In a high-quality frame house there are no trifles, and such a seemingly insignificant thing as fasteners generally takes on one of the main roles in importance. Without reliable and correctly selected fasteners there will be no reliable and durable home.
It is important to use the correct fasteners not only for the frame of the house, but also for securing the internal and external cladding.
Many future homeowners will not even think about such a “trifle”, at most asking themselves the question of what is better: screws or nails, which is quite understandable. Costs for purchasing fasteners and installation materials constitute a small part of the total construction cost frame house. It is much worse when they forget about correctly selected fasteners, or the builders themselves simply do not know. The other side of the coin in this matter is the regime of total savings on materials. With this approach, hardware is subject to reduction. In this case, the estimate will most likely include the most economical option, such as black self-tapping screws and regular construction nails. By and large, there is nothing wrong with such fastening options, but only if it is used strictly for its intended purpose, and not everywhere possible. For example, black self-tapping screws are indispensable as temporary fasteners; they are also perfect for interior wall cladding slab materials(plasterboard, QuickDeck) in preparation for final finishing. The basic rule is to observe the purpose of the fasteners when building a frame house, apply it where it is needed and cope with its main task. To correctly assess the need to use certain hardware in the frame, you need to correctly assess what loads are acting in a particular node of the frame house.
To a popular question: Which is better: nails or screws? The answer can be given quite unambiguously that each fastener must be used for its intended purpose.
Look what happens to an ordinary hardened self-tapping screw when it takes a shear load. The self-tapping screw breaks at its weakest point and its head flies off, so using this type of fastener as a fastening for beam supports is strictly contraindicated. But in this place of fastening, special galvanized anchor nails with an annular notch and a conical head feel great. Such a nail has a diameter of 4.2 mm, and the conical head is wedged into the holes of the perforated fasteners, making it virtually impossible to cut off the head of such a nail, naturally, provided that there are enough such nails hammered in.
Be sure to consider the environment in which the fastener will be located.
When choosing options for using fasteners, it is necessary to take into account the environment in which it will be located. In places unprotected from precipitation, as well as in places where condensation is likely to occur, fasteners with a special protective coating that protects against corrosion are required. For example, we as fasteners exterior finishing from wood we choose nails with hot galvanization, resistance to external factors whom she showed herself with best side. We import such fasteners only from Finland, since Russian analogues with similar processing and similar characteristics do not satisfy us in terms of quality.
| Mounting location | Fastener type | photo |
| Attaching the strapping board to the monolithic base | Expansion anchor |  |
| Fastening decking boards To wooden joists | Structural Torx screw |  |
| Fastening the frame posts | Smooth nails for nailers |  |
| Stitched (double, triple) frame posts | Rough / Screw nail for nailer |  |
| Stitched (double, triple) external posts | Rough/Screw galvanized nail or plated nail |  |
| Fastening joist supports, beam supports | Galvanized nail with tapered head and ring cut |  |
| Lathing, lath | Galvanized self-tapping screw, rough or screw nail |  |
| Soft roofing, Isoplaat | Galvanized roofing nail |  |
| The external cladding of the house is made of imitation timber. | Rough galvanized nail for nailer with galvanization. |  |
| Sheathing the house with windproof MDVP boards. | Galvanized roofing nail, galvanized staples 50-60 mm. |  |
| Fastening of structural beams, rafters, crossbars, tie rods | Galvanized stud, galvanized washers and nuts. |  |
Returning to the economic aspect of our article, I would like to mention that the price of special fasteners can reach up to 20 rubles. per piece, which is more than 60 times more expensive than the price of a regular black self-tapping screw 3.8*51 mm. On the scale of the entire construction where total Tens of thousands of pieces of hardware are used, the amount is significant.
The cost of highly specialized fasteners can be several times higher than the cost of ordinary nails or self-tapping screws.
There is another unpleasant nuance that can “pop up” with dishonest developers, and which allows you to reduce the estimate on the total cost of fastening materials - this is the amount of fasteners used in a particular unit of a frame house. Less spent fasteners mean more benefits for the company, and in the absence of proper control, “extra” nails, corners and screws can go to satisfy the construction needs of a dishonest builder. With this approach, in some components of a frame house there is a risk of a very serious lack of reliability.
There are regulations that regulate required amount fasteners in each frame node, plus there are recommendations from building materials manufacturers on the required type and quantity of fasteners for fastening materials. In our work we try to focus on American and Scandinavian building standards, which are often stricter than Russian ones regulatory documents. For example, in Europe, if such standards are not observed, the house simply will not pass inspection by the responsible authorities. For us, compliance with such standards is the key to confidence in the maximum reliability of all our homes.
