Screwing Cedar decking tight to joists
Hello, this is an amateur here….
I’m replacing about 200 sq. ft. of cedar boards on my 600 sq. ft. 17 year old deck. The originals were nailed using hot dipped finish nails and they worked well, very few pops over the years. But… everyone uses screws these days, it seems. So I’m using Hillman Power Pro ceramic coated 3″ #9s, with an auger bit (no predrilling).
Mostly good so far, but last night I had a problem with one board raising up slightly off of the joist as I screwed down. Of course, this required withdrawing the screw and trying again. I’m mostly working alone, so don’t have someone to step on the board, but even when I did, it didn’t seem to help. And it wasn’t just on one joist either (like if I was hitting a knot or something on the joist). Maybe the boards got a warp or twist I didn’t notice in the dusky twilight I was working in after work.
Any ideas on what I’m doing wrong or how to correct/prevent this? Otherwise, the screws have gone in well, and no splits in the boards at the ends (yet…).
Thanks for any advice!
Replies
the best screws will have a variated thread designed to suck that down.
Otherwise, use a clamp to pull it tight before starting the screw, or use PL premium glue also
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If you don't have a clamp big enough to clamp the deck board to the joist, you could always try drilling the deck board with a drill bit of a slightly larger diameter than the screw threads so the screw threads wouldn't grab the board, only the joist.
Only the screw head would be holding down the warped board though, so it wouldn't be the greatest idea with a trim head screw.
Put your own wieght on the board as you are srewing it down, you shouldnt usually need someone else.
I bet you're running these screws in too slowly, try a faster speed while placing your wieght on the board.
An impact driver is ideal for this, the ryobi from HD is fairly inexpensive and is not a bad tool for occasional use.
Sounds like you are hitting a knot, or possibly the remnants of an old nail embedded in the joist.
Try to move the screw location a little, pre drill, etc.
The 3" deck screws that I use have about 1" of unthreaded shank which won't grab the deck board if you're using 5/4 decking so I don't see how the lifting you describe could happen. What size are your deck boards?
But anyway, drill a pilot hole if necessary. A 2nd drill makes it go faster.
ilemme:
that can happen easily with any screw.. The real solution is to predrill all holes but the pros don't do it because they can't afford the labor involved.. If you predrill you need to drill the hole in the board being fastened large enough so the threads slip right in..
T hanks everyone for your thoughts and help. I’m finding that stepping on the board (they are 2 x 6s), pushing harder on the drill, and drilling faster, pretty much cures the problem.
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Piffin, I’ve seen those dual threaded screws, but the ones I’ve seen are for composite, and they are much thicker than the #9s I’m using. The clamping idea could work too, if necessary. I’d hate to go to the trouble of gluing, but that’s another solution if all else fails…
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Fingers, predrilling a hole big enough through the deck board so the screw threads slip through would be my fallback method with a stubborn board; my screws are not trim heads so that head size should be sufficient.
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LIVEONSAWDUST, you were right, I was drilling s l o w l y, and speeding it up helped. Maybe I’ll look into the impact driver idea too, as I do have two Ryobi system batteries.
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LittleItaly, I too thought about it maybe being a knot, but it happened on more than one joist. And I pulled out all the old nails… but of course could easily have missed some… but both your ideas are important to check out.
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DonCanDo, my screws also have about 1” of unthreaded shank, but I’m using 2-by boards….
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Anyway, I appreciate all your suggestions very much! The main thing that seemed to help in this case was putting weight on the board and drilling quicker. One other thing I hadn’t noticed in the twilight was that the board I was working on went near a beam where the two joists running our either direction from the beams overlapped, and one of them was a bit higher than the other (probably because the next beam out (it’s a big deck) was just a bit lower than the beam I was on, to provide slope for drainage. That made the joist heading out that way just slightly angled downhill, if that makes sense.
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Thanks again, from the wilds of Sedro-Woolley (WA)…
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