Screwing wood outdoors

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JayADee

2148 posts

Uber Geek

#249003 19-Apr-2019 09:46

Hi,
Can I use zinc chromium plated screws outdoors if I paint them? If not, what kind of wood screws do I use outdoors to screw two bits of wood together so the head sits flush? Thanks!

BlueOwl

85 posts

Master Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2220999 19-Apr-2019 10:30

They will rust over time, because wood soaks up water and the screws will be wet wet over long periods. They should be OK if the wood doesn't get wet.

Ideally use stainless steel screws which are a bit expensive or galvanised which is a bit cheaper. I've also used solid brass screws on some nice bits of outdoor furniture - but brass is soft and you need to take care not to strip the slots or even over-tighten and tear the heads off.

JayADee

2148 posts

Uber Geek

#2221000 19-Apr-2019 10:31

BlueOwl:
They will rust over time, because wood soaks up water and the screws will be wet wet over long periods. They should be OK if the wood doesn't get wet.

Ideally use stainless steel screws which are a bit expensive or galvanised which is a bit cheaper. I've also used solid brass screws on some nice bits of outdoor furniture - but brass is soft and you need to take care not to strip the slots or even over-tighten and tear the heads off.

Thanks! I will hit up Mitre10.

Dratsab

3946 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2221060 19-Apr-2019 11:24

JayADee:

BlueOwl: They will rust over time, because wood soaks up water and the screws will be wet wet over long periods. They should be OK if the wood doesn't get wet.

Ideally use stainless steel screws which are a bit expensive or galvanised which is a bit cheaper. I've also used solid brass screws on some nice bits of outdoor furniture - but brass is soft and you need to take care not to strip the slots or even over-tighten and tear the heads off.

Thanks! I will hit up Mitre10.

Or somewhere like Coastal Fasteners.

neb

11294 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2221070 19-Apr-2019 11:51

BlueOwl:
They will rust over time, because wood soaks up water and the screws will be wet wet over long periods. They should be OK if the wood doesn't get wet.

Ideally use stainless steel screws which are a bit expensive or galvanised which is a bit cheaper. I've also used solid brass screws on some nice bits of outdoor furniture - but brass is soft and you need to take care not to strip the slots or even over-tighten and tear the heads off.

One additional thing, if you're putting them into treated timber then even standard treated screws, e.g. HD galvanised, will corrode, you need special screws for treated timber for that.

JayADee

2148 posts

Uber Geek

#2221362 20-Apr-2019 08:23

neb:
BlueOwl:
They will rust over time, because wood soaks up water and the screws will be wet wet over long periods. They should be OK if the wood doesn't get wet.

Ideally use stainless steel screws which are a bit expensive or galvanised which is a bit cheaper. I've also used solid brass screws on some nice bits of outdoor furniture - but brass is soft and you need to take care not to strip the slots or even over-tighten and tear the heads off.

One additional thing, if you're putting them into treated timber then even standard treated screws, e.g. HD galvanised, will corrode, you need special screws for treated timber for that.

Who knew fastening wood together outdoors was so complicated? :)