Building a frame house is similar to assembling a construction set. Wood frame house assembled in accordance with the diagram. At the same time, the strength and reliability of the future structure depends on the quality of the assembly components. What are the features of the main components and connections of a frame house? And how to properly fix the lower and upper trims, racks, jibs, and crossbars?
Bottom trim connection nodes
The lower one is a frame made of wooden beams or several boards knocked together, which is laid on top. So-called planks - boards - are placed on the concrete foundation under the bottom frame. They perform main function– level the foundation and hide those flaws that could have been made during its pouring.
The beds are attached to the concrete foundation using anchors. The installation sites are located at a distance of no more than 0.5 mm. In this case, at least the ends of the beams are secured with anchors.
Connection of the beam to the concrete foundation.
To install anchors, holes of a certain depth are drilled. They pass through the board and go deeper into the thickness concrete foundation. The depth of drilling and driving in the anchor is determined by the height of the house wall and the design of the foundation. For traditional 2.5-3 m frame wall on concrete base The depth of lowering the anchor into concrete is 15-20 cm.
The second option for installing anchors is to concrete the anchor studs during the process of pouring the foundation. When casting a concrete slab or strip in specified places, hollow cones with internal thread. After the concrete has hardened, anchors are screwed into these elongated cone-shaped studs.
Features of the anchor connection
- The holes in the beam are drilled 2-3 mm larger than the diameter of the anchor pin.
- Under the heads anchor bolts you can put wide washers to increase the area of their contact with wooden surface, and increase the strength of the fastening connection.
Anchor fastening of the lower trim. Before fixing, mandatory waterproofing is carried out - roofing material is placed on the concrete or its surface is covered with a special waterproof compound, mastic. After installation, check the horizon. Deviations from the horizontal level are allowed in dimensions of no more than 0.5° per 3 m.
Bottom trim assembly on a columnar foundation
The fastening of structural units of a frame house described above is used on strip and slab foundations. For columnar bases, a different scheme is used:
- For ease of fastening, the upper part of the columnar supports should have a flat horizontal head with holes.
- Place on top of the headrest wooden beams, which perform the function of a grillage.
- Recesses of the required depth are drilled in the beams. They are drilled under the holes in the headband.
- Fix the beam with bolts or screws.
Trimmed plank strapping on pile foundation. On a note
It is necessary to attach the timber to the foundation. Shallowly buried strips and slabs are subject to significant movement when freezing. A reliable connection of the floor and bottom trim ensures the reliability and durability of the entire structure.
Design of frame house components
Vertical frame posts are installed on top of the lower frame and secured with nails. Fastening with metal corners used for T-shaped connection of beams without cutting. It's easier to do. Fixing beams with metal nails is used at the junction with partial cutting of the lower beam. This is a more difficult connection to make with your own hands.
A joint without cutting is used for corner frame supports. Butt joints with fixation with plates or corners are used in the main components of a frame house, if the construction is carried out with your own hands, without the involvement of professionals. If they work experienced builders, then they use a partial insertion connection. It prevents strong movements of the timber and frame boards when drying out.
On a note
The size of the cutting for the vertical frame post is 30-50% of the thickness of the bottom trim beam.
The corner joint without cutting is fixed with metal plates using wood screws. In this case, reinforced steel corners with several perforations are used. As well as durable self-tapping screws in light golden and silver colors.
Strengthening the corners for fastening the corners of the house is carried out due to technological processing - metal plates hardened during the manufacturing process. Or through the use of metal with a large section thickness, up to 2-3 mm.
Methods of fastening racks. A notch joint is often used to attach studs in the middle of a wall. The supports are inserted into the prepared recesses and additionally secured with nails. Then they are secured in a vertical position with jibs - diagonally inclined slats that rest against a vertical post on one side and a horizontal frame on the other. For ease of support, the ends of the jib are made beveled - part of the end is cut off.
Temporary jib
During the assembly of the frame, temporary jibs are also installed, which fix several vertical posts. Temporary jibs are placed between the upper and lower trim at an angle. They connect several vertical posts and are fixed with nails.
Temporary jibs are placed on the outside of the frame. To attach them, you do not need to cut down, but they need to be fixed in such a way that upon completion of construction, the temporary auxiliary beams can be easily dismantled. Therefore, nails are used to fix them.
