It's one of the age-old carpentry questions: when to use screws? When to use nails? And sometimes there's no consensus. The DIY experts at at Stack Exchange are here to help. Is there a case where ...

Measure an equal distance from each end of the deck, allowing for an overhang (if desired), and snap a chalk line as a guide for the first row of decking. Align the first row with the chalk line and ...

I was blessed by God to learn my craft of building and remodeling in Cincinnati. The first few years of my career had me working on houses that were close to 100 years old. I have no recollection of ...

Recently, a deck collapsed near where I live, and people were seriously injured. The report blamed the failure on the use of nails that had corroded and couldn’t hold the weight. Could this be right?

It’s time to settle an age-old debate: nails vs. screws. Both are a form of ancient wood-fastening technology that still get the job done today. But how do you know which one to use for any given ...

Many years ago I wrote a blog post detailing one of the most common deck defects that I find: improper joist hanger nails. The issue detailed in that blog post was the use of 1-½" nails in places ...

Q. When we nail near the end of a piece, or nail or screw in the side edge, we often see a small split created by the fastener. Why is this and what can we do? With MDF, the fastener in an edge seems ...