What is the Best Synthetic Material for Porch Railings?

The Best Synthetic Material for your Porch

At American Porch, we provide the best synthetic material for your porch.  Our “poly” products are made from an environmentally friendly water-based product called High Density Polyurethane.  It is a synthetic material that is also known as urethane, HDP, fypon, or simply “poly”. In architectural specifications, poly products are often referred to as foam plastic moldings. Poly products are made in our custom molds. Each pattern is made to exact dimensions by our staff of master pattern makers. The edges of American Porch Poly Products are sharp, clean. They are durable, authentic, and easy to install.

Authentic Look

Other materials such as PVC or Vinyl, look and feel like plastic. Our Poly materials look and feel like authentic wood. The material is similar in density to a softwood, such as white pine. It comes factory primed with a high emulsion latex paint. The poly material can then be finish coated with any high quality exterior latex paint.

Durability

Our poly products are made to provide outstanding durability. Polyurethane spindles are reinforced with an internal PVC pipe for strength and rigidity. The rails are reinforced with either a PVC or Aluminum pipe. You can cut our Poly spindles and PVC-reinforced rails using normal woodworking techniques. For rails with an internal aluminum pipe, use a slow speed cutoff saw or multi-cutter.

Low Maintenance

Urethane is very low maintenance. The paint is chemically bonded during the molding process which prevents cracking and peeling. An additional primer is applied before shipping all orders. Urethane will not take on moisture, which allows it to withstand the environmental elements. It will not rot and is impervious to insects.

What About Polyurethane Balustrade VS. Concrete (Cast) Balustrade?

• Weight: Polyurethane balustrade is a fraction of the weight compared to concrete. This makes installation easier and faster. It also means polyurethane can be used on elevated locations where weight is a factor.
• Installation: Polyurethane balustrade ships directly to the jobsite, ready to install.  It is pre-primed and can be installed like normal exterior carpentry.  No special skills or tooling is required.  Any installer with basic finish carpentry skills will have no problem installing our poly products.  Installation instructions can be seen HERE.
• Polyurethane will not warp, crack, or rot.
• Polyurethane looks and feels similar to authentic wood. It has clean crisp lines and the warm feel people expect from quality exterior millwork.

All American Porch Polyurethane Balustrade products are made here in the USA. You can sit on your porch and relax knowing that you have chosen the best synthetic material for porch railings.

M.G. of Stroudsburg, PA writes “After looking all over for wooden spindles to replace some that had rotted out on our front porch, I was about to give up. Woodworking shops could not replicate the spindles I had and the original manufacturer was no longer in business. American Porch was able to replicate my spindles exactly through a “casting” process using polyurethane. In any event, the new spindles are installed and look great, and will no doubt outlive the existing wooden spindles. Great job and easy to work with. Reasonably priced as well for this type of time-intensive custom work.