A low-cost alternative to hidden deck fasteners
After reading your story on deck fasteners and fastening
systems (FHB #178, pp. 78-82), I had to chuckle. When I built my own
deck, I wanted to conceal the fasteners for aesthetic reasons as well as
for function (not catching something on a protruding fastener) and
durability (not creating an entry point for moisture to penetrate the
decking).
I looked at all the edgemount and bottom-mount systems,
and was turned off by their tediousness and taken aback by their price.
Instead of investing in one of these proprietary systems, I used GRK R4
Multi Purpose Screws (www.grkfasteners.com)
to affix each deck board to its joist from below. As shown in the
drawing, I used two 8x2-1/2-in. screws per board at each joist. Working
from below, I started the screws about 11/2 in. from the top edge of the
joist and angled them at about 30°. That put about 3/4 in. of each
screw into the 5/4 deck boards. The sharp “zip-tip” points of the screws
eliminated the need to drill pilot holes.
It has been a couple of
years since I installed the decking, and it looks great. The decking is
solid as a rock without a single squeak, and I saved about $1,500 on
mounting gizmos.
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I found this is an informative and interesting post so i think so it is very useful and knowledgeable.
ReplyDeleteI've already use this type of joists and screw it's great, but I don't know if it works in case of heavy weight on it. Once I use this method for a shelf of a library and just few years later it breaks, maybe I'v made a mistake by fixing it also with an old screw.
ReplyDeleteWe did the same thing with wooden 2X2s attached to the joists and then screwed from underneath into the floorboards.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.deckconstructionpa.com/photo-gallery