Temporary jibs for racks. Temporary jibs hold the posts upright until permanent jibs are installed at the bottom and top of each rack. Once the permanent jibs are in place, the temporary fixing beams can be removed.
On a note
The construction project contains a description of the frame components wooden house in the drawings. They often do not describe in detail the method of attaching temporary jibs, since they do not bear the main load and support the frame temporarily.
Upper harness knots
The top frame of the frame house is laid on vertical frame supports after installing the corner posts. If the perimeter of the house is large enough (more than 6 m), then in addition to the corner pillars, intermediate ones are also placed - in the middle of the wall. And only after that the top harness is placed.
After laying the top row, temporary jibs are attached - across the entire wall. Next, attach the remaining vertical posts and jibs to them. After which the temporary jibs between the upper and lower trim are removed.
It is most convenient to assemble the walls of a frame house in a lying position, knocking together the lower frame, vertical posts, crossbar, jibs and top frame. And only after that raise the walls to a vertical position, where all that remains is to fasten all the walls of the house together. To firmly connect the walls of a frame house, a second top frame is used, which overlaps the first top frame.
Double top knots. When using a double top trim, you can do without the use of steel corners. In this case, there is no need to partially cut off the ends of the boards, making a “claw” connection. Because such connections with cutting out part of the end violate the integrity of the board and, accordingly, weaken it.
Interfloor beams are placed on top of the second top frame. The beams are laid on the end, the distance between the beams is set depending on the size of the spans and fastened with nails.
Wall corner
The corner of a frame house is the place of maximum heat loss. As a rule, it is in the corners that condensation accumulates and it is them that need to be insulated first. Therefore, even at the stage of assembling the frame, it is necessary to ensure that the corners of the future frame house are warm. How to do it?
Smooth fixing plates are placed on the outside of the vertical beam. They connect adjacent single-level surfaces of the vertical post and horizontal beams. The fixing corners are located on the side. They connect mutually perpendicular surfaces. What else is important to know about angles?
During construction in regions with cold climates, non-solid materials are used as vertical posts. wooden beam, and assemble a corner post from separate boards. The resulting structure resembles a well. Insulation is installed in this internal space, which retains heat and limits possible heat loss.
Installation of corners in the frame of the house. It must also be warm, for this purpose single racks are used, but the load from window and doorways removed using a bolt. The crossbar is secured along the entire length of the frame wall by cutting into all vertical posts. It is important to take into account that under each window opening There should be at least 1-2 vertical support boards.
Knots of the rafter system
To nodes rafter system include all connections between its elements, namely:
- Fastening floor beams to the top frame.
- Attaching the rafter beam to the top trim.
- Fastening the racks on the gables to the top trim and to the outer rafters.
- Attaching the internal posts to the rafter beam and to the ridge.
- Fastening struts - inclined beams that support the rafters and rest on the beam.
- Attaching the crossbar to inclined rafters.
- Fastening the sheathing.
Knots of the rafter system. The fastenings listed above can be done using corners or using nails if the elements of the rafter system are connected overlapping each other.
Fasteners
The following elements are used as fasteners for the components of a frame wooden house:
- Fastening plates (angles or flat plates with or without holes). Plates and angles are attached to beams or supports using wood screws.
- Staples (straight and angular) are wire fasteners of a certain diameter. Their edges are folded and inserted into the ends or side surfaces beams
- Bolts - used to tighten adjacent beams and rafters, inserted into through holes and secure them with nuts.
- Nails.
All connecting fixing and fastening elements for frame buildings made of metal. For fastening load-bearing elements use reinforced corners made of hardened steel or increased thickness, 3-4 mm. To fasten the supporting elements, angles made of ordinary steel with a thickness of 2-3 mm are used.
Variety of fastening elements. In order to protect against corrosion, galvanized steel is used for the manufacture of corners and plates. Rust protection is especially important in outdoor construction, when metal fasteners in walls can become a point of moisture condensation, causing a section of the wall to become wet. Therefore, galvanized fasteners are in great demand in various components of a frame house.
Node connection errors
A drawing of components requires the presence of sketches and descriptions. However, despite this, novice builders often make offensive mistakes. Let's list the main and most frequently repeated erroneous actions that novice individual builders make when assembling a frame:
Not all jibs are installed. This is not true. The jibs ensure the wall's resistance to wind loads. In addition to the jibs, to withstand the wind it is necessary to use rigid slabs in the outer cladding.
