Shearing composite deck screws-Fixes?
clarkster75
| Posted in Construction Techniques on
I have a composite deck made from everyone’s favorite grey composite decking that is sold from the shelf of our favorite Orange supply house and I used composite screws to fasten the deck (I belive they are Trapease).
Since we have four distinct seasons here in Utah, the decking has proven to be quite expansive/contractive (sp?) and I have started to shear off the screws especially on the corner of my deck were the longer boards are wrapping the edge. I guess the long boards have the most to move from hot/cold.
Should I just remove the boards and dig out the sheared screws and reinstall with stainless? Will those give me enough strength?
Any suggestions? Thx
Replies
which brand of screw did you use???
SS will shear even easier.....
try this style of screw with the reverse thread on it...
http://grabberman.com/ItemDetails.aspx?itemid=GCDS234T&dTab=pricing&gclid=CPezo6yluZMCFQWVFQod5l17CQ
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Deck screw brands vary by at least a factor of four in how easy they are to break. Try a different brand, or use structural screws.
I used some deck screws to fasten fence panels to the posts that were guaranteed not to shear or strip while being driven--don't know about later, but they are hard and tough--I was shattering the tips of my screwdriver bits before any damage was done to the screws. The screws came with their own special, hardened drive tip, which I almost immediately dropped in the grass somewhere and never did find. Anyway, I bought the screws at Lowes. They have held up the fence panels just fine and its going on the second summer.
philips II square-driv.....
http://www.phillipsfastener.com/PhillipsInside.html?gclid=CPP06YSCupMCFQEpIgod1UnHCA
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Yup, that's what they were. Good screws, no problems at all with driving them into posts (other than, like I said, ruining my driver tips, but if you don't lose the one that comes with them, you're all set!).
I just finished a composite deck a few weeks ago and the screws I bought at big orange were snapping like crazy when I tried to sink them. As a solution, I used a countersink bit to put a small dimple in the deck board before driving the screw - a good reason to have more than one drill. That worked out pretty well but now I read that yours are snapping. I sure hope I don't have the same problem. Some of the boards are 14', which makes for a lot of expansion.
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Cheap Tools at MyToolbox.netSee some of my work at AWorkOfWood.com
Edited 5/22/2008 9:25 am by Ted W.
the real solution is to not to do Home Desperate products...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Agreed!
They're good for some stuff, like joint compound and drywall, and sometimes they have decent lumber.. sometimes. But I should have known better than to buy their screws. The deck is down so no turning back now, but will remember in the future. --------------------------------------------------------
Cheap Tools at MyToolbox.netSee some of my work at AWorkOfWood.com
so we find a better product and put the information out there....
same for the junk and where it came from...
did ya notice the OP is misssing???
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
I'm not the original poster; hope he read what yo uwrote, but he seems to be absent. Seems to happen a lot--people ask questions, then disappear! I don't even think we were nasty this time!
I didn't even think about it till you mention it. But yeah, I guess that's the nature of public forums. Some get the answer and get to work while others, like me, just won't go away. =D--------------------------------------------------------
Cheap Tools at MyToolbox.netSee some of my work at AWorkOfWood.com
To All: thanks for the input. Regrettably, I even sit at a computer most of the day and didn't even take a look at who had responded to my inquiry.
Thankfully, there dont seem to be many boards/screws that have sheared off. Obviously I am going to have to take the whole deck board off to get at the broken piece in the framing/wood. The thought of trying to redrive new screws into the deck and hitting those broken pieces is just not sitting with me well.
My friends and I did predrill the holes for the screws, since we've found that even the non-mushrooming screws will mushroom the composite decking. (false advertising, no-how could that be??)
So, not only was I mislead on that bit of advertising by the manufacturer, but they have been shown to be made of nothing more than high grade pot metal. And it just has to make you feel good when you are paying $2/lb. (or more) for screws like that.
I will check back in, and look at those sites. Thanks again.
If the scew is stripped (no slots left for driver tip) you can sometimes use a special carbide tip that bites and reverses them out, but if they are sheared, maybe you do have to remove the boards--though I think I'd try drillling them and using the "x-out" or whatever they call the shapened carbide screw-removing tool.
I have had good luck with backing screws out with vice grips--but you have to have enough of the screw left to grab. I put on a Trex deck a couple years ago for someone and we used non-mushrooming screws (stainless steel) and they worked fine--but I found that you really had to make sure the driver was in square and you had to put your weight behind the driver or they would strip--then it was vice grip time! (I also bent a couple trying to get them in corners! But if they're bent, it's easier to spin them back out with the vice grips. Guy I work with stripped or bent about every third screw, I managed to only ruin three or four altogether.)
If all else fails use GRK screws. They won't break or strip. They will drive all the way to China if you have a slow trigger finger, though.
What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact opposite. --Bertrand Russell
You see, this is why you should check back. You don't have to get the old screw out, just drive the new screw at a slight angle. Even my pickiest customer would never notice the slightly angled head. Predrilling, also at a slight angle, will assure the old screw doesn't interfere. You don't have to remove the whole board.
BTW, the garbage screws I used also claimed they won't mushroom the composite. Maybe not as much as regular outdoor screws, but they still did. I used a clean hammer to knock the mushroom back in and the screw head all but dissappeared. Just have to hold the hammer flat so it doesn't ding the surface. --------------------------------------------------------
Cheap Tools at MyToolbox.netSee some of my work at AWorkOfWood.com
you still with us????
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!