Nail Holes And Cleaning

Tom M

Anyone do a lot of AZEK. I have a difficult customer who wants to know why the Anderson windows are not whiter. She thinks the jay channel looks yellow and now the four hundred feet of freeze board and detail Im doing in Azek looks beige. She driving me nuts with this Nantucket look. Either way the Azek is stored outside from the supplier and is dirty before it even gets to the job. Now the working with it is incredibly delicate because it soft and scuffs easy. I cant get some scuffs out and she wants the nails holes filled. We tried some white silicone but smearing the excess seemed to create more dirt. I used a finish nail gun but there is alot of holes to fill. Any suggestions from experience for cleaning or nail filling? I was considering window glazing. Any feed back here? TIA

WNYcarpenter

Have you tried bleach?

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KentWhitten

I've only used it once and had a hard time getting used to it. By the end of the job it wasn't going too bad. It gets dirty easy and is difficult to clean. It's PVC so someone suggested these to me. I have no idea if it works or not.

Go to HD or Lowes and head to the plumbing aisle and find some PVC cleaner. This should help with the cleaning. The hole filling, try rounding up a bunch of the "sawdust" it makes when you cut it and use the gorilla glue specifically for this product and make a slurry. It cures white. I don't think you want caulking. It will either yellow or get dirty and show.

I'm assuming the HO wants it left the "natural" white color?

You could also get out the fine grit sandpaper to make it the bleach white again.

Tom R

I've worked with Azek a fair amount, - - even though it doesn't 'require' painting, - - it's best to paint it. I use a white exterior latex semi-gloss, - - paint one coat before installation, - - then install and fill holes with paintable silicone, - - then give a quick second 'face-coat'. A paint job on Azek will supposedly hold up for 15 or 20 years, - - it doesn't breathe like wood.

It's also best to paint it because the edges are more porous than the faces, - - and will tend to attract more dirt/soot in time than the faces if not filled in with paint.

If you want to fill holes 'after-the-fact', - - you can use white silicone caulk, - - but then wipe the area clean with a paper towel slightly dampened with denatured-alcohol (or similar).

Here's some raised panel wainscoting and trimwork I did recently on the front of my house. Everything you see that's white is Azek except the columns themselves. (Pics taken before final coat of paint).

Tom M

Thanks guys. It definitly took some getting used to. I did like the finished product but the 18 ' lenghts were real flimsy and difficult to move around with out scuffing. I like the bleach and super fine sandpaper idea. Im not going to paint this stuff so silicone is out. Im thinking about window glazing compuond. We'll see.

KentWhitten

looks really nice Tom R. I had a question. What's that strip on the bottom side of the wainscoting? It looks like OSB.

Tom R

Thanks. No OSB, - - if you're talking about the horizonatal strips running along the brick, - - they're Azek also. They're forming a 'base-board' look, - - they have a very slight out-bevel on top to shed water. They, in fact, - - are the only pieces of the whole wainscoted sections that even had any holes that needed 'filling'. All the other parts were attached through the sheathing from the inside before it was insulated and rocked. I try to keep fasteners to an absolute minimum on these type of projects because I use the 'frontier' type of Azek, - - which is that with the 'raised-grain' face. The raised panels on this project are even 'glued-up' sections, - - because the frontier-grade Azek doesn't come in sheet-form, - - only in board-form.

Tom R

Or maybe you're talkin' about the piece under the door??, - - that's an ACQ strip tucked back 3/4", and will get an Azek finish strip tacked onto the front of it to finish it off, - - whenever . . .