*
My husband and I are building a two story colonial near the Chesapeake Bay (Maryland). The exterior of the home will be all brick. At this point, we are trying to decide what type of material to use for the trim and facia.
We were originally planning to use painted cedar, but we became concern that it would look to rough. Our builder has suggested using MDO. Not knowing much about MDO, we are concerned with its durability living so close to the water.
Any comments you may have on MDO or any other recommended material would be greatly appreciated.
Replies
*
If your builder is truly recommending MDO, ensure he'll be around to replace it in a few seasons/years if it fails. MDO can be used for exterior trim, but for me it would be application specific.
It could be suitable in an application where no cut edges are exposed, only the face of the panel. For corner boards, etc, I personally would be wary of using it, even if the corners were mitered so the cut edges were not directly exposed. Soffit and facia applications (with an overhang) would be less risky due to the reduced likelyhood of water contact. Ensure all cut edges are sealed well, for that is will be the weakest point and the most likely area the moisture damage will initiate/occur.
My first choice would still be the cedar/redwood family. Cedar can be planed or face-jointed to a fairly smooth surface. Even if it is rough, that will provide a better bonding surface for the primer/paint. Properly primed and painted pine would also be a decent choice if you opt away from cedar or redwood. I'd choose those above MDO.
Ensure it is back-primed prior to installation.
Do a search using "MDO" or "trim." There were a few threads regarding this a while back, some who have used MDO in exterior applications gave ideas for their best weatherproofing techniques.
Good luck!
*
We have a radio personality on a call-in home show here in MI who always says "water always wins". Unless you're doing the job yourself, I've yet to see any subs in this area backpriming or end sealing or any of the methods mentioned. Often I see a painter on a ladder spraying who knows what with the snow flying, and the cedar trim looks OK for the closing, but in a year or two, well...
What is the best material depends on what you want. If you want low or no maintenance, clad your trim in aluminum. If you want good paint adhesion, then get a rougher surface, and make sure you control how it's primed and finished. Unless you really know the guy doing the job, I'd be leary of newer stuff, because often it is suggested just to make installation easier/cheaper.
*
Susan
Call several of your local millwork suppliers and ask them about cypress. Then talk to your builder about it.
Scott
*To all,I just recently put all new facia and trim on a 9 year old home. It's one of those "trophy" homes that goes for $300,000 to $500,000 depending on what model you pick. The builder used 5/4 pine for all of the trim.This was the second time it had to be done. The first time still fell under the warranty period, this one obviously did not. All of the boards were back primed, ends painted, and they still rotted from the moisture. Oh, by the way, the homeowner doesn't live near any water.I would at least go with cedar. I don't know much about cypress in trim applications, but I do know that the bugs hate it and it grows in very damp climates. Sounds like a good suggestion!Good luck!Greg
*MDO on an exterior, are you building a mobile home ? that is all it is good for in my opinion. But if you get a long long warranty from the builder then......nah I still wouldnt do it. Cedar, redwood or clad materials, have never tryed cypress, do not even know if I can get it here at a reasonble cost. Hemlock and pine work ok too. We get lots of moisture....Oregon.
*Susan,I do not believe that cedar will look too rough. I see cedar, rough side out, all over the place in Connecticut, and once it's painted with a couple heavy coats, it blends right in. Many builders went with finger jointed redwood, and wound up with a host of problems ranging from bleed through to, even more hideous looking, unnatural grain changing, and raised graining in patches.What does the builder propose to do with the MDO edges on the fascia? I'd forget that idea.Good luckClampman
*
Susan, I would also consider using cement-board products where 'blank' stock would do, e.g. soffits, fascia, and flat trim. Then use one of the above mentioned wood species for mouldings, back banding, plinthes or other formed architectural details. The cement board is less expensive than clear wood stock, holds paint at least as well, and won't shrink, swell, feed insects and all those other nasty things that require future maintenance. It is usually available pre-primed and with a smooth surface or embossed with a wood-grain look (personally I'd choose smooth, especially with brick)
*
Susan,
I agree with most everything said here. MDO will work fine for your soffits, but you can't have any exposed edges. Pine is out. I've replaced to much pine exterior mouldings in my days.
Down here in Texas we have been using honduran mahogany for all the exterior doors, windows and cornice trims. It seems to have a natural oil in it that helps to repel moisture. I have not replaced anything that I have installed with this species of wood in many years. It cost a little more, and you can't buy it in profiles "off the rack", but it cost less than doing it twice.
Like everybody else says, back prime everything with a good thick oil base paint. Fill the mitre joints with the best waterproof exterior glue you can find. Make your joints tight, and use galvinzed nails if you can.
The best key to maintaining an exterior woodwork is a good coat of paint. Don't blow off the paint job next time you need it. Water penetration is you enemy.
Good Luck,
Ed. Williams
*
How about Style Mark urethane mouldings, fascia,
etc. I have used it a few times and it seems to work well. It comes painted white but should be recoated. It looks great. I would like to know
others, opinions on it.
*
Hi there!
Two stories up, brick (no-maintenance) veneer, I think I'll second Rich on aluminum soffit and fascia. Make absolutely sure that it doesn't contact steel nails anywhere!
Gabe
*
I agree with dave sorg.I would use one of the cement board products.I live near the water at the southern end of the chesapeake bay and have had great success with these products. Good Luck.
