Chose a hammer drill over an impact driver for my last deck project. Should have done it years ago.

Been using an impact driver for deck screws for like a decade. Last week I had to replace 3 joists on a 20 year old deck in Frederick. Those old pressure treated boards were like concrete. Impact driver just kept caming out and stripping. Swapped to my buddy's hammer drill with a hex adapter and it sank everything smooth. Only cost me $60 for the adapter kit. Anyone else make the same switch and never look back?

3 comments

3 Comments

walker.julia1d agoMost Upvoted

You mentioned the hammer drill with a hex adapter, and that's exactly what I've been doing too. I got one of those adapter kits last spring after fighting with an impact driver on some old railroad tie steps. The hammer drill just powers through without stripping, it's like night and day. I actually leave my impact driver in the truck now unless I'm just doing light work inside.

theajohnson1d ago

@walker.julia you're making me feel bad for still hauling my impact driver around like a security blanket lol. Hammer drill with a hex adapter is honestly the move though, I did the same thing after wrecking a deck screw project last summer. That impact driver was just bouncing around on everything and making me mad. So now I rock the drill for anything that actually requires effort and let the impact sit in the truck like a backup quarterback. Nice to know I'm not the only one who finally figured this out.

scott.olivia1d ago

Did you see that article in Fine Homebuilding where they tested impact drivers versus hammer drills on dense lumber? They basically said the same thing you all are finding.