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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?
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lucas_jenkins1mo 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.
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fionaw541mo 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.
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harper_smith16d ago
That part about the wavy roof line really hits home. I helped a neighbor fix a fence where they used drywall screws for the hinges. Every single one snapped clean off in the wind, just little rusty stubs left in the post. It's crazy how something so small can wreck a whole project. You're right, seeing it fail is the lesson that sticks.
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