INDUSTRY Trends
By Rick Kapres
A WEALTH of traditional design elements, carried out in workable, dimensionally stable PVC, is calculated to stay crisp and unmarred with no more maintenance than an occasional power-washing. This home faces the water in Suffolk County, Long Island, N.Y. Contractor/fabricator: Seifert Construction; architect: Bruce Nagel + Partners
PVC architectural trim evolves to meet heightened demands ithstanding what used to be once-a-century storms. Endowing luxury homes with bold, distinctive personalities. Empowering owners to spend more time enjoying—and fewer resources maintaining—their coastal retreats. All of these prospects, and more, stem from the continuing reinvention of PVC architectural trim products, an outlier category just a couple of decades ago. Then things changed. Many architects, builders and homeowners had clung to the notion that natural wood was the only appropriate trim material for high-end residences. But, by the early 2000s, it was clear that both aesthetics and materials had reached their tipping points.
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Younger homeowners (and quite a few of their elders) were elevating “zero maintenance” to a mantra for gracious living. And builders were mourning the bygone strength and durability of available solid-wood products. Old-growth stocks had vanished, and they were eager to get their hands on materials that would work as easily as wood but last more than a couple of seasons. In stepped a few visionary manufacturers convinced that a new, “green,” manmade material could make life easier for owners and contractors alike. The innovation they had in mind was high-quality cellular PVC, which derives largely from plentiful natural gas and can be engineered to resist anything weather and climate can throw at it. Yet
November 2021
it yields finished results that replicate or even improve on the traditional painted or stained wood forms dear to architects and homeowners. These manufacturers didn’t invent PVC; they reinvented it, dramatically enhancing its physical properties, creative potential and curb appeal. They’ve even introduced realistic, long-lasting wood-tone laminates for contrast with customary all-white trim designs. This summer, I asked a few professionals who design or build high-end homes in demanding coastal environments about their experiences with the continually evolving possibilities of PVC trim products. “Building homes on the Jersey Shore is uniquely challenging,” says Building-Products.com
