Alert on deck screws about mid 2012

[RalphVa]

I was wrong about the titanium coating like drill bits. The ones in there and what I now am using as replacements are apparently the coated ones in tan. These are from Hillman and called DeckPlus. There's some legal hogwash on the back of the package of 66 saying that there could be "sreaking or staining" of the surfaces. Says if this is unacceptable to use Fas-n-Rite exterior wood screws or Deck Plus polymer coated or stainless steel fasteners. Well, the current box is called Deck Plus and clearly labeled on the front as "Ideal for decking and exterior wood projects" and "Recommended for treated lumber". The shanks on these type get corroded for about a 1/4" or so just above the screw line. Not sure what was put in mid 2012. They look the same as these. Will retrieve our receipts from that period. Doubt they'll show much. One source I found says ACQ was started in 2004. My step risers and joists probably are not ACQ.

I'll look for stainless ones at Home Depot on Sunday.

Attached is a picture of one of the screws. Most only have this corrosion on 1/2 the shank. This one is corroded on all the shank.

Ralph

 

[Ford850]

Some of my deck boards had every screw rusted off between the deck board and the joist. I could lift several of the boards off by hand, as there wasn't a single screw left and the boards were laying in place, loose.
That was after 5 years I think. I replaced all the screws with the newest/latest ones on the market at that time (but not SS yet). Another few years passed and I started having the same problem. This time I replaced some of the worst areas with SS square drive screws. Then after a few more years the deck boards were in poor shape and I rebuilt the entire deck. Nearly all the coated screws were rusted out again, except for those close to the house that were protected from rain/snow. The SS square drive screws were like new yet, but the softer SS made it difficult to remove the screws since the square drive was stripping. I learned the square drive SS are a once and done screw most of the time, and occasionally they stripped while trying to drive them in the first time. That's when I found the Torx drive SS screws at Home Depot. I love them! Easy to drive, remove, reuse. Expensive but worth it.

 

[oosik]

Slowly but surely I've been replacing the nails on my two small decks with trumpet screws. I get tired of driving the nails back down every year. Just by a weird twist of fate - I've always purchased 3" hot dipped galvanized trumpet screws. Some have been out there now - going on 25 years and are still good.

I think the other thing that has saved my bacon - none of the deck lumber is treated in any way. I checked last summer and the main decking support timbers are still as solid as the day I built the decks 36 years ago. I've had to replace one 2 x 6 board on one deck in all those years.


Finally - some advantages to living in a semi-arid climate. Otherwise - we all will, sooner not later, look like prunes, ha,ha.

 

[dmccarty]

... One source I found says ACQ was started in 2004. My step risers and joists probably are not ACQ.
...
Ralph

We built our house in 2004 and had to use that ACQ scat and I really wanted to use CCA for our sill plates. In some conditions, ACQ will eat steel which is why the building material companies are specing stainless or galvanized.

Later,
Dan

 

[kinglake]

The ONLY deck screws that should be used with the newer ACQ treated lumber are stainless steel or hot dipped galvanized- no exceptions. This has been the case for many years. The newer treated wood has more copper in it to replace the arsenic that was used previously. There were lots of problems with the new wood until the manufacturers of fasteners like Simpson Strong Tie and others put out bulletins about proper fastener use. Personally, I use only S.S. torx drive screws and have had no problems. One 'could use' certain ceramic coated screws now, I suppose, if they meet the requirements of the PT wood, but why take a chance of a suspended deck collapsing to the ground, like happened in many instances early on with ACQ lumber disintegrating fasteners and screws/bolts?!
Simpson went so far as to say it wants Grace's Bituthene wrapped completely around any PT lumber, then install their S.S. or hot dipped hanger or tie to the joist,. etc.
Essentially, the newer PT lumber created a nightmare when it replaced the old PT with something with less deadly chemicals for wood with way more corrosiveness for anything made of metal coming in contact with it...
Buyer beware, educate oneself before using any product these days....

One of dozens of examples related to ACQ and fasteners:
What fasteners work with ACQ? | Tree Island Steel

This is completely incorrect. Even your own link doesn't agree with what you said. All the comments in the link are about nails. It then ends with "If screws are used they must be rated for ACQ." There are a lot of manufacturers of good screws, meant for exposure and designed to be used with ACQ treated wood. In fact, in the big box stores, just about all screws labeled as "deck screws" are very much designed to be used with ACQ treated wood.

 

[kinglake]

Here is the relevant certification:

AC257: The international Code Council (ICC) introduced AC257 (acceptance criteria 257) on January 1, 2009 because of the corrosive tendencies of ACQ and other pressure treated lumber. The ACQ approved rating is now outdated and fasteners need AC257 approval for all treated wood applications. AC257 approval requires that all fastener coatings for pressure treated lumber be hot dipped galvanized, or other nontraditional coatings in use be tested comparatively to hot dipped galvanized fasteners as the benchmark (ASTM A153). If the fastener submitted to the ICC is as good as or better than hot dipped galvanized, it receives the ICCs AC257 rating.