- Use solid timber or boards placed tightly next to each other as corner posts. This corner will be cold. Moisture will condense in it and mold will develop.
- Use “black” screws for fastening. They are not strong enough, especially if the wood purchased for construction is not dry enough. When drying and warping, the “black” screws can simply be “torn off”. A more durable option is golden and silver-colored self-tapping screws, galvanized or coated with a layer of chromating and phosphating.
- They use wood that is not dry enough, which causes severe shrinkage and “breaks” existing nodes and connections.
- And another mistake is not to use nails. These proven fasteners are often stronger than any self-tapping screws.
Frame construction – new technology, in which, despite its apparent simplicity, there are many nuances and features.
Over the last decade, screws and self-tapping screws have become so popular that we almost don’t remember about nails. At the same time in the West frame construction for the most part they only use nails. So which is better, nails or screws?
We conducted a small test to show one of the main disadvantages of screws, which many people forget about.
To prevent self-tapping screws or metal alloy screws from bending when screwed, they are hardened during the manufacturing process. After it, the metal becomes hard but brittle. This is the main disadvantage of screws and self-tapping screws. But to be precise, only galvanized self-tapping screws (white, yellow) are subject to hardening. Black self-tapping screws are usually made from oxidized steel C1022, although this is also relatively brittle.
The nails are not hardened, so they can withstand heavy loads better. If the load increases excessively, the nail will bend but not break, unlike screws or self-tapping screws. That is why they are still used in construction when assembling frames in areas with high loads. Screws are often assigned the role of fastening finishing materials.
Another advantage of nails is that with special nailing guns, the process of assembling structures is accelerated significantly.
Now a little test. For comparison, we took two screws 6x90 and 4.5x70, two self-tapping screws 4.8x110 and 3.5x55, as well as a small nail 3x75.
A short video will help you see the difference between them.
It can be seen that hardened screws are the most fragile and break almost immediately. Black steel screws are more durable, but also cannot withstand several bends. But to break a nail, you need to make a couple of dozen sharp bending movements.
This test does not mean that we are advocating the use of nails. We just want to show that the choice of fasteners should be treated with due care. And, of course, there are plenty of places where self-tapping screws will give a head start to any nails.
When creating a modern frame structure, they use self-tapping screws, nails or screws. This is a fairly convenient mounting option. And in ancient times, such wooden structures were created without a single nail or screw. The craftsmen knew how to create a hidden tenon and groove. This mount was very strong. Created several centuries ago, Western European half-timbered houses they still live today, because the tenon and groove that carpenters of that time used was a skill without which it was impossible to build a frame house. Most likely, nails and various staples already existed, but they were not used at that time due to their extremely high cost. The tongue-and-groove fastening is largely justified because it connects wood to wood, and this is considered more expedient than fastening wood to wood with self-tapping screws or nails. And yet, today self-tapping screws and nails are a popular type of hardware, and today there are almost no craftsmen who master the skill of making accurate and reliable types of “oblique tooth” and “dovetail”. Although such alternative connections are quite acceptable and even preferable in our time.
Strength frame structure and its rigidity depends not only on the quality of the connections and the quality of the material used itself, but also on the method of fastening and well-distributed loads at the design stage. If the connections are made incorrectly or overloaded, they will soon manifest themselves with singing sounds and creaks. To prevent the structure from becoming loose, you must strictly follow the assembly technology and monitor the quality of assembly of the frame elements. To prevent self-tapping screws from corroding, they must be galvanized or otherwise treated against corrosion. You can additionally dip them in drying oil, primer or some other protective composition during screwing or process well after, although this will be less effective.
In fact, nails are successfully replaced with various types of self-tapping screws. Because they have a number of advantages. The main advantage is that they securely fasten all the elements. Unlike a nail, a self-tapping screw has a thread. This allows it to be screwed into any materials: be it wood, plastic, drywall, plywood or metal. For metal, special self-tapping screws are used, with a stronger structure and smaller threads. In addition, self-tapping screws, with the same length as a nail, have increased strength in terms of tensile strength. Even small screw will hold any material firmly, and most likely will not loosen over time, as a nail might when assembling furniture. This allows you to successfully use self-tapping screws where nails can damage appearance. And what’s also important is that the self-tapping screws can be easily removed if necessary, since they have threads and a slot for unscrewing.
A few tips and tricks for using self-tapping screws and nails in construction
The number of nails used does not guarantee the strength of the structure.
