![]() ![]() ![]() Of course, that only works when screwing near the deck’s edge where you can overhang the decking. Locking arms, so to speak, you can drive the screw without splitting the board.Ī 1 ½” (38mm) is a nice overhang without becoming cumbersome or weak for walking on. If you give the decking enough material after the screw to hold together. But if they locked arms or even held up higher closer to the elbow, they were next to impossible to breakthrough. You would always look for those kids who were barely holding hands to smash through. Then one team would call some over from the other side, who would run, trying to break through the line. You line up in two-line, locking hands together. When I was a kid, I use to play called Red Rover. The extra material is holding the board together, preventing splitting. By overhanging the deck board, you provide more material around the screw. So, regardless of deck splitting, it’s a great idea.īut in regard to limiting splitting and predrilling, overhanging is a great idea. It creates a nice clean finish to the deck and minimizes water damage to the decks’ substructure. It is a good idea to overhang decking boards simple for appearance sake. Ways to Install Decking Without Having to Pre-drill. There are a few tricks to minimize predrilling. As the screw bites into the overlying dried wood, it will split.īut this doesn’t mean that you have to predrill deck boards. Within a few hours, it’s all dried out and crumbles as you bite it. Just like that soft loaf of bread left out on the counter. It may be convenient, but decking sitting in a large warehouse unstrapped. This is yet another reason to buy your decking from a supplier that stores their decking outside under tarps. I am not talking dripping water but simply closer to the 19% drying that it came from the mill with. Allowing the screw to penetrate the wood without tearing apart the fibres and splitting the deck board. “Wet wood,” decking directly from the supplier’s yard, freshly un-tarped, will have more elasticity. Just another reason not to leave the decking layout in the sun for weeks on end before finishing your deck. Your screw will burn out trying to drill through the Ipe decking.Īnother exception of needing to predrill pressure-treated decking is if the wood is to dry. But this is largely because of how hard Ipe is. Ipe is one of those popular hardwood deckings that will need to be predrilled on the ends and the field. If you are not using softwood like spruce or pine, the typical wood of pressure-treated decking may need to predrill every screw. There is enough material to counter the pressure of the screw to keep the decking together without predrilling. While still holding the decking in place.įor screws in the field, at least one joist space away from the deck board’s end. That screw pushes against the decking, splitting open the board.īy predrilling at the end of the deck board, material is removed, reducing the pressure by creating room for the screw shank. As the screw is acting like a wedge, driving between the wood fibres. Predrilling is required near the end of deck boards to make room for the screw. Deck screws installed in the field, not close to the board’s end or edge, need not be predrilled. Good news, wood deck boards only need to be predrilled if screwing within a 1 ½” (38mm) of the deck board’s end. Do you need to predrill every deck board for every single screw? That will take hours, if not days, to predrill every deck board. If you predrill the deck boards, then they won’t crack. Now your entire deck boards needs to be pulled off and replaced or shortened because the end of the deck board has split. You drive a screw into the deck board just to see the end of the board split open. ![]()
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