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I need to fasten a 3/4 inch PVC trim board to a poured concrete basement wall. Since this will be on the exterior of the house I want to avoid rusting of the fastener. The previous pressure treated board fell off when the concrete nails rusted and broke off. I was considering using Tapcon screws and counter sinking the heads and filling with a paintable epoxy. I know the Tapcons will rust at some point. Does anyone know of a stainless steel concrete fastener?

Genki
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    Most coated fasteners should last a lot than common non coated fasteners. Tapcons are coated, but could get galvanize or other coatings. Most will last much longer than non coated fastenings. – crip659 Mar 28 '21 at 22:12
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    You should just drill and insert anchors, into which you would drive stainless-steel screws. – Jimmy Fix-it Mar 28 '21 at 23:01

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Tapcons and similar are available in stainless:

https://www.tapcon.com/products/concrete-screw-anchors/410-stainless-steel-tapcon

batsplatsterson
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You have various options. The thickness of the fastener matters. Really a hot dipped galvanized fastener of sufficient thickness should last decades. Are you close to a marine environment? - that will speed oxidation of fasteners.

If you want the fastener to never rust out you could go with stainless steel and epoxy. Something like HY-150 or there is a simpson strong tie version. A lot of structural components are drilled and epoxied into concrete so certainly this will work to hold up a simple panel.

I have some pvc panels that I plan to install on concrete - I'll probably just use the strongest PL - PL Premium. Seems like PVC is listed as compatible.

Fresh Codemonger
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  • PL is construction adhesive? It's not a marine environment, just exposed to snow and rain. I tried a construction adhesive but it did not hold well on pressure treated and concrete. What is HY-50? – Genki Mar 29 '21 at 00:28
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    Yeah PL is construction adhesive - the materials have to be dirt / dust free. Is the PVC panel touching the ground or free hanging? HY-150 is a two part epoxy made by Hilti. https://www.loctiteproducts.com/en/products/build/construction-adhesives/loctite_pl_premiumpolyurethaneconstructionadhesive.html – Fresh Codemonger Mar 29 '21 at 01:08
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    @Genki PL Premium is polyurethane so it may act different than solvent-based construction adhesives. PL needs to cure under pressure or it doesn't stick well. – piojo Mar 29 '21 at 13:56
  • Thanks for the info. The panel will be under a walk out basement door aluminum threshhold. The bottom of it is only a couple of inches off an asphalt surface but there is plenty of splash from roof runoff. My plan now is to drill some 3/8" holes, fill them with epoxy and fasten the board with SS trim screws into this epoxy, when cured. Back it all up with PL. – Genki Mar 29 '21 at 22:20