News & Opinions

Use Caution with PVC Cabinets

There are important things you should know about PVC cabinets (made from Poly Vinyl Chloride). PVC cabinets are inferior to Werever’s HDPE outdoor cabinets. Some customers think Werever’s outdoor cabinets are made from PVC. Werever does not use PVC. Werever builds cabinets exclusively using High Density Polyethylene (HDPE). Competing companies manufacture cabinets from PVC largely because the raw material is cheaper. A driving force behind many products is to make it cheap in the short term, regardless of the long term consequences or cost.

PVC Cabinets are not Sun-Safe

A major manufacturer of a woodgrain textured PVC sheet discloses in their Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) that this material should not be exposed to the sun. It states “Conditions to Avoid: Direct sunlight”

Avoid Direct Sunlight
“Conditions to Avoid: Direct Sunlight”

A competing outdoor cabinet manufacturer that uses PVC to build their cabinet boxes tells customers in their warranty to avoid exposure to sunlight. They exclude coverage for exposure to extreme temperatures. They even exclude warranty coverage for warping due to gravity.

PVC Outdoor Cabinets Warranty
Competing warranties will not cover exposure to direct sunlight

Lifetime Warranty vs. 5-Year Warranty

Werever offers a Limited Lifetime Warranty. Manufacturers of PVC cabinetry do not have a comparable warranty. In some cases, you can’t even find the warranty on the manufacturer’s website because it illustrates the glaring difference in quality. Further, Werever has been in business since 2001. We have always backed our warranty, and you can be sure we will be in business to continue to back the warranty. If you’re having a hard time locating a competitor’s warranty, ask them for a copy in writing.

PVC Foam Board Significantly Under-performs HDPE

Most consumers would never read material specification sheets. However, when spending thousands of dollars on a cabinet project, it is very important that you understand the difference in performance between Werever’s outdoor cabinetry made from HDPE and competing brands that use PVC foam sheets.

HDPE
Marine
Board
(Werever)
PVC
Foam
Board
(Competitors)
Why is this important?
Vicat Softening
Point
255° F 165° F HDPE is much more resistant to extreme temperatures.
Tensile Strength 3600 psi 1739 psi HDPE is over twice as strong.
FDA Approved for
Food Contact
YES NO HDPE is suited for food service areas where sanitation is important.
UV Stabilized for
Sun Exposure
YES NO HDPE can withstand direct exposure to sun. PVC can’t. This is a huge issue. How can a company sell an outdoor cabinet that can’t go in the sun?
Elongation at
Break
700% 23% The lower the number, the more likely to split or break under stress.

In summary, PVC cabinets are significantly weaker than HDPE cabinets by several quantitative tests. They aren’t approved for food contact by FDA, and they can’t be exposed to the sun without a protective coating. These differences are extremely important and are deliberately obscured by competing companies. A PVC cabinet is not at all the same as an HDPE cabinet. Do not be fooled by confusing language or marketing efforts of competing cabinet brands.

Both PVC and HDPE are “polymers“. That label is about the only thing they have in common.