Replacing a timber fascia on the garage with a white L shaped plastic board.
How should it be fixed to the joist ends? My original intention was to screw it on with stainless screws, but looking around most similar boards appear to be held by white headed ?pins. Are these special nails? If so are they hammered straight in, or is a clearance hole needed?
What happens if there is ever a need to remove the board? Do they come out easily without damaging the board?
any advice much appreciated
TIA
I believe they are known as "poly pins", at least that was what the installers called the ones on my house.
They are basically nails (probably about 2") with a plastic covered head.
Try a decent builder's merchant- I've not seen them in the DIY sheds.
Brian
Something like these? ;
They're stainless steel.
The nails are ring shanked (annular) and won't come out without a fight!
mark
As Brian says, they are called poly pins....stainless steel so that no rust marks apppear in later years. They come in different sizes, and yes they are hammered straight in, but be extremely carefull because they are notoriously bendy, and are almost impossible to get out using a normal claw hammer unless you like ugly marks all over your nice new fascia. Tap them in gently and hitting them squarely (they also scuff easily), and stop when the cap just reaches the face of the plastic, otherwise it pulls it in like a button on a settee! - try to keep them in straight lines along the length of the board, IE have them all about 3 inches up (or whatever) from the bottom so that they aren't zigzagged up and down - they are on display don't forget.
No they don't come out, and I can't imagine there will ever be a need to remove the board anyway.....it's cheaper than timber should it ever need replacing.
The fascia isn't solid plastic so it doesn't split when you knock nails through it, it's a sort of rigid foam with a glossy finish.
HTH
Having done the fascia on a semi I can attest to that! If the joist ends are a bit rotten then replace or patch the ends to give something solid to hammer into.
Also B&Q sell a two head hammer (American import called Thors hammer*)which has a plastic head and softer metal head. Use the plastic head for the polypins and you won't damage the heads.
The message from "Phil L" contains these words:
Though it's not necessary in theory, a small pilot hole won't go wrong and should ensure they head in the right direction without bending.
These are the chaps you're looking for.
You can also buy stainless steel screws with white plastic caps for this purpose. I bought a bag of them when one end of a length of plastic pulled off its nails in a gale. The screws are quite long and quite a bugger to screw in to good timber when pirched on the top of a ladder, but they might be excellent if the surface of the timber is not as good as it should be and won't hold a nail.
I can't recall where I got them from now, but it was somewhere that sold them weighed out by the kg -- might have been Asphaltic roofing supplies.
BTW, these aren't like mirror screws -- the plastic caps are permanently fixed and have a cross hole in the end (which you can't see from the ground) to poke a pozidrive bit through to the stainless steel screwhead. Having only needed about 3 of a bag full, I've found them quite useful for other outdoor purposes, and you can cut the plastic cap off the head with strong wirecutters if it's not appropriate (the plastic is very tough though).
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.