TIL the hard way that cheap trim screws will snap on you

I was doing a baseboard job last Tuesday in a 3 bedroom house near Austin. Using some no-name screws from a bulk bin at the hardware store. Snapped three of them in an hour with my impact driver. One left a head stuck proud of the wood, another broke flush. Had to dig that one out with a pick. Switched to Spax brand after lunch and finished the rest without a single issue. Cost me an extra 10 bucks but saved my afternoon. Anyone else had cheap hardware ruin a good day?

2 comments

2 Comments

kelly9681mo ago

Bought a box of 200 generic drywall screws from a surplus store last fall. Snapped eight of them putting up shelving in my garage, had to drill out three and rehang the whole thing. Never again, I only buy GRK or Spax now for anything structural.

julia_jones721mo ago

Yeah, the "stuck proud" ones are the worst because you can't just drive them deeper. I had that happen with a batch of no-name drywall screws from a dollar store bargain bin, tried to finish a closet shelving job and snapped four in ten minutes. One left a head sticking up just like yours, had to cut a notch in my pry bar to get under it. I switched to GRK cabinet screws for the rest, the coarse thread ones, and they dug in fine without a single break. Cheap metal just can't handle the torque from an impact driver, especially when you're going into pine or oak.