"impact" battery driver questions/loft floorboarding

[Duncan Di Saudelli]

Hello

Here's another couple of questions prior to us startig the job over this Easter:

My mate has a 12V Makita impact driver - it looks like a small battery drill but is intended for use as a screwdriver. He reckons the impact action makes screws go in faster and easier and he swears by his.

I am considering buying one (£60-70?) - it will be used for DIY not as a tool of my trade - but when I do the loft floorboarding next weekend, I am afraid that the "impact" function will crack all of the plaster on the ceilings of the bedrooms below etc.

1) How "impacting" is the impact action on these sorts of tools? Would I be better off using my Yankee pump-action screwdriver instead?

Last time I did loft boarding I used the 18mm B&Q stuff and found that, with chipboard screews, I didn't even need to pre-drill pilot holes; the Yankee drove them in fine. I'm hoping to experience the same approach with the

22mm higher-density flooring grade boards that I am having delivered.

2) So does anyone know if chipboard screws will self-drill into this heavier duty chipboard T&G flooring? The heavier-duty stuff is known as "MR Flooring Grade P5 V313 22mm Chipboard" and comes in boards measuring

2400x600mm (TG5).

Thanks for any thoughts on these matters.

[The Medway Handyman]

I swear by the three I have :-) Wonderful things! You won't believe how fast they can put a screw in. Example; 6mm x 90mm turbogold, no pilot hole - 4 seconds.

The start at around £100 for a 12v jobby. Borrow your mates? Beer tokens?

The 'impact' is round & round, not in & out. It won't damage the ceilings at all.

An impact driver will put a screw in so fast you haven't got time to pick up the next one.

I swear by Screwfix 'Turbogold'. Wouldn't use anything else.

More info here coutesy of Mr Rumm

[Duncan Di Saudelli]

rotational - it makes sense now.

I've just gone for the Screwfix 80 quid Makita offer

or if that got mangled - which I appreciate isn't an impact driver but should do the job pretty fast anyway. I'll see how I get on with it and borrow my friend's impact driver if necessary but I'm hoping this will be up to the job.

It'll be the first professional battery drill I've had - the other one being a 15 quid job from Woolworth's which did OK for about 18 months actually!

[george [dicegeorge]]

The impact screwdriver is great, there were screws i couldnt get into oak beams, it slowly puts them in, makes a noise like a mini going up hill, changes down several gears then slowly drives them in.

[g]

[Duncan Di Saudelli]

It does sound as though I am going to need one before too long! I do like the idea of them turning in slowly with a rotating "hammer action".

[Rod]

What initially surprised me about them was how well they remove screws. Absolutely brilliant.

(I've got the baby Makita TD020DSE which appears to be heading for the stratosphere in terms of price.)

[John Rumm]

Indeed it does.

The full SP here:

I am considering buying one (£60-70?) - it will be used for DIY not as a There are not many impact drivers available in the lower end DIY tool categories as yet. The Ryobi is perhaps one of the cheaper ones. If you already have a decent cordless, then consider getting an impact driver of the same brand and batter fitting "body only" to save on cost. My 18V Makita cost under £80 that way.

No fear of damage - the impact is in the same form as the impact wrenches that the car tyre dealers use for wheel nuts - i.e. makes a bit of noise, but does not send high levels of vibration through the structure.

Not really.

Yup, especially if you use something like turbogold which are self drilling and can safely go quite close to an edge.

With power driving, yup, and with an impact driver doubly so!

Yup, did a whole loft conversion with that and 2" 10 gauge twinthread screws (SF Quicksilver). Was sticking those in with a 18V combi with no difficulty.

[John Rumm]

The only annoyance on these I have noticed, is they are now significantly more expensive than the silver twinthreads. For a non critical app life flooring I would probably go with the cheaper screws (use 10 guage and not 8, otherwise they don't get enough grip IME)

[The Medway Handyman]

Comparing say 4mm x 40mm the difference is a huge percentage - 180% - but a small amount of money - £2.69.

Even at £20 an hour, you would only have to save 7.5 mins on the job to pay the extra. I'd rather pay a bit more for the convenience.