Old timer told me to stop over-torquing my deck screws, saved me 2 hours of stripping

Met a guy named Frank at the lumber yard in Akron last week who saw me buying a new impact driver. He said I was wrecking my screws by cranking them down too hard and to just use a regular drill on low speed. Tried it on my last deck repair job and didn't strip a single screw head, way faster than prying out busted ones. Anyone else had an old school trick like that fix their workflow?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_miles1mo ago

Read something similar on a DIY forum, saved me a ton of hassle too.

brookep621mo ago

I mean, dont get me wrong, stripping screws is annoying but is it really that big of a deal? Ive been over torquing for years and maybe strip one every twenty screws. Plus prying out a busted screw takes what, an extra 30 seconds tops? Seems like Frank was just giving basic common sense advice not some life changing secret.