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Chimney Corner Board Repair--From Rotted Wood to PVC Good!

By
Home Builder with Winslow Homes

CHIMNEY CORNER BOARD REPAIR IN WAKE FOREST, NC

 

We recently performed some closing punchlist work for a new customer through a referral from a real estate agent in Wake Forest, NC.  We did a good job, and the customer asked us to come back to repair all of his rotted trim.

Chimney corner board damageThis house was foreclosed on a few years back, and sat idle for quite some time.  As a result there were, and still are (but we're working on them) a lot of repairs! 

 

One particular repair I wanted to show you is the chimney corner boards on the highest roof.  Chimney corner boards are notorious for being rotted.  I've yet to meet a chimney that was made out of wood or some wood-type product that didn't have rot on it.  If you know of one, I'd like to meet it.  Make an introduction, will you?

 

Anyway, we found when we began removing the corner boards on this particular chimney we weren't able to keep it together.  No, not our emotions, but the corner boards!  They literally fell apart as we pulled them off by hand!

 

This house had more than one chimney, three to be exact (yes, it's a BIG house).  Here's a photo of another chimney once the corner boards are off.  We've got a couple of the new PVC corners assembled (cemented New PVC corner boards ready to go ontogether with PVC cement) and ready to go in.  They fit tighter and stay together better if they are pre-assembled and cemented. 

PVC expands and contracts much more than wood, and the manufacturer recommends to cement them together and hold them together and in place with strong fasteners, such as stainless steel screws.  We don't have a supplier for stainless steel screws, so we use epoxy coated deck screws.  They're steel, just not stainless, but the epoxy coating protects them from the weather.

 

As a side note, we really don't like to do any other material than PVC on trim anymore, as homeowners don't seem to be able to keep up with the maintenance that wood requires.  Not that you should ignore maintenance with PVC trim, but it at least gives them a fighting chance.  Especially on chimneys and other out of sight, out of mind places.  You can see other examples of places that PVC trim can be installed in our previous post "You Know You Need to Repair Your House When..."

 

New PVC corner boards on chimneyWe got the corners back up on all the chimneys, and caulked it with a clear caulk designed for high joint movement.  The customer is hiring a paint professional to stain the siding and paint the trim, so we just had the trim portion of the work.  But the trim portion was a lot!

 

So with the new PVC trim in place, no more trim rot, no more carpenter bees (bumble bees), and no more worries!  Ok, so there are still worries, as PVC is not a panacea for your house.  Yes, I did just use that big word, and no, I didn't have to look it up first.

 

So the next time you need chimney corners replaced, or any other trim or siding in the Wake Forest or Raleigh area, give us a call!  We're well versed in correcting what time, weather, neglect (and often bad installation) can do to a house!

 

 

 

Comments (14)

Tom Arstingstall, General Contractor, Dry Rot, Water Damage Sacramento, El Dorado County - (916) 765-5366
Dry Rot and Water Damage www.tromlerconstruction.com Mobile - 916-765-5366 - Placerville, CA
General Contractor, Dry Rot and Water Damage

You make repairing rotted wood look glamorous!

I don't recall seeing any PVC trim boards here in California, who is the manufacturer of this product. Sounds like a great idea for repairs.

Mar 29, 2011 03:14 AM
Jeremy Wrenn
Winslow Homes - Youngsville, NC
VP of Finance, Winslow Homes

I'm not sure about glamorous, Tom, but if we make it look pretty we're all about it!

The local supplier for us is Stock Builiding Supply, and the material is called Artrim.  They used to carry Azek, but recently switched to Artrim.

Mar 29, 2011 03:28 AM
Tom Arstingstall, General Contractor, Dry Rot, Water Damage Sacramento, El Dorado County - (916) 765-5366
Dry Rot and Water Damage www.tromlerconstruction.com Mobile - 916-765-5366 - Placerville, CA
General Contractor, Dry Rot and Water Damage

Thanks for the links Jeremy. I appreciate the help and informative post.

Mar 29, 2011 04:57 AM
Jeremy Wrenn
Winslow Homes - Youngsville, NC
VP of Finance, Winslow Homes

You're welcome!  Thanks for stopping by!

Mar 29, 2011 05:03 AM
James Quarello
JRV Home Inspection Services, LLC - Wallingford, CT
Connecticut Home Inspector

I have to do some painting and trim work on my house this year. I'm going to use PVC to replace the wood trim.

Mar 29, 2011 02:42 PM
Jeremy Wrenn
Winslow Homes - Youngsville, NC
VP of Finance, Winslow Homes

James, that's the way to go in my opinion.  Just be sure to "glue & screw" the corner boards together and you'l do fine.  And use a high movement caulk as well. 

Mar 30, 2011 06:38 AM
Dale Ganfield
Leland, NC

Hi Jeremy, a bit behind on my reading.  Good info.  The PVC or composite trims are great materials to avoid the issues of wood rot which is so prevalent in NC.  Thanks for sharing.

Apr 10, 2011 01:26 PM
Jeremy Wrenn
Winslow Homes - Youngsville, NC
VP of Finance, Winslow Homes

Thanks, Dale!  It is really prevelant around here, so we try to use this type of product as much as possible.

Apr 10, 2011 01:52 PM
Charles Buell
Charles Buell Inspections Inc. - Seattle, WA
Seattle Home Inspector

Jeremy, just starting to see the stuff around here---started showing up in fences---we have a LOT of yard fences

Apr 13, 2011 08:01 AM
Jeremy Wrenn
Winslow Homes - Youngsville, NC
VP of Finance, Winslow Homes

Charles, we don't have a lot of yard fences, but the PVC trim is all over the place!  So much rot from the 80s and 90s around here that folks are going for something that won't rot.

Apr 13, 2011 08:59 AM
Anne M. Costello
Weidel Realtors - Yardley, PA

Jeremy: Thanks for this informative post. Almost every home I have sold recently has chimney issues!

Oct 30, 2011 10:52 PM
Jeremy Wrenn
Winslow Homes - Youngsville, NC
VP of Finance, Winslow Homes

Anne, they all seem to have trouble, don't they?

Thanks for stopping by!

Oct 31, 2011 04:50 AM
Anonymous
richard

do you used plaster material for chimney trim? is it more durable than wood?

Jul 15, 2019 11:19 AM
#13
Jeremy Wrenn
Winslow Homes - Youngsville, NC
VP of Finance, Winslow Homes

Richard, when I was doing repairs (now in new construction) we used PVC products for the chimney trim.  It is MUCH more durable than wood, but has it's limitations, such as:  only able to paint with lighter colors, and higher expansion and contraction properties (thus higher grade caulk is required).

But what we found is that if an area had already rotted, then it was likely to rot again.  So the PVC was a great no-rot solution that we were able to use with great success for over a decade!

Aug 10, 2019 05:13 PM