My neighbor's deck went from a death trap to solid in a single weekend after he finally hired a guy.

It was sagging a good six inches on one side for over a year, and he kept trying to sister new joists himself with deck screws. The contractor came in, used proper structural hardware and a bottle jack to lift it, and bolted everything with carriage bolts. Why do so many DIYers think screws are fine for structural framing?

2 comments

2 Comments

lucas_jenkins1d ago

Watching that kind of stuff is a real eye-opener. My old man built a shed with nothing but drywall screws when I was a kid. The whole roof line was wavy within a year, and the door frame racked so bad you had to lift the door to close it. He learned the hard way that shear strength matters. Seeing a pro use the right bolts and hardware just makes everything click.

fionaw541d ago

Ever see a deck collapse? My buddy used deck screws for the whole ledger board, and @lucas_jenkins, that whole section just peeled away one summer. It really shows how picking the right fastener isn't just a suggestion, it's the whole job. Watching things fail teaches you more than any manual.