Advantages of TORX® Screws for Your Decking Applications

When it comes to deck­ing instal­la­tions, indus­try experts know that choos­ing top-tier fas­ten­ers is crit­i­cal for long-last­ing results. Opt­ing for sub­par screws can jeop­ar­dize the struc­tur­al integri­ty of your deck, lead­ing to poten­tial fail­ures. Select­ing the per­fect fas­ten­er that aligns with your project’s spe­cif­ic demands, how­ev­er, can feel like a daunt­ing task — until you con­sid­er the advan­tages of TORX® screws.

Many con­trac­tors rely on TORX screws for their out­door struc­tur­al projects because of their reli­a­bil­i­ty — they out­per­form stan­dard screws in numer­ous ways, mak­ing them a go-to choice for professionals. 

Understanding The TORX Screw Difference

TORX screws have become the first choice of indus­try pro­fes­sion­als because of their inno­v­a­tive design and excep­tion­al performance. 

The supe­ri­or grip pro­vid­ed by the unique 6‑point, star-shaped head makes instal­la­tion easy and improves the strength and dura­bil­i­ty of any type of decking.

5 Benefits of The TORX Screw

Exam­in­ing the advan­tages of the TORX screw sys­tem for deck­ing appli­ca­tions will help you under­stand why they’re the ide­al choice for a pro­fes­sion­al-grade deck that will last. 

1. Enhanced Performance

Deck­ing fas­ten­ers have to per­form in extreme weath­er and oth­er harsh con­di­tions. Indus­try experts choose TORX screws because they know they can count on them to per­form and last no mat­ter the conditions. 

The unique design of the TORX screw head makes it pos­si­ble to get high­er torque dur­ing instal­la­tion, which means bet­ter per­for­mance and durability.

Phillips head or slot­ted dri­ve screws have a ten­den­cy to cause slip­page and strip­ping dur­ing instal­la­tion, reduc­ing their abil­i­ty to per­form under pres­sure. TORX screws are durable enough to per­form well in high-stress appli­ca­tions that require a secure con­nec­tion for strength and longevi­ty.

2. Reduced Cam-Out Effect 

TORX screws are sig­nif­i­cant­ly less like­ly to expe­ri­ence cam-out because of the hex head design of the screw. The sig­na­ture TORX head design makes the screws more reli­able and less prone to strip­ping than Phillips or oth­er types of screws.

Hav­ing a reduced cam-out effect allows for eas­i­er instal­la­tion and reduced labor costs on site. Less cam-out also means less mate­r­i­al dam­age and few­er screws need­ed for instal­la­tion, help­ing save on mate­r­i­al costs.

3. Better Installation Speed

TORX screws have bet­ter pre­ci­sion than oth­ers because their shape allows for a high-pre­ci­sion fit between the screw and the driver. 

The enhanced pre­ci­sion, high­er torque and reduced cam-out ensure that your crew can install deck­ing quick­ly and eas­i­ly with­out sac­ri­fic­ing accu­ra­cy or aesthetics. 

Using TORX fas­ten­ers will save you mon­ey on labor with­out affect­ing the qual­i­ty of the work being done.

4. Corrosion Resistance

Cor­ro­sion-resis­tant deck screws are just as cru­cial as cor­ro­sion-resis­tant wood or deck­ing mate­r­i­al for main­tain­ing durability.

Cor­ro­sion resis­tance is anoth­er key fea­ture of TORX screws. Con­trac­tors must select weath­er- and cor­ro­sion-resis­tant deck­ing mate­ri­als to ensure they can main­tain their strength and appear­ance regard­less of the elements.

The most cor­ro­sion-resis­tant mate­r­i­al options for out­door deck­ing fas­ten­ers include:

• Stain­less Steel: Stain­less steel fas­ten­ers are very cor­ro­sion-resis­tant and won’t rust even in harsh salt­wa­ter envi­ron­ments, mak­ing them strong and reli­able for deck­ing applications. 
• Gal­va­nized Steel: Hot-dipped gal­va­nized steel fas­ten­ers are coat­ed with a thick lay­er of zinc for the ulti­mate rust pro­tec­tion. They’re afford­able and work well in a vari­ety of cli­mates. How­ev­er, they aren’t as good as stain­less steel for very wet envi­ron­ments, and the coat­ing can wear off over time.
• Coat­ed Car­bon Steel: Coat­ed car­bon steel fas­ten­ers work well in var­i­ous cli­mates and are typ­i­cal­ly more afford­able than oth­er types of mate­r­i­al. They have an epoxy or ceram­ic coat­ing to pre­vent cor­ro­sion and are great for resist­ing rust and chem­i­cals in treat­ed wood. How­ev­er, they can lose their coat­ing over time.
• Alu­minum: Because of their light­weight qual­i­ties, indus­try pro­fes­sion­als typ­i­cal­ly choose alu­minum fas­ten­ers for jobs where weight is a con­cern. While they’re cor­ro­sion-resis­tant and easy to han­dle, they are not as strong as oth­er fas­ten­ers and may cor­rode if used with treat­ed lumber.

