Good outdoor building materials

[tmcc man]

I have to say i will probably use pvc for the buildings i will build, and when i went to eclsts with my garden railway club i saw that mainline enteprise came out with the new turntable made out of pvc

[Capt Bob Johnson]

trex is a brand of planking made of wood fiber mixed in recycled plastic. usually used in decking, but not strong enough for structural use. Comes in a 5/4 X 6 amongst other sizes. Works well with wood tools. That's as opposed to the pure plastic stuff that's coming to market.

[ghelman]

Capt. B

Not sure what trex is? But the plastic lumber is worth a shot. I see a trip to Lows or Home Depot in the AM. What you can't see in the pic is that I have stripped up wood to make lap siding. I suppose I could use plastic, but that will get expensive I would think.

[Capt Bob Johnson]

I'd think you'd be better off spraying with clear finish after painting than using the water seal before painting!

Since they are a false front kind of thing, why not cut them out of trex or one of the plastic lumbers, paint, then clear coat a couple of times then you wouldn't have to worry about termies or rot, only weathering on the paint job!

[ghelman]

KStrong, Capt. B and T. Jack

It is a false front both 3/4 and 1/2 to give different depth. I will have to check out the hardiboard idea. I am surprised about the liquid nails. Not sure why I am , but, I just hadn't thought of using that outside at all. I was using a gorilla glue like stuff (ultimate glue by Elmers). I thought it worked great, but, it did delaminate after some time. Especially the 1/2 inch fronts that I had to glue up just to get the width. I will try the liquid nails. I like working with wood so that is why I use it the most. Not sure how good I would be with the plastic. I have built a couple of bridges and a water tower using cedar. The water tower is out in the weather and holding up. But, I have only had it out for a month or so.The bridges are part of my future plans. I have started soaking things in Thompson water seal before I paint them. I also gave one bridge a good oil stain coating. I hope that will help as well. Thanks for the advice.

[Capt Bob Johnson]

Jack,
from the pic it looks like a false front thing, maybe 3/4 or so thick? If so, try making it out of 1/2 in Hardiboard. If you want thicker, I've had luck gluing hardiboard into thicker laminates using exterior construction adhesive. You can cut it nicely with a carbide tipped saw or blades in circular or sabre saws. According to manufacturer, give it a coat of any exterior house paint and it should hold up for years, and years, and years ---- !

[tangerine-jack]

I agree, wood will eventually rot and be eaten by something. If you must, then cedar is a good choice and will last longer than pine. Be sure to stain and seal as you would any other outdoor wood work. If you paint, be sure to use a primer first, then a color topcoat.

I like liquid nails (or any similar construction adhesive) as an outdoor glue, but I always follow that up with small stainless steel screws. I like to over build.

Good luck!

[oX)]

[kstrong]

Seriously, in the Georgia climate (Humid), I'd look at alternative building materials such as corrugated plastic and the like. Wood doesn't like moisture, and all the treatment and paint in the world won't keep it from rotting. We used to have some wood buildings outside that we completely sealed with polyurethane. The moisture still found a way in, and the wood rotted from the inside out.

If you're going to use wood, look into alternatives to glues to hold everything together. I'm rather fond of Atlas track spikes, which are basicly brads about 1/2" long. If you do use glue, any of the polyurethane glues (such a Gorilla Glue, etc.) are reputed to be very strong and waterproof. (One hardware store demo had a metal handle glued onto a brick that was submerged in water.) The drawback to that stuff is the incredibly long cure time--on the order of a few hours just to begin to set. That will slow your construction to a relative crawl, but it will stay together.

Later,

K

[ghelman]

The below photo is something I built about two years ago. It is made of treated pine and has held up just OK in the weather. It is outside all of the time. It has started to come apart at the joints and some things have started to fall off. I think because the treated pine is ususally damp with treatment chemicals (during the assemby time) it may not have stood up as well as I would have liked.
Question:
I am thinking of rebuilding it, but, will use cedar this time. I have used cedar on a couple of things in the last month, but, not sure about the long haul. Also, I am using an outdoor glue that is activated by water. Any comments on other glues that may work, would also be appricaiated. Thanks.