Vent: folks keep using drywall screws for deck boards and it drives me nuts

I was out on a job site last week in Phoenix and saw a guy screwing down 2x6s with drywall screws. Those things are hardened but brittle, you know, they snap right off under the load from wood movement. I tried explaining that deck screws have better shear strength and coating for outdoor use. Has anyone else run into this mistake on a project?

3 comments

3 Comments

robinson.jake13d ago

Man you're not wrong and it drives me crazy too. Drywall screws are just not built for that kind of lateral force and they'll snap clean in half when the wood starts moving with the heat. I've pulled so many of those out of decks that were barely a year old and the screws were all rusted and broken. People think a screw is a screw and don't realize the coating on deck screws actually matters for weather exposure. It's one of those shortcuts that ends up costing way more time and money to fix later.

gonzalez.grant13d ago

That right there about the coating is something most people don't even think about until they're pulling out a handful of rusted screws with the heads snapped off. I helped my buddy redo his entire front steps last summer because the previous owner used drywall screws and half of them had just rotted away from the dew and morning moisture. Deck screws have that thick weather-resistant coating for a reason, it's not just a sales gimmick. You end up doing double the work when you have to drill out broken screws and patch the holes before you can even start the real job. Have you seen any of those new ceramic coated ones holding up better than the standard galvanized stuff?

oliver_fisher13d ago

Honestly, "rotted away from the dew" that's wild, I never even thought about morning moisture doing that.