Building new wall.

[desgnr]

Before i screw the studs together should i drill a pilot hole for the 3" screws & if so how deep do i make the pilot hole ?

[Ed Pawlowski]

You use nails, not screws.

[hallerb]

screwed together walls are stronger, and better yet is construction adhesive with screws.

[George]

Assuming the very likely idea that drywall screws are being used nails are stronger and more desirable for framing.

[trader4]

Even if screws were to make a wall stronger, I doubt it's by much. Otherwise, it would be common practice for load bearing walls. The main purpose of whatever fastener would seem to be to keep the studs from moving out of place, eg a vertical stud is carrying the real load.

In any case, for the typical wall nails are cheaper, easier and a lot faster, especially with a nail gun.

[gfretwell]

Use a pilot hole for the first screw in the joint, all ther way through the first member so the threads only bite the second member. Then it will hold together tight when you run subsequent screws that will not need any pre drilling.

[George]

Screws aren't stronger. Somehow it is easy to get the warm and fuzzies and think they are better than nails. The specific reason you don't use them is that they are brittle and they will fail significantly faster than nails in shear.

That too and make a better job.

[aemeijers]

Depends how hard the wood is, and how experienced you are shooting screws. On the fifty-year-old (since made into lumber) doug fir (I think) in this place, I would definitely do pilots, since they can bend a 16d nail in a circle. I usually go a little way into the second piece of wood to assist in lining the holes up, and to avoid the problem of the screw snugging up in the first piece before the gap is drawn up tight. Standard warning about NOT using drywall screws for this, applies. Too Brittle. Don't make the pilot too big, or you will lose most of the holding power. It should be a tight fit on the shaft diameter between the screw treads. Putting beeswax or even candle-stub wax on the screw makes it go in a lot easier. I used to use soap, but sometimes had stains come through later, if screw is through a finish surface.

Why are you using screws instead of nails, anyway? I usually only do that where an old wall is part of the assembly, to avoid nail pops in finish wall of next room. Nail new wall together on the ground, tilt it up, and pin to the old structure with screws. Nothing wrong with screws, and they are reversible if you make a boo-boo. They just take longer. In a DIY where you are working by yourself and double-checking every measurement anyway, that probably does not matter.

[krw]

Actually, you use a "clearance hole" in the first member and a pilot hole in the second. Not doing this for the rest of the screws assumes perfectly true lumber; a bad assumption.

[DD_BobK]

A good answer depends on what kind of wall you;re building, where it is & what materials you are using.

But typically walls are banged together with nails & (horrors) a hammer. Unless you're setting a whole bunch of studs I doubt its worth dragged out the compressor and nail gun. I have an NR83A but unless the project involves new timber (MC ~18%) or nailing off plywood it doesn't get used.

But nails guns are cool in that they make setting single studs a simple process. Hold it in place & shoot it.

As another poster mentioned, if this is a DIY you'll be doing so much checking, measuring fitting, the time wasted drilling and screwing wont really make all that much difference in the job.

What screws are you using? Not drywall screws I hope.

I would recommend #10 screws a "clearance hole" of 3/16" through the "fastened" item

a 3/32" "pilot hole" in the "receiving" member (if you're using that is timber is old & hard..... like 80 year old DF, 7/64 or 1/8)

Over drilling the pilot too deep with have little negative effect, so dont sweat it. The idea of a pilot is to prevent splitting. A screw in split wood has greatly reduced strength.

I posted the dissertation on screws because that what the OP's original question, if he's going to use them at least he can do it correctly.

My suggestion is nails. If the timber is old might need to predrill. If its HDepot barely dry framing lumber, get out the hammer

I suggest max nail dia of .148. Yes, hand nailed framing is supposed to be done with 16 commons (.162) but they kinda big and depending on the condition of the timber can generate a lot of splitting.

Nail gun framing is done with 16d sinkers? (.131?) and seems to work just fine. Again larger nails that split the wood create connections that are weaker than smaller nails that do not.

If you timber is semi-green, 16d commons & a hammer will work fine.

except in special situations, forget the screws

cheers Bob

[Joe]