Any tips for removing screws holding down deck boards? They are black
drywall type screws about 3" long. Most were countersunk, covered with
putty, then the deck was painted. I'm near the ocean, so most are also
very rusted.
I took out one row of boards last night. I started with a small
screwdriver to pop out the putty, then used a broken dental pick to
scrape out the screw head. I then blew it out and hammered in a P2
bit. I slipped on the impact driver with a magnetic bit holder, leaned
into it, and pulled the trigger. 1/3 came out, 1/3 snapped, and 1/3
were too rusted and stripped the head. Snapped is ok. I then used pry
bars and muscle to get the boards out. Since there is significant rot
in some of the joists, some came out easy. My concern is damaging the
joists that are not rotted.
I tried a Grabber bit, but that was a lot of work to break the head.
I'm considering a small hole saw without a pilot bit to just bore around
the screw. I should get far enough through the deck board that it won't
offer much resistance. I also thought about trying to drill off the
screw head, but think that will take more effort than the hole saw.
The 2x6 deck boards will not be used again, so I'm not too concerned
about damage to them. I do want to do all I can to save the joists in
good shape since this is a cantilevered balcony and those joists hold up
my second floor.
Since pictures help, you can see one at
http://home.earthlink.net/~bk13/insulate/backDSCN3612.jpg
To restore the structure as is, I will have to take out the ceiling
below and sister new joists to the floor joists to replace the rotted
cantilevered sections.
Posts to support the deck are not desired as I have a septic tank in the
way at one end and the other end is steep slope. I also have very
little flat yard, so want to keep it as is. The contractor I talked to
said posts at the slope end would require caissons and it would be much
cheaper to take out then replace my downstairs ceiling than try and put
in posts. I'm dealing with Southern California building code.
Thanks,
Brian Kemp
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