Which screws for drywall studwork

Hi,

This weekend I'm starting a bit of drywalling for the new tank and airing cupboard. Got a load of 100x50mm PAR ready and a plan on Sketchup...

I've already got a load of GoldscrewPlus screws, but having tested some, I wonder if there's a preferred screw for knocking studwork together.

The GoldscrewPlus have good grip and self-starting ability, but fail to pull the timber together well.

OK, drilling a pilot is one option, but I just wondered what pro's would use?

If I had to pick one, these look promising:

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Tim

Reply to
Tim S
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I think pro's would use nails, as they go in better with a hammer than screws do ;-)

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

yup, much quicker

NT

Reply to
meow2222

No idea what pro's use, but the options are:

- drill a pilot hole

- clamp the pieces together

- don't worry about it (does it actually matter if the pieces aren't clamped together?)

- Depending on the screw size and the wood involved, if you just keep screwing the screw may eventually cut a clearance hole. (The alternative is that the screw head just sinks through the top piece).

Reply to
Martin Bonner

snipped-for-privacy@care2.com coughed up some electrons that declared:

Nails seem to be holding the roof of my house up with surprising ability, given few of the wood joints have any "joint" designed into them (ie random butts taking strong lateral loads).

My "cupboard" is here, if you have Sketchup handy:

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the apparent way the joints butt - these aren't drawn accurately - and it's not quite complete, but has the basic shape)

If you don't, then it's more than a single drywall - it has odd shapes and I think that banging nails in would make it difficult to keep bits together. I reckon screws will make it easier to keep things aligned.

Cheers

Tim

Reply to
Tim S

Martin Bonner coughed up some electrons that declared:

Hi Martin,

My default option and probably the best bet. I was quietl waiting for a chorus of "you want these" but that looks like it's not going to happen ;->

Extra strength? One part will form a load bearing "shelf" (it's a stepped design as it's going into the inset where some stairs do a 90 degree bend).

Also, there'll be cross members over the tank carrying pipes and pumps so I want these rigid.

I found that the head sunk but nothing moved...

Cheers

Tim

Reply to
Tim S

I'm wondering if you have faulty technique?

If you don't drill a pilot hole through the first piece of wood, the second piece will never pull in at all (not with any type of fully-threaded screw).

When you screw two pieces of wood together with no pilot hole, you screw through the first piece, then when you bear on the second piece it (the second piece) "moves away" before the screw begins to cut. This gives a permanent gap between the two pieces.

The trick is to screw through the first piece, then screw partially into the second piece, then unscrew from the second piece, then screw back in. The second time, the gap between the two pieces is eliminated.

Just a thought. Sorry if this is Granddmother/egg/suck territory.

Reply to
Dave Osborne

Dave Osborne coughed up some electrons that declared:

Not at all - it's an interesting idea.

I've been playing with some of these "new fangled" screws and I haven't got the hang of them yet ;->

Cheers

Tim

Reply to
Tim S

Depends on the timber rather than the screws. Structural timber (studding) is a lot softer than PAR redwood. Nails are faster but IME the joints have a habit of going slightly out of alignment with the last hammer blow

Reply to
Stuart Noble

If the screw has cut itself a thread in first piece and you start with a gap then no amount of tightening will close the gap - it may be more likely to strip out the thread in the second piece than the first. A clearance hole (at least as big as the outside diameter of the thread) will absolutely assure a good clamping effect

Reply to
John

Stuart Noble coughed up some electrons that declared:

Ah. My "studding" is PAR, because I ordered lots of random sizes and I didn't want to end up with mixed types - this lot will do for anything non pretty.

And excessive Anglo Saxon when thumb replaces nail...

Reply to
Tim S

John coughed up some electrons that declared:

OK - so the traditional way then. I'm happy with this. Only asked because I've seen builders whacking in screws without pilot holes so I though it was a "feature".

Cheers

Tim

Reply to
Tim S

Two ways round this problem...

The one that Dave mentioned earlier in the thread...

alternatively...

In certain 'joints' you can use one of those trigger-operated clamps (sort of like the love-child of a g-ramp and a mastic gun) to hold the two pieces of wood in exactly the right place, before whacking the screw in tight (no pilot holes required).

Hope this helps Adrian

Reply to
adrian

Doesn't drilling a hole that large mean that all the stress is then on the head of the screw, rather than (with a smaller hole, or no hole at all) being distributed along the length via the screw thread? For softer wood in particular, won't that result in a joint that's prone to flexing if the wood ever has the chance to wear against the screw head?

If I'm using relatively soft wood, I've always found the "tighten, back off a bit, re-tighten" method that someone else mentioned further back to work well - for harder wood I'd go the pilot hole route.

cheers

Jules

Reply to
Jules

Fairy nuff. I tend to use drywall screws wherever they'll do, as they're on the thin side, making them go in easier, quicker, with less battery power, and less chance of jamming or splitting timber. They're also very cheap by the 1000.

Not convinced there's any point springing for goldscrews - or anything other than the cheapest pozi/philips screws - in this case. Its a long way from being a critical app.

NT

Reply to
meow2222

In article , Tim S writes

disappointed.

Not long done 300 screws worth of studding using these and they are the biz, very easy drive, pull together perfectly, just a joy to use.

I ran out towards the end and had to use 50 or so turbogolds, and they were such a complete PITA, they want to drill a hole through the studwork rather than just ease their way through, so are more tiring to drive and use more battery power, and of course, they wont pull in on studs unless you chimp them up. It made me look at my choice of screws more closely and I think I'll be using a lot more of the svelt kind and fewer of the brute force kind.

The ones you spotted are fine for decking but the Screw-Tite regulars have a longer unthreaded portion so suit studding better.

HTH

Reply to
fred

fred coughed up some electrons that declared:

Ka-ching - that's what I thought might exist!

Wonder why I didn;t see them first time round - thanks fred, one pack on next order...

Reply to
Tim S

In message , fred writes

Is it my imagination or is the thread backwards on that illustration:-)

regards

Reply to
Tim Lamb

Ha - beautiful! Looks like someone flipped the image - bored web developer, or done for aesthetically pleasing reasons?

Reply to
Jules

In article , Tim S writes

Only one box, you'll wish you ordered more ;-)

They're only 100s BTW so fewer per box than the other example.

I use the paper catalogue to browse, I find it's too easy to miss good stuff on the website.

Reply to
fred

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