A Guide to Choosing the Best Deck Screws

A deck is a gathering place for families and friends. From the suburbs to the cities to the urban areas, decks are everywhere. To the average family, a deck plays a major role in outdoor activities. Neighbors, kinfolk, friends, co-workers, classmates, and more are invited over to enjoy your deck. Before this can happen, the deck needs to be designed and built. You'll need the best deck screws for this.

Decks Require Screws That Are Resistant to the Weather

Decks are exposed to at least seven hours of sunlight. When people think of sunlight, outdoor activities like sunbathing and grilling out instantly come to mind.

What rarely comes up is ultraviolet radiation, “UV rays” generated by the sun. Sunlight is wonderful, but it is also dangerous for living creatures and inanimate objects like a deck.

Long-time exposure to UV rays results in damage that becomes more severe over time. In addition to UV rays, rain, humidity, snow, sleet, wind, dust, and cold and hot temperatures cause deck damage. To ensure longevity, a weather-resistant screw is vital.

Consider the Material of Your Deck

The first thing you'll need to consider when choosing deck screws is the material of your deck.

If you have a wooden deck, you'll want to make sure you choose screws that are made from corrosion-resistant materials like stainless steel or zinc-plated steel. However, if you have a composite deck, you can use screws made from any material.

The Best Deck Screws Have a Self-Drilling Thread Design

A screw is a screw that is true to some degree but not completely. The thread design plays an important role in the functionality of a screw. It determines how the screw penetrates the wood. It also determines how well the screw works in reverse, which is oftentimes overlooked.

One thread design that should automatically be ruled out is the machine tread. The design has a flat tip with threads close together. A flat screw tip will not penetrate wood without predrilling a hole.

In addition, the metal sheet threat is also not suitable for building a deck.

The best screw for decking boards has a self-drilling thread design for driving into wooden boards. The end has an extremely sharp point, which makes it easy to penetrate wood without too much impact from your power tool handle!

Additionally, this type doesn't require pre-drilling – just stick them straight through, and you're good.

Choose the Right Size Screws For Your Decking Project

Most deck blueprints utilize 2x6s for the floor joists. The two-inch thickness adds stability when walking across the platform. Utilizing 2x6s instead of 2x4s only makes sense because it means fewer planks and fewer cuts.

The length of the screws depends on the thickness of the wood. You'll want to make sure you choose a screw that is long enough to penetrate through the thickness of your decking material and into the joist below. However, you don't want to choose a screw that is too long, as this could cause the head of the screw to protrude through the surface of your deck.

Consider the Head Type of the Screw

When choosing deck screws, you'll also need to consider the head type of the screw.

The most common types of heads are Phillips heads and square heads. Phillip's heads are easier to drive into wood, but square heads provide more holding power.

Final Thoughts

Screws for decks can be purchased individually, in small quantities, and bulk. To minimize the overall cost of supplies, buy as many at once since it can take hundreds or thousands of screws to complete a deck, depending on the design.

What have you found to be the best deck screws?