Vinyl vs Wood Lattice, Which is the Best?
How does it compare, vinyl vs wood lattice? The white vinyl that’s available in home centers is just the right thing for some situations. But sometimes the lattice product made from wood is the better choice. Of course, the vinyl lattice is pretty much maintenance free, and that can be a big advantage.
For this application, as you can see, the balcony railings are all white PVC vinyl, so the white lattice fits right in. This customer wanted to prevent their cat from jumping to the roofs on either side of the balcony, and she wanted it 5 ft high. It only comes 4 ft so I had to join a piece to get meet the height requirement.
Basic Vinyl Lattice Installation
What is much more difficult about the vinyl lattices is the installation. It must be installed with matching vinyl edge pieces. The edge piece has a groove that the lattice sheet slides into, which secures the edges. You fasten the edge pieces so you don’t have to screw or nail into the lattice sheet. Reason for doing this way: if you nail or screw the lattice sheet, it will break into pieces as it expands and contracts with the weather.
Adding Extra Supports
But the flimsy vinyl sheet provides no rigidity to the middle area to keep them from bowing, only having support on the ends. So, you may have noticed that I added a piece of wood in the center for support, which still allows expansion in either direction.
Because of the height above the railing, I also added a wood support to either end. But even wood lattice would require support on the ends, in this situation, but it wouldn’t need it in the middle.
So, which should you choose, vinyl vs wood lattice? Here, as you can see, white vinyl makes a cleaner finished appearance. When closing in the area below a deck the wooden variety would be the best choice because then function is more important that appearance.
You may also want to see my handyman page for other things I can do.
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