DrewD

Recently I've seen a lot of carpenters screwing together framing instead of nailing them. Is this some new method that inspectors like or are some guys just going way above and beyond. I understand that screws hold much better, but its so much slower. Also I question the cost of screws vs. nails to the homeowner. What are you really gaining with screws, have these guys ever tried to pull apart studs that have been nailed together for awhile? Just wondering if anyone has encountered this before.

Mrmac204

I don't know if it meets code or not- but screws don't have anywhere near the shear strength of a nail - you can snap screws off with one hit from a hammer - they do have their place, but I'm surprised that they'd be acceptable for framing.

BuildingHomes

Mike Homes strikes again.. He doesn't use nails on his TV show and screws everything together "Screws can come out just as easy as they go in, nails don't"

Maybe this is where they got their idea from?

Edit: I know he uses them from backframing and basements.. But I think he still uses a nails for structural.

tcleve4911

GRK torx head screws have the shear strength that SR screws don't. Don't know why one would use that method unless it's a temporary structure.....

__________________
Remodeler in Maine & Vermont
Finish carpenter
Been doin' this stuff for a long time.................

Joe Fusco

SR screws are laughable for any serious framing. If you screwing some studs together in a basement, it’s just barely tolerable. It's not so much the shear strength as the malleability of steel nails that make them far superior to screws for wood to wood framing.

TempestV

I framed a house a while back that had a tripled truss that the engineering required two GRK screws every foot, plus three 16d's every four inches along the top and bottom cords

AtlanticWBConst

Ha, ha....I was thinking the same thing when I read the original post.

I don't know anyone using screws to do structural framing. I can't see how using any kind of non-rated screws would be passed for any sturctural frame.

Basement remodels and after thought partition walls maybe, in a pinch.

On quicky partitions; I still like to use the hose-less Paslode framers we have, whenever we get the chance....

(Used some trim head screws to install a section of baseboard on Thursday because our lead guy forgot to grap our paslode hose-less finish nailer....)

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- Build Well -

specwood

I was told screws won't pass code for framing because they are too brittle. This makes a lot of sense. Think about the small movements that a structure makes during climate changes and during snow loads. This back and forth action is equivalent to bending a screw back and forth till it breaks. Usually you can do this once or twice and your done.

Try that with a nail...

Joe Carola

It's a common method that Homeowners do, not Contractors. It would be a method of madness if a framer was to frame a house or addition with screws.

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Joe Carola

DrewD

I only do light framing, walkouts, dormers, interior studding and thats about it. Mostly I set log home kits, but this was something I saw on a couple of crews my friends work on for other GC's. I asked why and the site foreman told me screw's hold better. I countered by telling him that screw's do hold better in a linear direction but nails resist lateral pressure which would bend and snap a screw. He got real loud and told me I didn't know what I was talking about, that he had been building for years and I'm just a young punk who didn't know anything.
I told him that when those walls rack and screw's start snapping in half, he's got to deal with it, no me.
I know its wrong, I just wanted to know if anyone else has ever encountered it. Around here anyone with a hammer, circular saw and ladder rack calls themselves a contractor.

framerman

I concur Drew. Same in Maine.