Trying to find out how to bond pvc to wood can be a process in itself, sifting through forums looking for different people suggestions and opinions and I spent a lot of time looking through all of the helpful info out there.
I decided to make a short post on what I found regarding bonding pvc to wood in order to organize the information I had found in an easy to read mini resource page to help others. Enjoy!
How Do I Bond PVC To Wood?
There are certain products that will work to bond the two dissimilar materials together. Hot glue guns and superglue will work for lighter-duty projects and is usually a short term way to do it.
Other products can be used as well as many polyurethane adhesives/sealants that will provide a stronger, more permanent bond than a hot glue solution.
Some manufacturer's recommend certain products that will work in this scenario as well as Liquid Nails for example, who recommend their Liquid Nails Fuze It and their Liquid Nails Polyurethane Construction adhesive to name a couple of examples.
Mechanically fastening the PVC to wooden materials is also a long term option that can provide the greatest strength.
Using Glue Sticks And A Hot Glue Gun...
Glue sticks that work in conjunction with a hot glue gun work relatively well for bonding these two materials together and most types of glues will work to create a bond but some may provide a stronger bond than others.
There are different types of glue sticks out there that are usually specified as low temp, high temp or bot (general purpose) and one may work better than the other for some woods but the overall hold of a hot glue bond will still be a weaker and temporary bond.
Most hot glue sticks are general purpose types of sticks but you an find higher strength glue sticks out there that will provide a better bond than the standard types.
Super Glue Will Work For Some Projects:
Another way to provide a less critical joint when bonding PVC to wood would be to use a superglue of some sort. There are a ton of different brands out there to choose from and most will do the trick pretty well.
Note that superglue will also be a more temporary bond compared to other materials though.
A more viscous superglue will probably be the better option too, as opposed to a runnier type. A superglue gel would work good for this type of application.
Construction Adhesives And Sealants May Work...
There are some manufacturers that have sealants and adhesives that will work for bonding wood to PVC.
Some are specially made to stick to most materials and are made with better overall bonding properties to them and other sealants/adhesives are available (like polyurethanes) that will work but are not stated that they are designed for bonding wood and PVC specifically.
Polyurethanes: Polyurethanes are strong and can pretty much bond to anything, and they actually can provide a very secure and longer lasting bond than most people often realize.
All Surface Adhesives: Some products offered up by manufacturers will have a different formula that will allow them to stick to PVC, which is harder to bond to than wood and some even specific that they will bond to PVC specifically.
These will usually be some type of "all surface" adhesive/sealant that will be specially formulated to stick to things.
A few manufacturers have these types of products from what I have found (Loctite, Liquid Nails and Gorilla Glue).
Any Liquid Nails Products Out There That Will Bond PVC To Wood?
Liquid nails does have a few products that will work when bonding PVC and wood and the three that the company recommends are:
- Liquid Nails Siding & Trim
- Fuze It
- Liquid Nails Polyurethane
I did find a question on Home Depot's website that was asked by someone wondering if another Liquid Nails product would work on PVC (no wood and PVC) and the manufacturer recommended the above three products.
How About Gorilla Glue Products?
Gorilla glue is a popular brand nowadays and people trust their products and I noticed that people specifically asked if Gorilla Glue made any products that would bond PVC to wood and they do.
Super Glue: Gorilla Glue sells a couple of different kinds of super glue (one standard version and another gel version) that would work well to bond wood and the PVC together but remember that using this type of glue would be more of a temporary joint (in my opinion) and wouldn't hold up as well if it was stored outdoors.
Original Formula: I was reading questions that were asked by people wanting to know if Gorilla Glue's original formula would work on PVC and wood and many of them stated that it would.
One user also suggested that the prep work of roughing up the PVC first is a good practice and then clamping everything in place (firmly) will also be a key element to getting the two materials to bond adequately.
The original formula that Gorilla glue uses is also recommended for indoor and outdoor use as well so it will hold up better than super glue but will require a longer "set time".
Epoxy: Gorilla Glue also makes a general purpose epoxy that can be used for PVC and wood and will be a more permanent bond.
Epoxies Are A Good Option For Some People...
Epoxies are recommended by a lot of people online because of the strength it provides and the durability of the product itself. Epoxies are a more permanent solution but do require longer cure times (not set times) than a superglue type of product.
There are a number of different epoxies out there that are recommended for a specific material or set of materials but I found a couple that were recommended by others and should work well to bond two dissimilar materials like wood and PVC.
A couple of examples of epoxies that should work are:
- Loctite Heavy Duty Epoxy: This epoxy seems like it is more of a "general use" type of epoxy and should work for PVC and wood.
- Marine Epoxy: A couple of users suggested marine epoxy because it is good at fusing two dissimilar materials together and is super tough as well.
- General Epoxy Formulas: Most general epoxy products will usually bond to both wood and PVC and should work pretty well. I am just using specific brands because of the feedback they give their customers from retail websites that "validate" the products working on specific materials.
You Could Always Mechanically Fasten The Two Materials Together...
Mechanically fastening the two materials is probably the most permanent way to get PVC and wood to bond together and is, by far the strongest joint you can get as well.
This may not be an option for some people though depending on the project but where it will work, it will definitely be the best route to go, especially if longevity and strength are determining factors.
Drilling a hole through the two materials and placing an assembly of washers, a bolt and a nut are one way to go about it or you can use a standard screw to screw right through the two materials without pre-drilling.
Prepping The PVC For Better Results:
Roughen Up The PVC Surface: Remember that PVC is smooth and will contribute to the bonding aspect more than you might think. The best thing to do is to roughen up the surface of the PVC where it will be bonding to the wood in order to get a better overall bond.
This can be done with sandpaper, a wire wheel attachment, wire brush anything that can roughen up the surface will work.
You will want to make sure that the surface is also clean from any debris made from roughing up the surface before applying a bonding agent.
Using A PVC Primer: Someone also stated that instead of sanding the PVC, they used a PVC primer instead, and it worked great because it got rid of the shiny coating and cleaned the surface as well (which is what it is meant to do). This is also a viable option.
