I have three porches on my owner built home supported by 6×6 pressure treated posts.A total of 13 in all.These posts will need to be wrapped with something in order to called finished.I have been told to use either pine or cedar with mitered corners to give the appearance of a pine or cedar post and either paint or stain them.I have tried to make the exterior of my home as maintenance free as possible.Is there anyone out there who has any experience with a no maintenance substitute that I may use for this purpose??Any ideas at all would be greatly appreciated.JayJay
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Consider GP Primetrim which still requires painting but it kess susceptical to rot, swelling, and checking. The corner joints wouild neeed to be square butts and not mitered though.
or Azek which is a cellular PVC trim product that is white and requires no paint but can be painted if need be.
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Azek is great stuff but if painting stick with light colors it has expansion issues.
Thermal expansion instead of humidity
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If you want a quality medium installed at your home. I would suggest cypress or redwood. But just like other things you spend money on, buy what you love the most, looks the best, will last, costs the most, be willing to spend the money, and enjoy the task of taking care and cultivating it! It is a wondeful thing to reap the benefits of your labor & hard earned money.
Compare the pictures of the beauty of finished redwood / cypress to that of aluminum and vinyl.
If you like the quality/look/durability of vinyl....... go with vinyl.
if you like the quality/look/durability of aluminum....... go with aluminum.
if you like the quality/look/durability of a certain wood species........ go with wood.
I use 1/2" MDO board, I would not miter the joints if you use wood. The boards expand and contract along the width and open the miters. Make the joints flush butt or rabbet joints. Another way is to dado two column sides in 1/8" from the edge and the width of the mating board. This gives you a reveal that looks good and easier to construct. An example of this in an 8" square column, two opposite sides are 8" wide, dado in from edge 1/8" x 3/4" x 1/4" deep for 3/4" thick stock. Mating sides are 7" wide. Glue up three sides , leave off the one side that is dadoed until the U shape is installed.The finished product is flush on the dadoed sides and stepped in 1/8" on the other sides.
You can use this detail with any wood that is proper for exterior work. I sometimes use this Mdo or cypress. Mdo gives you a nice surface for paint, a bit pricey though. I used to pay $45.00 a sheet for 1/2" 4x8 primed mdo. That was a couple of years ago, I imagine it is a lot higher now.
mike