After dorking around for nearly two months, the lumber company I was working with finally came through with the decking to replace the existing decking on our bottom deck. I’ve torn it apart enough to see that I only need to replace two pieces of rim joist — the rest of the framing (ground contact treated ca 1985) is in perfect condition.
When we built the deck around 1985 I used the deck screws with the proprietary gold color (forget the brand name), but a few years after that everyone and his brother came out with gold-colored screw, so it became impossible to identify the brand. Anyway, I liked working with them as they were quite hard (stripped heads were almost nonexistent) but not at all brittle. I’ve removed a bunch of them as I take up the decking and they have held up great, with hardly any corrosion. (I’m actually tempted to reuse some of them.)
On the other hand, I detest SS screws — they’re way too soft.
Does anyone have a brand of (non-SS) deck screw they like that they know will stand up to old and new treated (plus redwood)? Inspection isn’t an issue, so they don’t have to be “certified” for treated or anything, so long as they’re suited to the job.
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life is easier now.......
One of the local stores here sells a nice gold exterior screw. They are nice screws but only come in 50# boxes, the name is something forgettable and of course I have forgotten it.
But as far as just holding stuff together ouside the green Griprite screws work just fine.They can be had in combi point or torx drive. Torx is a bit extra but a bit better.
I would not want either of these screws as load bearing, otherwise all good, I've used them on countless decks and such.
I've semi-settled on GRK "All
I've semi-settled on GRK "All Purpose" screws. Gold plated, rated for treated wood, tough.
I wouldn't use those myself. I prefer ceramic coated screws, the gold ones are not all the same and many rust and are not tough at all, but I havent used the GRK ones.
Stainless is the only thing that seems to hold up, particularly around salt water. You just need to drill pilot holes and set the clutch right on your screw gun.