Azek - problems - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

netmouse · 09-26-2009, 03:07 PM

Any comments on the problems people are posting about Azek (Procell) at "This Old House"? I may prefer to recommend using wood and stain as needed.

click-advice.thisoldhouse.com/showthread.php?t=6824

FastKatt · 09-29-2009, 05:54 PM

I think it's a great product! I really don't have any complaints to log...
Your link doesn't work...

hailey · 10-06-2009, 06:34 PM

Well we haven't seen any of these problems with the old Procell or the new Azek "using Procell technology".I sure hope we don't.We sell many many feet of it every year and install many on our own installs....would sure like to see that continue.All the contractors we have that use it love it ... as do I.

Sorry about the length of this but wanted to make sure everyone could see these to comment.

Re: Procell composit decking
I am also a member of the Procell victims club. I installed 675 sq ft of Procell in the spring of 2007 and within one season experienced the same fading or "oxidation" as all of you. I really noticed it first when my dogs would run across the deck and their nails would "scratch" the oxidation off. I originally thought they had actually scratched into the material, but after closer investigation realized that there was no physical damage.

I contacted Azek and they were very responsive initially. They sent a local representative to my home and he took more pictures after I had already sent a bunch in along with the installation contract. The last contact I had was with Patrick Healy from Azek Building products on 20Mar09. I have sent him three emails asking for a status and have been ignored ever since.

Most recently, I noticed that if you use spray-on sun screen on or near the deck it stains. I now have foot prints and overspray all over the deck. I am tempted to spray the whole deck with sunscreen as it seems to be holding it's color. I just worry what it'll look like next year.

I also tried to power wash the deck, but it did nothing.

Very frustrated. $10K for trash.
cfm
Junior Member
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 1

Re: Procell composit decking
Very sorry to hear about the fading problem with Procell. My deck was built with Procell "brownstone", in July 07. Here we are in Oct. 08 and I noticed some of the boards that are exposed to sunlight have begun to fade. Not all seem to be affected. Reading all the posts seems like the only alternative is to take the manufacturer to court. I spent a lot of money and have convinced other people to install Procell. I'm obviously very sorry I did that! I will not let Azek come in and make it worse as it has happened to some of you. This oxidization problem they claim is just a term to hide the fact that they didn't do a good job of accelerated life tests on their product or they have had manufacturing process control problems. I bought this product because Procell claimed, no fading, among other claims...

brewpups
Junior Member
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 2

Re: Procell composit decking
Sounds like I am in the same boat as you folks. Grey ProCell installed in May/Jun of 2006. The deck has faded significantly as can easily be seen by looking at an area that has been covered for most of the time. That area looks as good as the day I got it.

I am trying to get some attention from Azek and have just sent them a 2nd note. There was no response to my 1st note.

As for claiming "oxidation", eh, well, you kind of expect that the deck will be out in the sunlight, don't you? You'd think a maintenance free decking product would anticipate sunlight.

Paid a fortune for the deck and chose ProCell so we wouldn't have to maintain. Was willing to fork up the extra $$ so I'd have a deck that would look great for many years. I didn't even get 2!

Obviously unhappy and not looking forward to the fight with them.
ORiley5
Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 1

Procell composit decking
We installed a Procell deck a couple of years ago. Azek Corpration has since acquired Procell and I did speak with a company rep. The first year it looked great. This is the second year and it looks faded and worn out. We have stains on the deck that look like something dripped as someone was walking across it. We also had what looked like puddling stains. The company says its environmental and that the discolored areas are due to oxidation not their product. The stains actually come from within the deck.

We are "do it yourselfers" and my husband spent countless hours installing this two tiered deck. We also bit the bullet to install this high end product because it was supposed to be maintainance free. They advertise it to simply rinse with mild soap and a hose.

Have you heard of anyone else having difficulty and can you suggest a solution?? I have pictures that I can send...

