I am having a cedar screen room built on the back of our house. Our contractor has suggested that nails are better to use on the decking because screws will cause the boards to crack. I don't really agree with this but want some opinions. A friend told me that they should pre-drill the boards for the deck and use coated "Deckmate" screws to avoid the cracking and any discoloration or "bleeding". They would use nails for the rest of the structure. It's a 14 x 14 room. I don't think that in terms of time and extra work, that this should be any big deal asking for screws instead of nails. Any opinions? Should this cost extra dollars? How much? I haven't spoken to our contractor about this yet and just want to be prepared. Thanks!
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Screws could cause decking to split,but like mentioned if predrill then would be ok,the nails if they use galvanized decking nails,there should be no bleeding or such.
He prolly has used nails his whole career and predrilling and screws and such prolly was nevr mentioned in the contract so you may have to sit down and discuss the matter neither you or he is in the wrong,but he is used to nails most likely and to him the predrilling and such does mea dollars because of the extra time and BS,it prolly would take an extra few hours to use the screws because he was planning on using a nail gun.Think of how fast he could go with a nailer compared to drilling and screwing.
You may have to pay extra for the screws if was nevere mentioned before.Im sorry I have been around contractors for quite awhile and this is the way it goes.
Good luck,by the wau im just a painter
He prolly has used nails his whole career and predrilling and screws and such prolly was nevr mentioned in the contract so you may have to sit down and discuss the matter neither you or he is in the wrong,but he is used to nails most likely and to him the predrilling and such does mea dollars because of the extra time and BS,it prolly would take an extra few hours to use the screws because he was planning on using a nail gun.Think of how fast he could go with a nailer compared to drilling and screwing.
You may have to pay extra for the screws if was nevere mentioned before.Im sorry I have been around contractors for quite awhile and this is the way it goes.
Good luck,by the wau im just a painter
Thanks for the info! I was leaning on going with screws because I really am not looking forward to hammering in a bunch of nails five years down the line. 4-5 extra hours isn't that bad. I'm sure he wants the nail gun because it's faster. However, I want it to last....so....thanks for responding. I just wanted to see what others thought about this.
