Dad told me to use deck screws for framing...

My dad swore by using deck screws for framing a shed because they're cheaper. Took me 8 hours of busted heads and stripped screws before I caved and bought proper structural screws. First joist hanger went in smooth - has anyone else had to unlearn bad advice from family?

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3 Comments

robinson.hannah4mo ago

Hang on, are we sure your dad was wrong though? Deck screws are way easier to find at any hardware store and they cost less than half of what structural screws do. If you're just building a small shed for garden tools it's not like it's holding up a house. I've built three sheds over the years with regular deck screws and none of them have collapsed yet. The trick is to pre-drill your holes and use an impact driver instead of a regular drill to avoid stripping the heads. Maybe your dad's advice was fine and it's your technique that needs work instead of blaming him.

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sarah_hart4mo ago

Wait, didn't Popular Mechanics just do a test showing deck screws snap way faster under shear load than structural screws? @robinson.hannah I get that your sheds held up fine but that's not exactly a controlled experiment.

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rubys804mo ago

20 years ago deck screws had way less holding power than what they sell today at places like Home Depot. The steel grade and coating has improved a ton since then. If all your sheds were built recently with good quality screws, your dad's old advice might just be outdated.

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