Eigenvector wrote:
When you guys do wood repairs, do you use nails or screws? Obviously I'm
not talking about trim molding but rather things like hanging drywall,
repairing damaged boards, mounting fixtures to framing, heck even building
shelving and bookcases??

I'm one of those screw kinds of guys, mostly because my skill with a hammer
sucks pretty badly. Its simple to put in a screw and in my mind a lot more
secure and reversable with minimal damage to the wood. Again that might be
based on my sucky stills with the ol' hammer but give me a power drill and I
can hang drywall all day. Give me a hammer and I can break my thumb on the
first hit, the second hit breaks the drywall, the third hit puts the nail
just inside of the stud and bends the head.

I'm just like you. Last home job I did was flooring the attic space and
I used hammer and nails and must have bent and trashed more than I put in!

I did use screws on the deck I built outside because, like you said, I
think they are stronger and hold better (not to mention the thumb
thing). But I must say that I sometimes think that they hold too well.
Much of the decking is relatively long runs (say 10-12ft) and with the
temperature and moisture expansion of the wood I seem to have a lot of
splits and more open grain then I would like. I think that may be from
the screws binding up the wood too much but I don't know for sure.

If you have a nail gun, that's probably the way to go. I rented one for
a fence project and that made all the difference.

Hope that helps.

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