Will Vinyl Trim Support A Storm Door?

[DerbyDad03]

I recently replaced my entry door and now it's time to install a new storm door.

The Question:

Does 5/4 x 4 vinyl trim have as much holding strength as wood? Can I hang a full view storm door from it?

The Background:

Due to the gap between the jamb and the siding (>3") I can't use standard brick mold. What was used previously was some 1" (a full 1") x ~3" wood wrapped in aluminum. The wood and alumnum are beat up and won't be reinstalled.

Per the manufacturer, I need to use material that is 1" thick to mount the storm door to, so I was planning on ripping down some 5/4" x 4" vinyl trim to fill the gap and then hang the storm door from that.

(I used vinyl trim around a window I installed, and it was quite easy to work with, but I didn't have to hang any weight off of that trim.)

[Joe]

Check with the manufacturer and they will likely tell you that the trim is not really a structural material. Since you have some tools to work with wood, size what you need out of quality wood and have a woodworking shop mill a brickmold face as needed.

Joe

[Phisherman]

I hung a storm door (with glass panels) from vinyl brickmold. I secured the brickmold using 4" exterior finish nails and a 1/4" bead of Liquid Nails. The storm door has a corner piano-style hinge and fastens in many spots. It's been six months and the door is operating just fine. It won't be long before I will have all the rotted wooden brickmold (18 years) replaced with vinyl.

[clare]

I wouldn't trust it.

[RicodJour]

The major concern of mine is what exactly you mean by vinyl trim. If you're talking about something like Azek 5/4x, or similar, not any problem, I do it frequently. Storm doors have a lot of screws holding the frame in place, and the stress is distributed. The major caveat is to drill pilot holes.

Some manufacturer's vinyl trim is a bit sketchy and is pretty easy to break - brittle, almost. That stuff I wouldn't want to attach a storm door to.

You can also build up the trim profile from Azek and applied PVC moldings.

R

[DerbyDad03]

Azek is indeed what I am speaking of.

In fact, I just stopped by my local Norandex-Reynolds franchise to order the storm door and that's what they carry.

I'm not sure what brand HD carries, but the price N-R just gave me for an 18' length is going to be cheaper than what I would need to buy from HD based on the lengths that HD stocks.

I'll just need to make sure that I have my tape measure and 18V circular saw with me so I can cut the 18 footer down to some managable lengths. ;-)

[DerbyDad03]

re: :You can also build up the trim profile from Azek and applied PVC moldings"

I don't know if Azek is what I used around my window but that is exactly what I did around my window. (I used whatever HD carries.)

I replaced a double casement that had been built into the house with a slider and the exterior had bevels and gaps that needed to be dealt with. I back cut some flat stock at an angle to produce a flat surface and then "glued and screwed" some PVC molding to the face to create a pretty good looking profile around the slider. I used exterior adhesive caulk as the "glue".