Home Improvement Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for contractors and serious DIYers. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
I'm about to install shoe molding all over my house. I'm deciding between composite (I think it's PVC) and wood. They are quite similar in price. How do these 2 materials compare in terms of:
I would go with the wood. It will paint & caulk better. Some of the PVC stuff doesn't cut well on a chop box, has a tendency to break and may crack with larger nails. PVC just looks cheap when its up, you can tell its plastic.
If the composite is MDF, I would buy that over wood. MDF is cheaper, and usualy straighter pieces. It also paints nicely. The only time I might choose wood over MDF is if I were staining the molding.
I recently used white PVC 1/4-round nailed to the (white-painted) wooden baseboard of an interior room, to cover the expansion gap of some newly-installed floating engineered flooring. Thus, I can't speak to PVC's paint-ability or long-term durability. As for cutting & nailing...
I cut it at a 45-degree angle on a power-mitre (chop) saw, with no problems. There was some very occasional fraying at the cut, easily trimmed with a utility knife.
The PVC feels softer / more pliable than the oak 1/4-round I used in another room. I had no fears at all about nails splitting the PVC; it seems like you'd have to use absurdly over-sized nails to cause it to split.
Overall, I would go with wood if I had to paint or stain it to match. However, I've been very happy with the look and performance of the white PVC along my white baseboard.
