Wood vs. Vinyl
Wood vs Vinyl: by Pauhl Gazlay
We get a lot of questions concerning Vinyl as an alternative to the custom wooden structures we craft. When comparing vinyl to wood as a material for building garden structures such as pergolas, arbors, fences, and gates, we have found four definite reasons to steer clear of vinyl….
1) Environmental Impact
Vinyl, or Poly-Vinyl carbonate (PVC), is a chemical/petroleum bi-product. The production process for vinyl relies heavily on non-renewable foreign oil supplies and creates a large degree of environmental contaminates. Vinyl itself is non-biodegradable. That is why underground sewer and drainage pipes are often made from PVC. It lasts for decades or longer underground without breaking down. Now, imagine your vinyl fence in a landfill…
By contrast, since North American lumber providers actively manage forests to ensure a permanent supply of lumber, domestically grown wood is a renewable resource! Happily, wood is biodegradable and, as a building material, requires a low degree of processing to bring it to market. It will last for years as part of a building structure, but will degrade into fresh soil relatively quickly in a landfill.
Wood is Practical, Beautiful & Renewable. Used for millennia, it remains the original green building material!
2) Price
You will find that vinyl products are often more expensive than wood. Vinyl fences, for example, cost more for a six foot section than wood costs per eight feet. This price disparity is increased by the fact that vinyl has a shorter usable life span. Paying twice for a product does not make it better. The long term value is in wood, hands down.
3) Appearance
Wood ages gracefully. Vinyl just ages. Sure, it looks neat and clean when first installed, but as the suns’ ultra-violet light breaks it down, vinyl becomes thinner, discolors, cracks, flakes and breaks. Not to mention, vinyl tends to become permanently discolored from irrigation sprinklers. Do you want proof? Walk around your neighborhood and take a close look at some of your neighbors’ vinyl fences that are more than a couple of years old. With wood, a fresh coat of stain every few years makes it look like new again! Not even possible with vinyl.
4) Strength
This is an easy reason to choose wood rather than vinyl. Wood’s strength is far superior to vinyl. Wood can span longer lengths and support heavy vines for far longer than vinyl, without being torn apart. Falling braches or storm debris that would have little or no effect on wooden structures, can easily ding, dent, or even destroy a similar vinyl product. Once a vinyl garden structure has been damaged, it goes off to the landfill. Wooden pergolas and fences, should they require it, can be more easily repaired back to their original appearance.
