Best Screws

[Bobbya82]

Hi,

Quick one, what type/brand of screws are best for screwing down 18mm ply and chipboard flooring?

Many thanks

 

[Munroast]

50x5 turbogold

Seriously though, it depends on a number of things, so the above may not be the best choice.

 

[blup]

Spax are a good brand but expensive.

Blup

 

[Diver Fred]

Ones with a plain shank - stops 'Ramp-up' and squeaks, pulls the board tight against the joists. Used to use 1.75inch X 8 gauge in the days of cut screws.

Have a look at https://www.spax.com/en/service/technical-terms/partial-thread/

As for the screws I'd be looking at using these or these.

 

[Bobbya82]

Thanks all

 

[Bobbya82]

Would these be any good?

https://www.toolstation.com/reisser-cutter-pozi-screw/p40542

 

[foxhole]

Would these be any good?

https://www.toolstation.com/reisser-cutter-pozi-screw/p40542

Yes.

 

[Diver Fred]

Would these be any good?

https://www.toolstation.com/reisser-cutter-pozi-screw/p40542

These are high quality screws but unless you are prepared to drill a clearance hole in the boards for every screw you will get 'Ramp Up' ( where the threaded screw lifts the board a little before it gets start in the joists and because it's Fully Threaded it will NOT pull the boards tight to the joists) which will eventually leads to a noisy floor when walked on.

 

[Bobbya82]

Thankyou, appreciate the help/advise

 

[Bobbya82]

Ok

https://www.screwfix.com/p/spax-wir...VFeR3Ch0zEwVKEAQYASABEgIF7PD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[foxhole]

I always reverse driver to avoid ramp up and full threaded screws prevent movement than smooth screws don’t , the head of a screw does not hold well in chipboard allowing it to eventually travel up and down smooth section of screws causing squeaks.( fine in ply though which is denser.)

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Spax are a good brand but expensive.

As are Reisser

 

[Deleted member 174758]

These are high quality screws but unless you are prepared to drill a clearance hole in the boards for every screw you will get 'Ramp Up' (where the threaded screw lifts the board a little before it gets start in the joists and because it's Fully Threaded it will NOT pull the boards tight to the joists) which will eventually leads to a noisy floor when walked on.

If you press down hard as you drive the screws (and if needs be put your boot on the floor next to the driver) and you have a decent quality screw which will cut its' own countersink as the head enters the wood (e.g. Reissers, etc) then that doesn't often happen - and when it does you reverse the screw out and redrive it in a new place, not the original hole. It also helps if you are using a fast impact driver (i.e. 3000 rpm or fsster as opposed to a 1200rpm drill as this job is hard on kit). With collated screws, where you can bear down hard on the driver, the job is quite quick with only the occasional 'misfire', but then flooring screws are often square drive as well which is less likely to cam out than Pozidriv

 

[^woody^]

I'm not really a fan of all the branded screws with their little "features" that claim to make their screws better.

Any generic screw will do - the cheapest.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

I must use more screws than you do. Some of the cheap crap main/joinery contractors give us to work with are absolute sh1te for so many tasks. So no, not all screws are equal - which if you used better stuff once in a while, you'd realise. But then, you knew I'd contradict you on this point, didn't you?