You need to place nails “wisely”. It is advisable not to hit them at the edge of the board so as not to split them. It is better to hammer nails at an angle - this way they hold more securely.
If you need to hammer a nail into a certain place, but there is a risk of splitting the board, first blunt the point; the nail will not push the fibers apart and split the board, but will crush them.
It is advisable to select the length of the nail in such a way that it does not protrude slightly from the material to which we are nailing. A nail that is too thin will not hold well. Long - it takes a long time to score, and it won’t be stronger if it comes out or splits the board.
Where the structure “works to be pulled off,” it is better to use self-tapping screws of the required diameter instead of nails. It's more reliable.
Self-tapping screws are also preferable where any vibrations are transmitted to the structure, for example: doors, windows; and also where we carry out wood paneling with any other material: fiberboard, fiberboard, plywood, plastic, etc., as well as when attaching to wooden structures, for example: metal wire hangers, flagpoles, etc. In such places, the nails “come out” over time, and you have to finish them off, which does not add strength. It is better to immediately replace such a “live” nail with a self-tapping screw or screw.
Self-tapping screws are also used in those places that will probably have to be disassembled later; this will make disassembly easier and will not damage the material being disassembled.
To prevent the self-tapping screw from splitting the wood when screwing, you can pre-drill a hole of the same or smaller diameter.
It is much easier to tighten the screw if you lubricate it with soap or dip it in oil.
A drill with a bit or screwdriver installed in its chuck will help you quickly tighten many self-tapping screws. If possible, use a special screwdriver. It will, of course, be more convenient for them to work. In this case, the assembly speed on self-tapping screws will be the same as on nails.
In chapter, Download documents, instructions, programs There is a document: Connections with nails, screws and screws. Selection of fasteners for wooden house construction, requirements and test methods.
The standard was prepared by the Association of Wooden House Construction within the framework of the adopted program “General program of work on regulatory and technical support for production and use wooden structures" A very detailed document with explanations: what fasteners to use and where, their type and size.
And now another fact: what happened to the screws in just a few rainy days.
In the summer of 2013, the porch of my house was painted. Before painting in the middle of summer, all the boards were removed (fortunately everything was held on by galvanized screws). The boards were lightly sanded with a hand-held electric planer so that burrs would not stick out and the paint would go on more evenly. Since the boards had completely dried out in a couple of years and had been trimmed, we had to screw them into new places close to each other, but without much fanaticism. Everything was done quickly without any gaps and painted with a covering antiseptic "Vinha", which was used to paint the whole house. Imagine my surprise when, having arrived at the dacha in the fall (the fall turned out to be unusually rainy), I discovered that where the boards at the bottom were screwed onto one solid beam of the porch frame, the boards were torn off and extended beyond the porch by almost 5 cm! Taking into account the fact that the boards are no more than 1.8 m in width, and they were not exposed to direct precipitation (maximum rare slanting rains on a well-painted surface).
Since it was already quite cold, I didn’t do anything, leaving it for next year. The first photo below shows what happened to the galvanized 4x40 mm self-tapping screws: the self-tapping screws in the six outer boards (out of a total of twenty) were broken into 3 parts. The first part - the head and body 0.8-1 cm was in the board outside, part of the body about 1-1.5 cm protruded from the board inside, and about 2 cm remained in the beam of the porch frame, of which only a few pieces turned out, and most Couldn't catch it. Therefore, I had to screw the boards with self-tapping screws at a slight angle so as not to get into the debris remaining in the timber, Fig. 2.
The house design is drawn up taking into account all possible physical and mechanical impacts on the house and on Construction Materials, including calculation of loads on a particular element. An important role in calculating the durability of a structure is played by the choice of fastening material - this is especially important when building a frame house.
1. House design and calculation of structural resistance
Building a house according to a project is not just an approximate assembly sequence and following the drawings. This is taking into account all the features included in it, including, of course, fastening methods and hardware materials.
A special feature of a frame house is the hinged connection of its elements. This means that it allows rotation of the connected structures. If we look at the frame of a house, we will see that lateral loads can cause the vertical post to tilt in any direction.
This is being prevented additional elements, tightening the frame - upper and lower trim and installation of jibs.
In general, the load on the frame is leveled and evenly transferred to the foundation. But all this is legal if all parts, all nodes and frame elements are firmly connected. Hence the most important role of fastenings and hardware materials.
We can safely say that if in monolithic houses the basis of structural strength is not so much the material as the binder ( concrete mortar), then in framing nails By analogy - fastening materials.