Kathleen
Last edited by ORiley5; 07-07-2008 at 08:31 AM. Reason: changed wording

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#2
08-08-2008, 05:10 PM
moe231
Junior Member
Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 1

hailey · 10-06-2009, 06:36 PM

Re: Procell composit decking
We have the same problem. It was already treated once by Procell (last year)with a 3 step chemical process and they said it should be OK. It looked good for awhile (in the winter) . Now, it is worse than before. You can even see the brush strokes from the chemical that they treated it with. Also, the Atek that was used as trim is totally ruined because the chemicals came in contact with it. The deck cost us over $30,000.00. I am getting ready to contact them and I know they will say that they will come and treat it again because it has a lifetime guarantee. I shouldn't have to have it treated every year, Everyone that sees it cannot believe how bad it looks. It is stained, has a white coating on it (from what they call oxidation) and now all the brush strokes from the treatment are visible. I don't want it treated. I want my money back. If I do not get any satisfaction, I will get an attorney. We don't have that kind of money to throw away!

Re: Procell composit decking
Yes, I have the same problems with my Procell Deck. Can you please tell me what state you live in, what year the decking was installed and what color it is? Mine was installed in 2005 in Ohio and the color is Clay. I heard that there may have been a bad 'batch', and not all Procell performs like the material we have. I have also had the three step treatment and it now looks awful. I am trying to figure out the next steps to take to correct.

xiajin98
Junior Member
Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 1

Re: Procell composit decking
I am from Pennsylvania and have over $10,000.00 invested in clay pro-cell decking around my pool. This deck was installed in 2006 and I have the same problems. The deck has faded to an almost white color and stains easily. I can not find anything to remove the stains. The strange thing about mine is that there are 4 boards on the deck that have not faded and look like new. Of course, now they stick out like a sore thumb. These 4 good boards sure makes me think that something went wrong with a big batch of this stuff. An Azek rep. came & took pictures in early july. He told me that he had never seen this and would get back to me with a solution. After 6 weeks of trying to get an answer, I spoke to a different rep. that says I have an oxidation problem which is not a defect in there material. He is going to send a sub-contractor to my house to chemically clean the deck at no charge to me. After reading others horror stories I am not sure if I should allow them to do it. Has anyone received a satisfactory solution to this problem?
Last edited by xiajin98; 08-28-2008 at 01:47 PM. Reason: typo

Jmenc
Junior Member
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 2

Re: Procell composit decking
I have had the same problem with my grey Procell deck. Installed in May of 2006. I noticed the "fading" in October of last year (2007) when I was putting the deck furniture away for the winter (Connecticut). Notified the customer rep at Azek, which purchased the Procell company, about the problem and sent pictures. They claim it was oxidation as well. I am certain it faded as there was no problem where the sun didn't shine on the deck. They came in the spring of this year and washed it (didn't even need it because i just had and even the representative commented on the clenliness of the deck. They he put floor wax on the deck!!! Brite (brand name from S.E. Johnson Wax) on the deck for a solution. Of course it wore off and the deck looks worse than before and now the where ever the wax touched (risers, trim boards and bottoms of the railings) there is residue and they look awful too. They came back about 3 weeks ago and tested a spot with a heat gun. Now I have a dark square in the middle of my deck and the rest of the deck looks faded as it did before. I have spoken to them as recently as yesterday and they are being very thick. I would love to see if there are any decks in Connecticut (or nearby)installed around the time mine was to see if they are experienceing the same problem.

I don'yt mind cleaning the deck. I certainly expect to do so. But I will not apply any products annually to bring back the look on a temporary basis and simply reapply it again. I could have left my wood deck, saved the $12,000.00 and done the same.

Complete replacement of the deck is what I am after and since I, and all the people who are expereinceing this problem, paid the premium for Procell, we should expect nothing less. If this faded in 20 years or so I would certainly understand, but I noticed this in less than 16 months after it was installed.

