Tried pocket holes on a deck railing and the screws kept stripping

I was building a railing for a customer in Portland last week and used my Kreg jig on some treated lumber. The screws stripped out halfway through on three different joints before I figured out the pilot hole was too shallow. Has anyone else had trouble with pocket screws in treated wood or do I need to switch to stainless?

2 comments

2 Comments

kelly_craig17d ago

Did you check if those screws were meant for treated lumber? The copper in the treatment can eat regular screws alive, not just strip them but corrode them too. I had a buddy who switched to coated deck screws and it fixed his stripping issues overnight, though you still gotta get that pilot depth right.

scott.jana17d ago

@kelly_craig brings up a good point about the coating, but Ive got to ask - what size pilot hole were you using? In my experience with treated lumber, that stuff is way more dense than regular pine and you might need to bump up the pilot hole size by like 1/32 or even 1/16 to get the threads to bite without forcing it. Treated wood also has that extra moisture content which can make the screw grab weird and then strip if the hole is too tight. Did you check the Kreg jig's depth collar setting too? That thing can slip if you don't tighten it all the way down, and itll mess with your pilot depth every time. Ive had that happen more than I care to admit on site in wet weather.