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kwerk_gw

50% of deck screws snapped

kwerk
11 years ago

I laid down 5/4x6 yellwood treated boards last year. This year I noticed quite a few screws have popped up out of the wood, and the joints at the end of boards especially have become loose. When I try to tighten the screws they spin freely. When I unscrew the screw I see that it has snapped where the threads start, so the threaded portion is stuck in the joist. I estimate about half of the screws on the deck are snapped like this.

I dried out the boards indoors for 6 months while I did the framing, and they were very dry when I installed them. I think I used an 1/8" spacing between them.

The deck is south facing and gets a lot of sun and I didn't get around to staining it yet. When it rains for a while, the boards expand a lot to the point the gaps disappear. When it is extremely dry the gaps are quite big 3/8" maybe. I guess that sheared the screws off from the movement.

What can I do about this? Obviously stain the deck to minimize the movement. But I cant screw new screws in to the holes because the snapped screw is still in the joist.

The screws I used are supposed to be top-rated with good reviews on this board.

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