2. Nails and screws - the main fastening hardware
Metal fastening materials appeared in construction relatively recently. The main and only way to fasten wooden structures was to cut out fastening nodes in them - tenons, with the help of which one part was attached to another. An example of such connections is cutting out a “bowl” in logs when constructing log houses - houses made of thick logs.
But let's not delve into the depths of time.
Today there are a lot of fastening hardware, the main of which are:
- Wedge-shaped nails driven into the thickness of the material
- Self-tapping screws with screw threads, screwed into the material
- Staples driven partially into the material
- Bolts connecting elements without embedding into the material
In this article we will address the issue of choosing between nails and screws in the construction of a frame house.
Nails are driven into the junction of two parts, simultaneously connecting firmly to one and the other part. Essentially, a nail is a wedge driven into the thickness of the material.
It pushes (wedges) the material apart and stays inside due to elastic forces: the structure of the material presses on the nail from all sides and this pressure allows it to hold firmly in the thickness of the substance.
A slightly different principle applies when using self-tapping screws (or screws). A self-tapping screw is essentially a wedge with a thread. It is not driven into the material, but screwed in. This makes it easier for the wedge to enter the material. The self-tapping screw is held in the material not only due to the pressure of its thickness on the sides, but also due to the walls of cavities and grooves formed by screw spirals in the wood.
From the point of view of vertical loads, fastening with a self-tapping screw is much stronger than a nail fastening. To remove a self-tapping screw, you need to overcome not just the elastic forces of the material, but also destroy the retaining grooves, that is, destroy the material.
The use of nails and self-tapping screws, for example, in concrete gives an almost eternal connection. True, for this you need to use special nails - very strong dowels, screw them into self-tapping screws (or simply mount them) until the concrete hardens.
3. Taking into account the properties of wood
This is a theory, but in practice there are some peculiarities, especially when working with wood. Wood is a relatively soft material, but also quite elastic.
Its defining feature is that wood is greatly affected by humidity. The structure of wood easily absorbs and releases moisture. At the same time, the cellulose fibers, of which wood is mainly composed, change their size. The tree expands as it gets wet and contracts as it dries out.
It is clear that in interaction with environment- from atmospheric precipitation to water vapor from the room - the tree constantly “breathes”, i.e. changes its size.
What happens to the fastening material in these cases?
When wood swells or contracts, the nail remains in a compressed state. Even very dry boards fastened with nails do not fall apart.
At the same time, these compression-tension cycles destroy the integrity of the “grooves” of the screws, and the connection disintegrates - the self-tapping screw in dry wood can simply be removed from its socket.
What happens in the fastening joints during swelling and contraction of wood? Relative to each other, each element expands and contracts without affecting the position of the nail.
The self-tapping screw weakens the connection, since it itself “sits” in the wood precariously.
Tensile loads
4. The influence of the hinge structure on fastening materials
Second feature frame houses is the articulation of its design. The joints of the elements are subject to very strong not only vertical, but also lateral loads.
The nail takes out the side easily - steel is much stronger than wood.
Self-tapping screws are also stronger, but they are made of special steel - hard, but brittle. Any other material is not suitable for creating carvings. They withstand pull-off loads perfectly (unlike nails), but such loads on the frame are relatively few. Such loads are significant on external finishing elements attached to the frame and the like.
But the self-tapping screws may not be able to withstand shear (or shear) loads, and these are precisely the lateral loads that mainly act on the hinge joint. Brittle metal simply breaks.
Shear loads
5. Use of nails and screws in structures
Thus, we see that the use of nails is better in places where shear loads act primarily, namely where they are attached:
- Frame and ceiling beams
- Racks
- Rafter legs
In this case, nails are selected according to the thickness of the boards. To strengthen the connection, it is recommended to drive the nails at a certain angle. In addition, “reinforced” nails are often used - screw and ruff nails, on the surface of which there are additional threads and grooves that increase the “breaking” resistance.
Self-tapping screws are best used in places where pull-out loads apply:
- OSB fastening
- Minerals
- Siding
- Lathing
You also need to screw in the screws correctly, with the obligatory countersinking of the recess under the head:
For obvious reasons, corrosion resistance is very important for self-tapping screws. In critical components, it is preferable to use galvanized self-tapping screws.
6. Conclusion
Thus, we can conclude: the use of nails or screws should be chosen according to the design of the house. At joints experiencing shear loads, it is better to use nails, and for tensile loads, it is preferable to use self-tapping screws.