On Wed, 11 Apr 2012 18:37:51 -0500, Swingman wrote:

On 4/11/2012 6:33 PM, Larry Blanchard wrote:
On Wed, 11 Apr 2012 14:26:06 -0700, RP wrote:

Up here in the Northeast, if we are framing a house, we cannot use
screws. Must use nails or you will not pass the framing inspection.

That seems a little strange - what's the rational given, if any?

Nails generally have a greater shear strength than screws, thus the
requirement in some areas are very specific as to the nails used, their
size, makeup, and nailing patterns.

Using the right number and pattern of screws will achieve the same
thing. You need a larger screw to give the same strength, generally
speaking, because the root diameter if the screw is significantly less
than the nominal diameter, and the strength of the screw (yield) is
lowered by the stress rizers formed by the malformation of the metal
at the thread root. Screws COULD be made that were almost as strong as
the equivalent sized nail, but they would be way to expensive to be
practical. An "old school" wood screw is stronger than today's
"construction screw" or "deck screw" or, particularly, the "drywall
screw".

The holding ability of a screw excedes that of a nail in most cases -
but with a "deck screw" or "drywall screw" it also often excedes the
yield strength of the screw itself. An "ardox" nail is a compromize -
it's holding ability approaches that of a screw - with the overall
strength of a nail, but without the removeability of a screw. A guy
who used to work in construction with my dad used to drive screws with
a hammer - he said the funny head and other features of the screw were
just to make them easier to remove.
I learned the hard way that any carpentry (as opposed to ww) work I do,
someday I, or someone who comes after, will have to take it apart again.
I use screws for all that now.