Importance of Corrosion Resistance in Decking

Choos­ing cor­ro­sion-resis­tant fas­ten­ers for deck­ing will impact the struc­tur­al integri­ty and dura­bil­i­ty of the deck. The cor­ro­sion resis­tance of the fas­ten­ers used can impact:

• Longevi­ty of the Struc­ture: Over time, cor­ro­sion can weak­en screws in a deck and cause it to fail or become struc­tural­ly unsta­ble. Using cor­ro­sion-resis­tant screws ensures that the deck will stay safe and sta­ble over time, even if it’s exposed to severe weath­er or temperatures. 
• Pre­ven­tion of Wood Dam­age: When screws become cor­rod­ed, they can stain or dis­col­or the wood they’re secur­ing. Rust leach­ing can ruin the appear­ance of the deck and degrade the wood around the screws, caus­ing instability.
• Resis­tance to Harsh Weath­er Con­di­tions: Decks must with­stand all kinds of severe weath­er, from freez­ing cold to extreme heat, high winds, rain and humid­i­ty. Con­trac­tors should choose cor­ro­sion-resis­tant fasters to ensure the deck’s strength and sta­bil­i­ty lasts over time.
• Struc­tur­al Safe­ty: If con­trac­tors use screws that aren’t cor­ro­sion resis­tant, the screws’ abil­i­ty to hold weight will dimin­ish over time. This can lead to an unsta­ble deck or struc­tur­al failure. 
• Cost-Effec­tive­ness: The up-front cost of using cor­ro­sion-resis­tant TORX screws may be slight­ly high­er. How­ev­er, in the long run, they will save mon­ey because they reduce the need for ongo­ing main­te­nance, repairs and replace­ments in the future. 
• Com­pat­i­bil­i­ty with Treat­ed Lum­ber: Home­own­ers may select pres­sure-treat­ed wood for their decks — this mate­r­i­al con­tains chem­i­cals that can cause screws to cor­rode. To main­tain the deck’s struc­tur­al integri­ty, con­trac­tors need to incor­po­rate cor­ro­sion-resis­tant screws into the design.

5. Aesthetic Considerations

Dura­bil­i­ty isn’t the only impor­tant fac­tor when choos­ing deck­ing screws. The aes­thet­ic val­ue of the fin­ished deck depends on the screws that are used and how pre­cise­ly they fit, espe­cial­ly if the deck­ing mate­r­i­al has a unique appearance. 

TORX screws per­fect­ly bal­ance per­for­mance with aes­thet­ics, ensur­ing the deck is not only durable but beautiful.

Flush Finish With Decking Surface

The star-shaped TORX head allows con­trac­tors to have pre­cise con­trol over the screw instal­la­tion, allow­ing it to sit per­fect­ly flush with the deck sur­face with­out over­driv­ing or dam­ag­ing the sur­round­ing deck­ing. The look of the fin­ished deck will be clean, smooth and uni­form across the entire surface.

Minimizing Visible Fasteners for Cleaner Look

TORX screws are made with dif­fer­ent size heads, let­ting builders choose a size that will blend seam­less­ly into the deck­ing mate­r­i­al. For deck jobs where the home­own­er has cho­sen com­pos­ite decks, TORX screws can be fit with col­or-matched heads. This helps min­i­mize the appear­ance of the screws, blend­ing them into the deck­ing for a clean and sophis­ti­cat­ed fin­ished look.

Find the Right Solution for Your Next Project With FastenMaster

At Fas­ten­Mas­ter, we under­stand the project pain points indus­try pro­fes­sion­als face on a day-to-day basis. 

We are ded­i­cat­ed to pro­vid­ing var­i­ous struc­tur­al fas­ten­ing prod­ucts designed with con­trac­tors’ needs in mind. Our inno­v­a­tive solu­tions make your jobs eas­i­er and allow you to exceed your cus­tomers’ expec­ta­tions with­out hassle. 

Ready to start build­ing with increased effi­cien­cy and dura­bil­i­ty? Explore our range of high-qual­i­ty fas­ten­ers and fas­ten­ing sys­tems to find the right one to make your next deck­ing instal­la­tion a breeze.