If you are in Connecticut or the nearby area and have Procell installed around about two + years ago, I would like to either exchange pictures or see your deck personally. I am not finished with Azek yet!!!!

hailey · 10-06-2009, 06:37 PM

more than just a couple of dissatisfied customers

TBFGhost · 10-06-2009, 06:42 PM

....i am not sure I have EVER seen a composite not fade out....

John Hyatt · 10-06-2009, 08:06 PM

This stuff is not what we generley call composite but its made up from several things so.....what the Hell its a Composite.

Damm shame for those Folks thats a lot of mola being put out for not geting what the hype said they would but have we seen this before??? In Fact is there any manmade we have Not heard this about.

Is it the adversting,the testing, greed,a major batch problem,..or is it just a bunch of guys with an idea and a market just waiting for them.

Far as manmade goes I have to go back to the treads on the outside stairway of Butler Manor, moisture shield knock off for the box stores corect deck two coats of twp. They look brand new after 10 years. Soft composite with a finish put on right away thats the only crap shoot I would pitch with manmade. JonMon

FastKatt · 10-06-2009, 08:26 PM

That is very strange, what are the odds they decks are all from the same general "batch" "lot #s"
I have about 25-30 decks made with Procell/Azek, have yet to get a complaint...

John Hyatt · 10-06-2009, 09:03 PM

I have to say, the ol fastcat's web site is the most stupid area I have drifted on over to in maney a moon.

The JonMon is showing Major restraint, belive me on this one.

FastKatt · 10-06-2009, 09:06 PM

I haven't built the website yet (as you can see)
I've been in talks all week with the "web guru"
I hope to have the site up & running by the weekend

neolitic · 10-06-2009, 09:53 PM

The way I read that is, there are
about nine people ticked off with
no one else jumping on their bandwagon.
You could find more than nine people
who complain about ice cream and
4th of July fireworks.

Someone on here (Breyer?) posted
about the sunscreen problem a couple
of years ago, and that's the only
real problem I've ever heard of.

BreyerConstruct · 10-07-2009, 07:18 AM

Neo,

Not sure if it was me. Azek's a good company, but the products aren't perfect.
However, with the adjustments they're making right now- I'd expect to see next year's products perform better.

~Matt

buildenterprise · 10-07-2009, 09:13 PM

That was probably me, posting about the problems with Azek deck and sunscreen/bug repellent. According to a conversation with my local Azek rep, they are aware of the problem but have yet to find a solution. They are supposedly releasing an Azek cleaner soon, we'll see if that helps. They have added a paragraph in the care and maintenance section of their install guidelines that mentions these chemicals.

neolitic · 10-07-2009, 09:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by buildenterprise

That was probably me, posting about the problems with Azek deck and sunscreen/bug repellent. According to a conversation with my local Azek rep, they are aware of the problem but have yet to find a solution. They are supposedly releasing an Azek cleaner soon, we'll see if that helps. They have added a paragraph in the care and maintenance section of their install guidelines that mentions these chemicals.

Yeah, they have it right there
on their web site.

hailey · 10-19-2009, 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by neolitic

Yeah, they have it right there
on their web site.

We have a citrus-based cleaner for PVC that works great...removes most anything including spray paint...works great on sunscreen stains,but it is expensive

nEighter · 10-19-2009, 02:17 PM

if you are trying to get sticky from tape or stickers off of azek use goof off. In the yellow can, cleans that crap right off and no adverse side effects (melting or whatever) FYI. With anything... take a cut off piece and try your solvent/cleaner BEFORE you try it on on the main piece.. otherwise you get what you get..neglected to do.

Quinn · 10-19-2009, 05:41 PM

I have seen Azek get kinda chalky white on two decks Ive built... No complaints on any others. IMO it seems if its gets some shade during the day...problem solved. Hopefully they can get this fixed cause Id like to build some decks out in the sun too.