Can i get a little material advice?

[Kurt Rosenzweig]

Hi people. I have this job to make a bunch of these pickets for a Victorian home exterior railing. The customer wants them to be maintenance free so I'm leaning towards 3/4 PVC but am concerned about it not being rigid enough. Is there a better sheet good out there that would be more rigid. Thanks in advance.

[Neal Schlee]

If you're staying with plastic, Seaboard, but it's very expensive.

Neal

[Gary Campbell]

Kurt...
I have used PVC for this purpose in the past. You need to make sure that they are not used to bear the weight of either the top or bottom rail. In other words, both the top and bottom rail must be self supporting and the "ballusters" just tie them to gether. They also must be painted to block UV rays from reaching the PVC. Also, depending on the local codes, they need to be fairly stout, as your example, to handle the required side load for residential guard rail systems. IMHO they will not pass muster for commercial mezzanine or guard rail systems.

[Keith Outten]

Kurt,

I would use Corian. You would need to plan for expansion and contraction but the balusters would not need painting and UV would not be a problem.
.

[Ken Dolph]

I agree with the Corian. You could double it for strength and/or aesthetics. Make sure that you cut it out with a router so that you do not have any sharp inside corners. The expansion contraction is less than 1/8" over 12 feet on a 20 degree F change. So it should not be a problem with the pickets. Like with wood, I would not glue them in.

[Kurt Rosenzweig]

Anyone have a guesstimate how much a 4x8x3/4 of Corian runs? PVC form Harbor sales runs about $160

[Ken Dolph]

Kurt

They only make 3/4" custom these days. 5 sheet minimum. 1/2" sheets are 30" x 144" and it just went up 22% in July. My wholesale on that would be $550.00 Someone may have remnants for less per square foot. How much do you need?

[joe alcathie]

similar to seaboard, look at using starboard check website for king plastics... great stuff and you don't have to worry about finishing it.

[Joe De Medeiros]

I don't know what it's like down there, but I would check local building codes. Here in the great white north (Canada) the rail must meet

For loads, guardrails must withstand...

• a concentrated horizontal point load of about 200 lbs (224 lbs in Canada) at any point along the rail
• a concentrated horizontal load of about 50 lbs (112 lbs in Canada) over a 1sft area at any part of the rail spindles or balusters
• a simultaneous vertical (uniform) load of about 50 lbf (103 lb/ft in Canada) and a horizontal (uniform) load of 50 lbf (34 lb/ft in Canada) along a rail

For height...

• Deck surface is less than 30” (24” in Canada) above ground – no railings required
• Deck surface is 30” or more - minimum 36" railing is required (Commercial buildings require 42" rails)
• 4” maximum space between balusters

just some food for thought