Nail or Screw Chipboard Loft floorboards ???

[luke58]

Do I nail or screw ??

[The Medway Handyman]

Screw because (a) it won't bounce and (b) if nailed the T&G has to be broken to remove any of it. Screws can be undone so the panels will slide out.

[meow2222]

Upto you. The ceiling underneath has more risk of break up if nailed, though theyre usually fine. Nails are quicker.

NT

[tony sayer]

In article , [e-mail] writes

Not with a power driver for the screws they aren't!...

bin there screwed that etc;)............

[Martin Pentreath]

I agree with the screwers. Another hint: if you might ever want to get at the cables and light fittings underneath it's a good idea to mark on the boards where they are.

Once it's all nicely boarded out try to avoid the temptation to put too much stuff up there. I was told that the matchstick joists in my victorian house are just about strong enough to hold the ceiling which is attached to them and not much else. I've ignored that advice, but I do try to put anything heavy over a supporting wall and put lighter things like empty suitcases elsewhere (and I don't have any cracks in the ceilings below yet, so I assume I'm not overdoing it). I've also increased the storage capacity by fixing some shelves to the end walls (which obviously put no load on the joists).

[meow2222]

To be fair if you bring power tools into it - and I would - then you'd compare electric screwdriver with nailer, and nails are much quicker, either way.

NT

[meow2222]

I've heard that one over and over, and in most cases, but not all, it isnt true.

NT

[Simon Stroud]

I would certainly use screws in this application.

However it's not quite true that T&G "has to be broken" to lift any of it after nailing. I had to deal with a load of "annular ring shank" nails holding down the big T&G chipboard boards in my house a while ago, and after much frustration got one of these:

randomly chosen site but the first Google result for "Priory Nail Puller"). It's on my shortlist of "best tools I ever bought". Makes removing even the tightest nails a pleasure! Having said that, in a loft there may be low headroom near the "edges" and this tool might be a bit too tall to fit.

Regards, Simon.

[Dave Fawthrop]

|!> Screw because (a) it won't bounce and (b) if nailed the T&G has to be |!> broken to remove any of it. Screws can be undone so the panels will slide |!> out. |!>

|!>

|!> -- |!> Dave |!> The Medway Handyman |!>

|!> 01634 717930 |!> 07850 597257 |! |!I would certainly use screws in this application.

I use screws, and if necessary plastic plugs in almost *every* application

I just took down a very strong construction I made in the kitchen years ago. Undo a few screws and it came out a treat.

[The Medway Handyman]

Looks like a good tool, but limited in use - wonder if you can hire them?

[The Medway Handyman]

On the subject of nailing/screwing down chipboard floors, I recently replaced parts of an 18mm chipboard floor in a bedroom.

Two central heating pipes ran the length of the room, notched into the joists. Their position was such that they could easily be damaged by screws used to fit something like a sliding wardrobe track to the floor.

I got some yellow/black pvc tape from TLC for about £3 and marked out the pipe runs with it. Seemed to me like an accident waiting to happen.

I'm surprised there aren't any regulations about marking pipe runs? Or are there?

[Stuart Noble]

Shouldn't need regs if the effing plumbers did their job properly. That said, there are always tricky bits where notching the joists is the only option. And if you were the handyman fitting that wardrobe track last thing on a Friday, you might wonder about your choice of career :-)

[tony sayer]

Shouldn't be a problem these days with the advent of speedfit and the like when you can thread the pipe through holes in the centre of joists away from harm from screws and nails, and no more of that bloody tick-tick noise as they expand and contract!..

[Weatherlawyer]

More importantly do you have to asume that you don't need to explain what the f*ck you are talking about in the message body?

Any reason for fixing the boarding that we need to know about?