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It looks like azek recently bought Trademark. http://www.azek.com/viewProduct.php?id=16 It is a composite system that is pretty popular out here. I have used it a few time but I won't anymore. I was just wondering if anyone else has seen problems with this system.
Tell us more. I've sold & installed a ton of it...
How about some more up close photos & some details (age? location)?
Looks like mildew at bottom of balusters. Cracking too?
I'll bet the posts are a tight fit over PT and getting stretched by swelling of PT causing the skin to crack. See if there's any air space in there first thing.
What's your dealer say? Any manufacturer rep seen it yet?
Here are a couple more photos. It is tough getting a good picture. The railing is about 2 years old and situated about 200 yards from the ocean. About half the post sleeves have spider cracks in the finish. That is what got me looking at the rest of the system. This is a summer house so the owners have not seen this yet. We were turning on the water for them and noticed the problem.
The top rails are starting to fail at the bottom of the bead that runs along the side and some balusters are starting to get large cracks in them. I contacted my supplier and he is going to send a rep out. He told me the manufacturer has a designated person to deal with these problems. That dosn't sound good. I am just wondering who is going to pay for the labor.
Sounds like a similar situation I had with Premier Railings by Composatron, They too were purchased by Azek. The railings look very similar. It is possible they are produced by the same company. The post sleeves developed splits and the top rail as well. At first it was suggested that the P.T. inner posts were too big and were expanding causing the splits. But this could not be the case with the rails. (I still made the extra effort to grind the posts before installing the second time around.) Composatron also had a rep that was dealing with the issue. Once Azek got involved in the warranty claim the response dropped of dramatically and it was like pulling teeth to get them to back their product. I did eventually get reimbursement for labor. They have an allotted time per post/ per rail etc. it was not quite my cost but it helped ease the pain. They did supply new material. They rep from Composatron hinted that the cause was a bad batch which was perhaps rushed throught the manufacturing process to keep up with the increase in demand. It has been a year since I replaced the product and so far so good. I hope Azek has improved their response for your sake.
It looks like azek recently bought Trademark. http://www.azek.com/viewProduct.php?id=16 It is a composite system that is pretty popular out here. I have used it a few time but I won't anymore. I was just wondering if anyone else has seen problems with this system.
Shows how the other side of 495 is a different world. I have never seen that brand before at any of the 3 seperate yards I frequent
Keep us posted on this. I'd love to hear how you get treated by the manufacturer.
I suppose bad batches are possible but what matters is how they handle them if they do happen.
I spoke too soon!! I got a call yesterday about the same posts I replaced last year. We replaced 17 of them. They are splitting again!! I found a warranty that Azek has online. It is 10 years on the colored rail like mine. It might be different for white. They say that only product will be reimbursed not labor. I also confirmed that Trademark is or was made by the same company..Composatron. So this is definetley the same product.
I will let you know if I get any response from Azek this time around.
Mr. McGuire: I just want to say one word to you - just one word.
Ben: Yes sir.
Mr. McGuire: Are you listening?
Ben: Yes I am.
Mr. McGuire: 'Plastics.'
Ben: Exactly how do you mean?
Mr. McGuire: There's a great future in plastics. Think about it. Will you think about it?
Ben: Yes I will.
Mr. McGuire: Shh! Enough said. That's a deal.
Donald on the basis of his net worth valuation-
"...feelings, even my own feelings, and that can change rapidly day to day"
The rep finally came out and looked at the railing. He agreed that all railing sections have failed and require replacement. They of course provide new material and pay $50/railing section and $30/post sleeve for labor. This deck has 11 railing sections (4 stair sections) and 11 post sleeves so that’s about $900 in labor. It is better than nothing but I won't be using that product again.
He stated that there was a design flaw in the system that has since been changed. So I guess we have to pay for their design problems.
Who was the rep who came out? I'd like to know what that design flaw was and where it went...
At least they gave you something for labor, but nowhere near enough.
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