Frequently Asked Questions

We spend as much time as we can talking with different manufacturers, going to trade shows, and following the different forums online.  So before we forget all those things we learned, we created this area to address the items that we found most fascinating or to post the items that we find ourselves explaining the most to other people.

SHOULD WE PAINT YOUR PVC PRODUCTS?

Yes. The durability of the product isnt’ affected either way, but the visual appeal certainly is. If you don’t paint the millwork we make it won’t take long for it to start to collect dirt from the air and look pretty bad. The good news is that it doesn’t require a primer and you shouldn’t need to repaint any time soon. We actually don’t know how long paint lasts on the PVC because we havn’t heard of anyone having to go back and repaint yet.

 CAN YOU MAKE STRUCTURAL COMPONENTS?

Yes. We can embed aluminum in the PVC and meet code requirements for railing, pergolas, brackets, and other items.  We also work closely with whoever is doing the install so the metal gets put in the right places and has the right options for attachment.

WHAT ARE YOUR STOCK OPTIONS?

We primarily build to your specifications, and in the instances that you don’t have details we help you to create them. A long time ago we fell in love with the idea that people should be able to get whatever they want, so that’s how we approach our millwork.

IS THERE ANYTHING THAT YOU WON’T MAKE OUT OF PVC?

We like to think that whatever was made out of wood before can be made out of PVC now. However, we have stayed away from making gutter systems because of the expansion and contraction of PVC. Also, because we’d be milling and not extruding the material, the gutter would be prone to cracking if water sat and froze in it.

HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH THE EXPANSION AND CONTRACTION?

Mostly, we help by trying to tweak designs to allow for some movement. We do all our work in a shop setting where the air temperature is controlled so the material does very little moving while we work on it. We recommend following whatever the manufacturer recommendations are for install, but know that it will move based on temperature and that it is a homogenous material so movement happens in all directions.

THE PVC MATERIAL IS SO SOFT AND SCRATCHES EASILY, DO YOU HAVE ANY RECOMMENDATIONS ON HOW TO DEAL WITH THAT?

We’ve had really good success with using a heat gun to pull out dents and scratches. Obviosuly, try it on a sample pieces first, but you might be shocked how well it works.