Which screws?

I used bronze ring barbed nails on a double gate, the best part of 40 years ago. The gates are still standing strong. Easier than screws to put in too.

Stainless are not that pricey if you shop around.

Interesting choice, but isn't brass even more pricey than s/steel?

BZP, zinc passivated are only thin electroplated zinc. Other options are outdoor screws with various coatings, brass, ss, or oil yer screws well.

Silicon bronze, rather than brass, intended for marine use. Unlike brass nails, they won't bend when you hit them. I have no idea what s/s screws would cost, but this is an example of the nails:

My new fence is basically ready made panels that slot into the top. They are very heavy, and pretty well fixed at the edges with multiple tongues. A lot of the fixing together these days seems to be by some kind of large staple in a gun, or nails also in a gun, that look kind of dark coloured. The few places where there is a need for screws, these seem to have been treated with something, which looks suspiciously like a kind of galvanisation. No sign of rust after a couple of years. So maybe you can still get them, but they are probably not cheap. The worst part of things used outside made of wood is the rather naff state of wood these days, IE gate posts that warp and twist inside a year, even though there is treatment on it. Brian

Do you have a recommended supplier? A few months ago I was looking for roofing screws and they were coming in at roughly £60 a box. This kind of thing (allegedly a 'low price'):

(I accept the absolute price delta is not going to be as much on 1" screws as it is on 6" screws)

Theo

In message snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com, Dan Green snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.se writes

I have used

Do you really need 6 x 140 screws? I have a box of those I bought many years ago and I've only used very few of them.

Whatever, less than £1 per screw at that sort of size isn't too bad, though Spax branded ones do tend to be at the pricier end of things. Take a look round

For roofing, you may want to fix through insulation material, the deck and into joists, which means a long screw. I accept that's not a use case for a lot of people, but if you have 100mm insulation it's not an implausible length.

(although the thermally broken insulation fixings have their uses too)

Thanks, I'll take a look.

Theo

I'm not sure those are stainless? Searching for Helco Schrauben 61151 and going via Google Translate I find:

" Galvanizing with a thickness of 8 μm is generally free of chromium VI. "

Which is not to say I'm really complaining about the price of the stainless versions as such (although screws were a surprising chunk of my roofing BOM), just curious if there are better places than SF. I've added Timberfixings to my list of suppliers next time I'm in the market for particular screws.

Theo

I posted about Timberfix. For quite a long time I have been searching for a replacement for Screwfix's (no longer available) Turbo Ultra screws. The rifled shank ones from Timberfix are some of the best so far.

decking screws....much cheapness

They do go rusty after a while though.

You're probably right; I searched for stainless and they came in at £45+VAT, then I got distracted by the "see also" ones at £39+VAT

Brian, how can you say "look kind of dark" and "looks suspiciously like a kind of galvanisation" if you can't see? Or are they the opinions of others?

TURBO OUTDOOR PZ DOUBLE-COUNTERSUNK TRADE PACK 1000 PCS (3917X)

from Screwfix