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Rain causes the product to stain and smell
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I needed five columns for the front porch of the house we were building. We considered stone, concrete, and wood. I came across pacificcolumns.com on the web. They sell a fiberglass/resin column that looks like stone/concrete. I spoke to them on the phone
a couple of times and they sent me small samples of the material that they used. In 2010 ended up buying my columns from this company since the material look like concrete, yet was much lighter and therefore easier to install. Specifically, I bought: " 5ES1208ATPTBTUTU12"
x 8' Endura-Stone™ Column, Round Shaft (FRP) w/True Entasis Taper, Textured Finish - Sandstone Color SHAFT: 12" Diameter x 8' Overall Height - Round Tapered (FRP) BASE: Tuscan Base (FRP) with 16 1/4" Square Plinth CAPITAL: Tuscan Capital (FRP) with 14 5/8"
Square Abacus FINISH: Textured Surface - Through & Through Sand Color PLAN TYPE: All Components Unsplit/Whole - Type A " Overall, I am not happy with the product or the service for several reasons: 1. One of the columns that they shipped me had a small crack.
Although, I probably could have had them replace it, I didn't have time. The salesrep said that I could repair the crack with Bondo, which we did. We did the repair on the inside of the column so that repair could not be seen on the outside--note the outside
of the column has a concrete looking texture that I didn't think we could have repaired as to not be noticed. Since the crack was small, I figured this was the best option. However, over time we got more cracks on this column and others. By the way, these
columns aren't load bearing so I'm not sure why they are cracking. 2. While the columns are fiberglass/resin, with color throughout, they tend to fade by the sun. I didn't expect this. I had called a couple of times about this and I was told that they should
not fade. I've told them that they do. One guy suggested that I could paint them (which kind of defeats the purpose of a product that is made to look like cement/stone). 3. Also, these columns tend to stain when it rains--I didn't expect this at all since
they are supposedly fiberglass/resin. I called about this a couple of times and one customer rep said that I can clean these with acetone. I haven't tried the acetone, but I was able to clean them with water and a sponge; however, see #4 below. 4. The worst
thing about these columns is that when they get wet, either by rain or cleaning, they emit a strong noxious chemical smell. I thought that this would go away over time, but they haven't in the two years that I've had them. I called them a couple of times about
this. Once about a year ago and once just a week ago. The first time I called I got a denial about the chemical smell being a known issue, so I just figured that the smell would go away over time. During my recent call, after two years of having this product
with no change in smell, I was a little more determined to understand if this was a common problem and to understand what the product was made of since I was not only concerned by the potentially noxious smells, but I was also concerned that this product might
be leaching into my garden. The customer rep that I spoke to this time (Ryan) said that there was no known chemical smell issues and that the product won't leach. I then asked him if he has product reps that work in Arizona or occasionally come to Arizona
to check out my issues, and he said no. I then asked him if he could test his product with water and get back with me and also asked if he could send me a chemical sheet for my review. He said that he would send me a chemical sheet via my email and would try
to do the water test. It's been a week now, and I've yet to hear anything from Ryan or the company. I'm am very disappointed by this product and by the customer service. They don't seemed concerned with my issues nor do they follow-up as agreed to. Moreover,
I am also very concerned that this product might have some chemical issues that might need some immediate attention yet the manufacturer doesn't even seem interested in exploring the possibility that there might indeed be an issue. In May of 2014, Pacific
Columns stated that they have been making this product for years and the product has never smelled. I offered to host one of their sales reps or a licensed contractor of their choosing to visit my place to assess my situation. They haven't taken me up on this.
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