*Invisibly vented Wolverine brand beaded soffit looks much better than aluminum soffit. Cost less to.I think it looks better than wood. You could use it with any kind of fascia & frieze.
*I live in the south, 70mis. north of Atl. I use pressure treated and have had good luck with it. But I still back prime with a sealer.And the wood needs to be dry. I've did homes 10 yrs. ago it still looks the same.
*I live in a dry climate and saw mdo "trim boards" applied as a ceiling-soffit over covered walkways on a high school. They were back primed and pre-painted. (These were, by the way replacing failing interior gwb that had been originally installed.) Within months, individual planks were developing ripples and bulges as the long runs accomodated the uniform in all directions expansion of the particle board. Not much of an improvement over failing taped seams. In the interests of lessening the pressure on the dwindling big tree forests, I would recommend a cementitious material for any painted trim. Save the good wood for the places where the hand and eye can caress.
*
You can use cedar with the smooth side out or use cypress as someone else suggested or even redwood. If you want to spend some money you can use Fypon, which is a molded foam type product that comes in a million styles, shapes, designs and it is commonly used here because of it's resistance to water, other elements and insects.
Pete Draganic
*
I built a 1200 square foot workshop and am now building a 1400 square foot house for my daughter. I used Hardiboard siding and Harditrim for facia. They also make soffit. Their website is http://WWW.Jameshardie.com. As someone else wrote above, it won't rot, won't burn, termites can't hurt it, and it holds paint very well. It comes either smooth or with a realistic wood grain. It is noisy and dirty to cut, since it is made of cement with a fiber matrix. Look into it. Good luck with your project.
*YES,"FYPON" this is a truely revolutionary type product.and like "PETE" said it comes in many styles,shapes and sizes.you can enhance the appearence of your home quite nicely.and it is a nice material to work with also, because it is a dense foam product. it is light in weight, easy to cut,it would be my own choice of product if I were considering any exterior application of the type you described.also check out a product called "OMEGAWOOD" very similar to "FYPON" dense foam core with plastic front and back sides. P.S. I am not a "FYPON " representitive (CARPENTER 20 YEARS EXPIERENCE)GOOD LUCK!
*
I saw a house yesterday that killed me. It was 400 feet or so off the road, large custom house. I could tell that all the trim was wrapped with aluminum FROM THE ROAD!! Appearance and curb appeal are two considerations when picking these materials for trim, etc. How sad is it that this trim is so wavy that it doesn't look good from 400 feet!! Maybe it looks good at night. Not condemning this aluminum, just this installation.
-Rob
*
Hi Susan,
The company I work for is pretty awesome, we specialize in high end home restorations and additions. The owner of the company is King of Research, sometimes to the point that drives us crazy:) But anyway we always use spanish cedar for all ext. trim applications, it's weather resistance is superb. On all cuts, end grain and joints we use West System Epoxy. Before the boards come to us the painters have primed them. Its not the cheapest application but neither is your home.
If you would like to resreach the Epoxyworks by West System here is thier webpage http://www.westsystem.com
Happy Building
Peace and love
Micheal C.
*My first choice would be Wolverine vinyl (it has a nice muted sheen)...next choice, Hardie board (concrete product).
*Does anybody out there really know what MDO is? MDO is marine grade plywood with an outside layer on one or both sides of wood fibers saturated with waterproof adhesive applied under extreme pressure and heat. To give you some idea of it's durability, it's what they use to make outdoor signs and deluxe reusable concrete forms. I have left a sample of unpainted MDO lying in the dirt through four years of Ohio weather with no damage other than a slight bleaching of the color. No swelling, no delamination, no nothing. Boat builders use MDO to build boat hulls.More than one company manufactures MDO exterior trim boards in various widths and thicknesses. One product thatI have used with great success is called "Clear Lam" and is made by a company called "Pacific Wood Laminates". MDO trim comes preprimed, perfectly straight, edge sealed and in sixteen ft. lengths. I feel that it is the premium quality exterior trim board. The edge sealing thing is not a problem since the stuff is totally waterproof. If you have a raw edge just sand or plane it smooth and prime it like you would regular wood if you were trying to do a good job.I think most of you guys are thinking about MDF, which is another product entirely and totally crap outside.
*Hi Susan,I've used Hardiboard and Fypon. We built a lot of Habitat houses in Orlando using Hardiboard. I liked it so much I used it on my house in tennessee. It does need to be painted and I had to predrill the boards to nail. It's tought stuff. Cutting it was a little bit of a pain, I bought a saw blade from Dewalt (7" high performance masonry - model # 4712) that walked right through it. It did produce a lot of dust, so wear a mask, try to cut up wind, or hold your breath. I haven't had as much experience with Fypon but it's easy to work with and looks nice if installed following the manufactures guide lines. Good luck, Bill
*
My husband and I are building a two story colonial near the Chesapeake Bay (Maryland). The exterior of the home will be all brick. At this point, we are trying to decide what type of material to use for the trim and facia.
We were originally planning to use painted cedar, but we became concern that it would look to rough. Our builder has suggested using MDO. Not knowing much about MDO, we are concerned with its durability living so close to the water.
Any comments you may have on MDO or any other recommended material would be greatly appreciated.