Old timer told me to predrill deck boards - I argued for 2 years and now I owe him an apology

A master carpenter named Lenny at the lumber yard told me back in 2019 that I had to predrill every single deck board or I'd get cracks. I thought he was being old school and stubborn, so I kept using screws direct for like 15 decks. Fast forward to last month, I replaced a 3 year old deck I built and saw splits running right down the middle of 8 boards. Lenny was right all along, now I predrill everything and my joints stay tight. Has anyone else had a veteran carpenter call them out on something and later find out they were dead on?

2 comments

2 Comments

elliotc109d ago

Predrill every single board" is a bit much, Lenny probably only meant the edges.

elliotc109d ago

Pick up on that exact thing all the time. It's like how people say "just do some light stretching" before a workout but really mean "don't hurt yourself". Or how someone says "a little salt" in a recipe but you know they actually mean a generous sprinkle. There's this whole code where we say one thing but mean the scaled back version, especially in online forums. Usually the person giving the tip has good intentions, they just can't be bothered to type out every little exception. So you end up with advice that sounds absolute when it's really just a rough guideline.