Decking Screw Replacement - Trying To Work Smarter, Not Harder.

Terminal_Boy

Terminal_Boy

Terminal_Boy

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I have a decked area where the decking and the batons underneath are in reasonable shape, but many of the decking boards are loose as the tiny screws the installer used have snapped under load or pulled out.

As I can’t re-use the original holes, I’m currently changing bits in my cordless drill/screwdriver 3 times for each new screw I fit.

1. Pilot drill to stop batons splitting
2. Clearance drill for decking plank
3. Screwdriver bit to install new screw.

There must be a smarter way or tool I can use to do this that doesn’t involve my buying another 2 cordless drills.
 
Buy an impact driver they are brilliant, but if you don’t want to be switching drill bits you need another drill.
 
Can't you fix two screws at one end so the plank doesn't move, then do all the pilot holes, change bits to do the clearance, then change bits again to do the screws?

Impact drivers were invented for this kind of thing, and with the right screws you can probably get away without pilot holes or even countersinks depending on how you want it to look at the end.
 
Get some decent screws would be my suggestion, ulti-mate 2 screws , come with a custom head and adapter.

Managed to do my deck without having to do any pilot holes.
 
https://www.screwfix.com/p/spax-wir...cking-screws-silver-4-5-x-60mm-250-pack/8667t
or
https://www.toolstation.com/single-thread-deck-outdoor-pozi-screw/p14097

Check the haft of the screw is greater than the depth of your deck boards... or use the dearer screwfix ones.. this will pull the deck boards tight against the cross members. You shouldn't need to drill pilots, unless its a hardwood deck. Slap on some decking oil once you've re-fixed em in... Job's Jobbed.

Wish I'd used these when building my deck as when the wood has dryed out and the boards have shrunk, i now have squeeky boards.. With these a quick tighten these screws would sort the issue, mine are threaded all the way up, so need releasing and then re-screwing.
 
meth said:
https://www.screwfix.com/p/spax-wir...cking-screws-silver-4-5-x-60mm-250-pack/8667t
or
https://www.toolstation.com/single-thread-deck-outdoor-pozi-screw/p14097

Check the haft of the screw is greater than the depth of your deck boards... or use the dearer screwfix ones.. this will pull the deck boards tight against the cross members. You shouldn't need to drill pilots, unless its a hardwood deck. Slap on some decking oil once you've re-fixed em in... Job's Jobbed.

Wish I'd used these when building my deck as when the wood has dryed out and the boards have shrunk, i now have squeeky boards.. With these a quick tighten these screws would sort the issue, mine are threaded all the way up, so need releasing and then re-screwing.
Click to expand...

I knew there’d be a very simple solution! Thanks!
 
You definitely need multiple tools for this kind of job.

If you already have the batteries you can use the bare tools which are usually fairly cheap.
 
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I have a cordless drill and an impact driver so never have much need to frequently change bits

If I did though i’d Buy another drill or two , something very cheap , or borrow one off somebody , the time saved is worth the money spent imo

Another way would be to go round and drill all your holes in sequence, ie, all the small holes, then change bits and drill the next size holes then go round and screw them all
 
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