chalking, fading, etc.

Here is what I did to a tiki bar made out of PVC instead of real bamboo... I roughened the surface of the PVC with 120 grit sandpaper and epoxy coated the PVC with UV stabilized epoxy paint and put knots onto the PVC in various lengths and the epoxy paint has endured for over 6 years and counting.. I put on a UV stabilized satin clear coat over the epoxy and as it fades looks like the real bamboo... although in your case it will probably be a solid white color...

Go for it... show us pics when you're done with the project...

Nick
 
#11 ·
I have used both Home depot and Lowes PVC trim boards on various properties over the past 10 years. Both still show no indication of chalking or any UV damage, painted or unpainted.

The Lowes material costs more but is solid PVC and can be milled and edge finished. The Home depot material is a low density and only surface finished, milling produces an edge that requires filling and painting, so is best used where an edge is not exposed.

Both products have limited structural properties and will deflect with horizontal clear spans more than 12", or vertical clear spans more than 16".

Both can be glued with polyurethane glues or PVC pipe glue.
 
#12 ·
thanks gentlemen! :) The pvc easy to get here locally if I get it. I do have mahogany and some teak even and it goes without saying I do love the look of well finished wood on my boat.
The "hatch" will be about 8 X 14 or 16 and have 3/4 radius rounded corners and top frame I will use clear plexi on this also. I was thinking "butterfly" hinged in the middle but that may mean water leaks.
 
#13 ·
denise, some of it can be painted or stained. Some is 100% plastic, some is a plastic-and-sawdust mix. They've all got pros and cons and they are all "floppy" compared to the stiffness of wood.

Sometimes you can also get ipe decking, 5/8" thick, aka "ironwood" and if someone has a split bundle a couple of pieces would be fairly cheap. (Way cheaper than teak.)
 
#14 ·
#16 ·
Cool !

But I want to see pics of the finished hatch :D
 
#17 · (Edited)
But Jim that's a winter project! lol I'm always on the prowl for free lumber. I still have a pile of Philippine mahogany from a bunch of display shelves one of my hvac clients had in his store "Pilothouse" in phila. And a whole mess of 1/4 underlayment that comes in handy for lot of mahogany like projects. I'm working on a serving tray/cutting board for that fits on the stove top of my galley. Years ago there was a millwork shop that a friend worked at and I'd get long live edges cut off high grade mahogany It made some lovely outwhales and seat frames on most of the canoes we built.
 
#19 · (Edited)
Denise, I've got quite a back stock of wood too and I resolved to use up what I have around. This winter I did a bathroom vanity out of birch and wenge. Then I took the wall out between our kitchen and living room and built a bead board kitchen island from poplar with wrap around shelves. The island is painted to match our kitchen cabinets (built them too). This week I'll start gluing up the jatoba top.

Since the end is in sight on that project we were pulling out boards for the next round of furniture building this morning. Coffee table and end table out of a slab of natural edge waterfall bubinga with wenge legs; and a new coffee table for the family room from a gonalo alves board I found at Hearnes with some really wild grain, edged in fiddle back maple.

That's AFTER I finish the v-berth cabinets in figured cherry that Kathy wants for the boat that I never got to this winter.

Did I mention this is all using up wood I had in the back of my shop :laugher
 
#18 ·
There's a super glue used with PVC "lumber" called "Super" or "Red Hot" I don;t recall exactly. We used it a lot in exterior trim work with Azek and Koma board.

Another item of possible interest is that the two above can be heated and curved in either direction. It takes specific and even heat, along with a form to mold it around; but it is done all the time to mfgr arched trim.

I'm considering building a ventilator or hatch for the head out of it, so I'll watch this thread with interest :D
 
#20 ·
Here are the PVC spacers I made for two perko connectors. These are for the auto-tiller and the solar panel. Both are mounted in the stern deck and I wanted them raised so they're not submerged from runoff which sometimes pools back there.

 

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