Hi, I would drill holes at every low spot, then paint them with a couple of coats of oil base spar (marine) varnish. Be sure to coat the inside of the holes well. Test the spar varnish on a spot where they are painted, to make sure it won't lift the paint. If it doesn't agree with the paint, you can still coat the inside and bottoms with it, and try exterior water base sealer on that part. Spar varnish lasts much longer and protects better than water sealer. Sitting them on something so they don't touch the ground, keeping them out of the line of sprinklers, and keeping them sheltered under a tree, on the porch, etc. will help prolong their life. Hope that helps, don't forget the pictures! Linda

Thanks everyone! michiganrachel - -Hmmm, vacuum scuffs are virtually guaranteed, but I do like the look...I'll have to check whether magic sponges take those off. rmkitchen & dianalo, I see your point and probably would have gone for the shoemoldingless look (if I had thought about this detail beforehand!) but I think it's too late for me now that the floors are done b/c the boards are not all perfectly abutting the baseboards- - I don't think it's sloppy, but I guess the GC had shoe molding in mind and must've communicated that to the flooring guys. Luckily I'm ok with the shoe molding.

The reason a shoerail is used is because it secures the balusters with a strong joint between the balusters and the wall. If you're looking for a cleaner look, you could do a shoerail shown in this video https://youtu.be/n1XkA1I5jaE

Nailing plastic molding of any kind is difficult to do well. Powered tool nails often shoot too deep or through the material. As Uptown Floors wrote, it is diff=icult to cut---it also creates a feathered edge that is melted plastic which hardens and has to be filed/cut off. And, since it often comes partially loose(due to the nailing problem) it gets damaged easily because it is soft/brittle. I often used hard foam plastic molding for crown molding, but disliked it for anything else.