What decking screws to use?

[Hiddendecking]

I saw some posts yesterday about decking screws.

The recommendation was "Buildex 10-8 x 65mm Climacoat treated pine and hardwood decking screws.

Questions

1. what does 10-8 mean

2. are these readily available

Cheers,

Glen

[JacobZ · Accepted solution]

Hi @Hiddendecking,

Thank you for your question and welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community, it is fantastic to have you with us.

The 10 refers to the gauge (diameter) of the screw. In this case, 10 gauge is about 4.8mm in diameter. The 8 refers to the thread count or thread pitch, it is also often referred to as TPI (threads per inch).

Similar decking screws are readily available, however the exact screw mentioned in that post may have been discontinued. This usually happens when brands are looking to change their packaging or a slight change in the design of the screw is made. These Buildex RapidDrive Treated Pine Screws 10g x 65 mm (10 TPI) Climacoat are good to use and are more or less the same thing with a slight change in the thread pitch.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Jacob

[Hiddendecking]

Thanks Jacob,

Do I have to drill for every screw or just on the ends of the board?

Glen

[JacobZ]

Hi Glen (@Hiddendecking),

The screws I've linked to are what they refer to as a Type 17 screw. You can see that they have a groove in the shaft just above the point of the screw. This groove acts in a similar fashion to a drill bit and causes the screw to cut into the timber, meaning you don't need to predrill holes for the majority of your screws. 

I'm sure you're aware that the ends of the boards are where they are most likely to split along the grain lines, so I'd suggest predrilling these holes as a precaution.

Let me know if you have any further questions,

Jacob

[Hiddendecking]

Sorry should have asked. Do these screws require counter sinking or just at the ends to prevent splitting?

Glenb

[JacobZ]

Hi @Hiddendecking,

There is also no need for countersinking as they have what they describe as "Serrated Cutting Ribs for self-countersinking and a clean flush finish"

They can be seen underneath the head where I have circled below.

These heads will cut into and clear out the material directly under the head allowing the screw to embed down into the timber.

I'd suggest giving it a try with some scrap timber to see how happy you are before fully committing to this method for the whole project. I haven't used this exact screw, but I have used a number of Buildex decking screws without predrilling and was pleasantly surprised with how clean the finish was.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Jacob

[Jason]

Hi @Hiddendecking,

Let me also extend a very warm welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. We're looking forward to seeing your deck project come to life.

Just wanted to add to Jacob's replies that the Bunnings extensive How to build a deck series contains loads of helpful advice for your project. 

Jason