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I’m considering using a manufacured exterior MDO laminated-veneer trim stock product marketed under the name “Clear Lam,” for the base of a watertable or bellyband.
It’s $1.90/lf compared to clear cedar at $2.40/lf, and $1.30/lf for spruce, but the real issue for me is performance.
Anyone have any experience to share with this stuff?
A non-MDO version is marketed under the name Socomi-Lam.
More info here: http://www.socomi.com
p.s.: No hits in searching the Breaktime Forum
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Todd, looks like a good product. MDO plywood has been around a long time. Some states use it for road signs. This looks like the same stuff only longer and narrower. I've had no experience with this stuff, but you would think with all the law suits over the early types of hardboard that they would be doing their research and testing on these new materials.
GP Prime Trim is another option. I scuffed some up and put it in water for more than a week with no damage.
*Steve G,I hope your favorable suspicions prove correct. Maybe others will chime in with their "real world" experience with the stuff and we'll learn if it's all true.p.s.: I looked at GP Prime Trim but (and I'm sorry to post this here because I can't site the source), I think I've read of issues surrounding dimensional instability -- a particular concern in damp-then-dry Pacific Northwest, and contraindicated for the intended mitered corner detailing.
*Todd, if you find that source let me know. We are going to be seeing more and more of these engineered wood products, and no doubt alot of them will turn out to be junk. I've not seen much good or bad about Prime Trim, although it still looks good on a job we did 8 years ago.Hardie is on the threshold of introducing some new trim material that is thicker (5/4") and nailable, i.e. you could nail 2 pieces together to make an outside corner.
*Steve G,Here's one link, http://www.umass.edu/bmatwt/Alternative_Trim.html , regarding the current field of engineered trim materials.Though not the source that gave rise to my concerns about GP Prime Trim, it provides some analysis of the virtues and weaknesses of various engineered trim materials by category and brand name, including GP Prime Trim and Clear Lam, and does mention the dimentional variability, I alluded to, for the category in which GP Pirme Trim is a member.Though brief, it might inform our trim material choices.Still hoping for anyone to share their real world experience with Clear Lam.
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I'm considering using a manufacured exterior MDO laminated-veneer trim stock product marketed under the name "Clear Lam," for the base of a watertable or bellyband.
It's $1.90/lf compared to clear cedar at $2.40/lf, and $1.30/lf for spruce, but the real issue for me is performance.
Anyone have any experience to share with this stuff?
A non-MDO version is marketed under the name Socomi-Lam.
More info here: http://www.socomi.com
p.s.: No hits in searching the Breaktime Forum