Are These Boards A Good Choice? If So How To Attach

[ukanonymous]

Hey everyone hope your Xmas was great I sure put on a few pounds. I ordered loads of chocolate oranges from the uk hehe. Anyhow back to business :) the frame is very crudely finished and the only cool flat nboards we could find are these out door decking boards. Will they be OK do you think? They feel pretty solid. Anyway how do I attach these to keep it looking nice with no huge screw holes hehe. I am going to board around the back and sides of this too so same question applies there too. Thanky poos ;) http://imgur.com/gallery/eYmWgGF

[The Builder]

Hi UK,

The boards are fine, but it's going to be more difficult without screws.
50mm "oval nails" would only leave a small hole, but I really don't think that the supports are going to be able to stand all the hammering.

So, probably better to use a "grab adhesive."

https://www.screwfix.com/p/evo-stik-sticks-like-sh-t-turbo-grab-adhesive-white-290ml/4072P?tc=OA2&ds_kid=92700058176434302&ds_rl=1249416&gclid=CjwKCAiA57D_BRAZEiwAZcfCxeOoEGeqwXHhy_hXjawvYdofayhpQu0Z6i6owzjL7xeKqTiN7nFWRBoCzdYQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Applied with one of these....

https://www.screwfix.com/p/no-nonsense-sealant-gun/988hp

The main problem is that you're not going to get a perfectly level finish with these boards just butted together.

Ok so far?

[Canary42]

I've used decking boards for exterior shelves to hold plant troughs as window boxes, and had warping problems with one or two. Screwed into brackets from underneath so didn't show.

[ukanonymous]

Hey builder thanks. After just laying them it looks like we can get a level finish relatively. Let's say we were doing decking here how would you attach them? With nails? The grab adhesive us just the no nails right? I guess we could use the adhesive and lay something heavy on overnight. The frame is really strong we over killed the joints lol

[Ryzen]

You could screw from below with the correct size screw if you dont want holes in the top...or from above and then cover with ply to level it all up. You may need to put a few extra vertical legs in especially below the half lap joint.

[alavahalf]

The other option would be to add cross members where the boards end. Make sure they overlap so that both ends of the boards end up on the centre of the cross member.
Drill some clearance holes through the cross member.. 2 for each plank.
Clamp the boards in place and screw through the clearance holes from below.
.. no nail holes!

[alavahalf]

Sorry.. Ryzen was ahead of my typing. Wasn't going to burst you're bubble, but I would have added more uprights. Then to stabilise the whole bench maybe screw a sheet of ply onto your uprights... or have you already screwed them into the wall?

[ukanonymous]

Very interesting idea screwing from below. The wood from is 70mm and the wooden plank things are like 20mm. What size screws should I get? Can you get a dark colored filler so I can think about countersinking screws at all? Hehe

[The Builder]

I did think about screwing from below as in Homer's post above.
It's the obvious way to go, but what put me off was the thickness of the boards.
I guessed they looked around 20mm. A screw going about 15mm into the boards from underneath would hold, but only as long as the timber doesn't try to warp and "curl".

I would be much happier screwing down from the top.
I'd use these...

https://www.screwfix.com/p/quicksilver-pz-double-countersunk-woodscrews-6-x-2-200-pack/13733

(In France - the metric equivalent would be 3.5 x 50mm)
3.5 size has quite a small head.
With your new cordless screwdriver... lean on the driver with both hands and let it drive the head of the screw right into the timber, so that the head of the screw lies about 5mm below the surface.
Then...
I guess there are all kinds of brown fillers around, but I just use something like this...

Amazon.com User Recommendation

If you run a small sander (I use a "palm" sander) over it afterwards, you'd be surprised at how the holes can be less obvious.

One thing... pre-drill the timber for each screw. Although these screws say that no "pilot" hole is necessary, I disagree. The screw goes in a lot easier, and more accurately with a pilot hole.
In a previous post I said 3mm holes. That was a mistake... use 4mm holes with these screws.

[ukanonymous]

Ok uilder thank you I do feel better doing it that way :)