I finally, after several false starts, began work on the back deck, replacing a number of the loose nails — especially where the main boards butt up together on joists — with honest-to-God deck screws.
The good new?
- I’m about half-way done, with a couple of hours work.
- I’ve definitely strengthened the deck overall.
- Much of the deck is in pretty good shape.
The bad news?
- There’s quite a bit of it that’s not.
When we get the house painted (by and by), we’ll be replacing a number of the 2x6x10s that make up the deck. Particularly the ones that are in “step your foot through to the underside” mode.
Ultimately, of course, the deck gets replaced, with something wider, more tiered, with better access to the ground, and plastic/composite.
Until then, I’m glad I bought a jumbo box of 3.5″ deck screws.
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Give me a call when you’ve installed the Holodeck.
WARNING: Use of 3.5″ deck screws is contraindicated when performing maintenance on the Holodeck, due to the delicate circuitry in the hologrid. Please use 75mm virtual screws instead.
If you get the chance, try the square drive screws. I will never use another phillips head for decking again (they tend to strip the head when put under load from the drill). I have never had a square drive get stripped.
Did not have any problem (so far) with the Phillips-head screws.