Cap Stock Delamination

It is possible for the cap stock (the weatherable laminate) of a co-extruded part to separate from the substrate (the core). The following pictures illustrate several installations from Louisiana to New York where co-extruded vinyl sheet piling has delaminated for either known or unknown reasons. Manufacturers of co-extruded parts may be able to explain why this happens.

Northstar certifies that these are actual photographs and have not been altered or retouched in any way.

		A cross section of a co-extruded part. Note the pigmented cap stock. This laminate is approximately half the thickness of a credit card.For about the same money why risk your investment on co-extrusion? Demand a mono-extruded part available only from Northstar.
		For a little extra, you can install a mono-extruded vinyl seawall and avoid this possibility! With mono-extrusion, you know what you're getting for your investment because a mono-extruded part is "monolithic", meaning it is homogenous throughout.
Delamination is hard to explain. Always be sure to ask suppliers of co-extruded sheet piling to explain how it happens and how they guarantee that it won't happen on your seawall. As you can see, the color of your seawall and long-term aesthetics depends on the integrity of the capstock!