Old timer at the lumber yard told me to pre-drill deck screws closer to the edge

He said 3/4 inch instead of the usual inch and sure enough after a full season none of those boards split or cupped on that big wrap-around deck I did in June, has anyone else tested edge distances on pressure treated like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

lee6894d ago

Yeah but let me push back a little here. I've been framing and doing decks for like 15 years now and that 3/4 inch rule is gonna cause you problems on anything bigger than a 2x4 board. Over a full season with temp changes that wood is gonna move and 3/4 inch is just too close to the edge for proper holding power in my experience. Have seen plenty of decks where the screws started pulling through or the boards shifted because there wasn't enough meat left around the fastener. If you're getting splitting at a full inch you might need to look at your predrill bit size or your screw type instead of just moving it closer, lol.

brookeellis3d ago

Wait, hold on. Lee said 3/4 inch is too close on anything bigger than a 2x4? I built a small shed last fall and used 3/4 on the 2x6 floor joists and they haven't budged a millimeter through a whole winter of freeze-thaw. Now you're telling me that was supposed to fail?

harperp244d agoMost Upvoted

Wait, so you're saying 3/4 inch actually worked better? I used to always pull out the tape measure and go a full inch because that's what my grandpa taught me, but after seeing this I tried it on my last project and man, not a single split. I was wrong about that for sure.