Removing Mortar-Filled Screws
While not the conventional choice, a drill/driver allows for removing a lot of screws in a short amount of time.
Recently, we had to demo a bathroom with cement-based tile backer beneath the tiles. After removing the tile and tile board, we were faced with dozens of square-drive screws sticking out from the framing. The screwheads were filled with mortar and our driver bits could not get a grip. Using locking pliers to back out all of the screws would have taken forever. Instead, we tightened the chuck of a drill/driver around each screwhead, then put the tool in reverse to back the screws out of the wood.
—Ed Ridgik, Wilmington, Del.
Edited and Illustrated by Charles Miller
From Fine Homebuilding #290
