Many potential customers ask our craftsmen about the benefits of using PVC exterior trim as a solution for repairing wood rot in Cincinnati. In this blog, ProMaster explores the question: is exterior PVC trim worth it?
How Common is Wood Rot in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky?
Short answer: wood rot is very common in our service area.
Cincinnati features the right ingredients for wood rot to form quickly:
- Enough rainy weather to cause wood to deteriorate over time
- Enough cold weather to cause water to freeze and expand, creating larger areas of wood damage
- Enough older homes built with wood siding or other materials that are susceptible to damage over time
We estimate that nearly 50 percent of our calls from new customers are related to water damage of some kind, and a significant number of those calls are specifically related to wood rot.
Even if you don’t have wood siding on your home, rot can strike in lots of areas. Most commonly, customers see wood rot in and around the following areas:
- Exterior door frames
- Exterior window sills and sashes
- Exterior soffits and fascia
- Door thresholds
- Subfloor near entryways
If you’re seeing signs of water damage or wood rot in any of these areas, don’t wait to repair it! Wood rot will only get worse – not better. Unrepaired wood rot can lead to further water damage and thousands of additional dollars out of your pocket.
Using Exterior PVC Trim to Repair Wood Rot
PVC trim serves as an alternative to wood when looking for preventative maintenance for wood rot. But what does that mean for you, the customer?
Advantages of Exterior PVC Trim
Because PVC trim is not an organic material, it’s not subject to the same wear and tear from weather as wood. Exterior PVC trim won’t deteriorate over time.
“Wood is going to rot eventually,” said Master Craftsman Adam Crowell. “It doesn’t matter how good you are at keeping up to date with painting it. It’s just not going to handle the elements as well as PVC.”
“PVC is going to be ultimately the best choice in terms of long-term fix.”
PVC comes in different colors and can be painted to match the existing trim. It will be a seamless transition to PVC from any existing wood, meaning that it will be aesthetically pleasing on your home as well.
It also can be manufactured in any form – whether you’re looking at composite decking or PVC material to repair a soffit.
Disadvantages of Exterior PVC Trim
Not surprisingly, because of its intrinsic strength, PVC is also the more expensive product when compared to wood. That pricing can vary depending on the type and amount of product you’d be using within your project.
In the case of trim, you could see exterior PVC trim approach nearly double the cost of wood. For homeowners on a stricter budget, there could be an opportunity to save some money by using wood instead.
Advantages of Exterior Wood Trim
These advantages go hand in hand with PVC’s disadvantages. Wood trim will be the more economical option, but also offers one other unique benefit:
- If you’ll be staining the wood to match nearby material, replacing that with PVC will mean a discrepancy in the wood grain. For aesthetic reasons, many homeowners will then opt to go with wood trim instead of PVC.
However, as made clear already: wood will rot. It’s just a matter of how quickly and how severely.
What Do I Do Next to Repair My Wood Rot?
If you’re interested in investigating either PVC or wood as an option to repair your wood rot damage in Cincinnati, but aren’t sure where to go next, you’re at the right place!
A ProMaster craftsman can come to your home to evaluate the wood rot and offer solutions for options that fit your wants, needs, and budget!
ProMaster has served the greater Cincinnati area with excellence since 2007. Our company has won numerous awards for excellence in craftsmanship and ethics. Most recently, in 2022, Expertise.com named ProMaster one of Cincinnati’s top handyman companies and top deck contractors.
When you work with ProMaster, you get:
- On-Time, Professional Service: We show up when we say we will and set exact times for appointment. No four-hour windows here.
- Family-Friendly Craftsmen: We conduct exhaustive background checks on all employees. Our craftsmen are family-oriented, just like you.
- Quality and Experience: Our multi-disciplined craftsmen are rigorously screened with skill and tool assessments. We only work with our own employees – no subcontractors here. This ensures the best possible work quality for you.
- Trustworthiness: We’re a BBB accredited business with more than 15 years of experience serving Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. We’ve served thousands of satisfied customers and have seen countless types of home repair projects.
How to Schedule an Evaluation
- Call our office at 513-322-2914.
- Submit a service request form – yes, we’ll actually respond!
- Use our online booking service to schedule immediately.
- Email us your service request at [email protected].
ProMaster has a standard service call charge of $79 for the time and travel cost to get a Home Repair Hero to your property. We can diagnose a problem and complete multiple project estimates for that fee of $79. No additional service charges apply when you invite us back to complete your projects.
Your meeting will be with a professional craftsman who is an employee of our company. He won’t be a subcontractor. He won’t be a salesperson. He’ll show up on time to give you your estimate.
Once you confirm your evaluation date and time, we’ll send you emails with more information about ProMaster. Your craftsman will call to introduce himself prior to your meeting to introduce himself and answer any questions you may have.
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