Product Description
Hints and Tips
Joist Spacing
It is good practice to have a maximum joist spacing of 450mm, otherwise the deck will be too springy, and screw
breakage will occur
Torque load and screw breakage
Installing decking especially onto hardwood joists places very high torque loads on the screw during installation.
Screws with a Square or Torx drive can withstand higher torque loads than Phillips. We recommend that all
hardwood joists should have a pilot hole drilled to help ease the torque load on the screw which will help prevent
screw breakage during installation. For best results we recommend the use of a smart bit™ for pre drilling and
countersinking.
Hardwood, Treated Pine and Corrosion
Stainless screws are better for hardwoods (due to the corrosive nature of tannin in some hardwoods) and their
use reduces the instances off staining.
When using Treated Pine you should NOT use an electroplated fastener (standard chipboard screws etc) due
to the early break down of the plating.
Please Note: The use of stainless screws will not guarantee that stains will never occur, as the name stainless
implies they will just occur a lot less than when using an inferior screw.
Pre Countersinking and pre drilling decking timbers
We recommend that all decking timbers are pre drilled and pre countersunk, so that the screws will have a nice
flush finish. Otherwise you may get a rough finish around the head of the screw which will require sanding.
By pre drilling a clearance hole in the decking timber it will give the screw room to move and lessen the chance
of screw breakage, not only at time of installation but later on when the timber shrinks and moves.
We recommend the use of the smart bit™ for pre drilling and countersinking.
