Buying decent screws (avoiding rounded heads)?

JustAnotherSaver

The previous owner of this house seemed to love doing 1 thing .... rounding screw heads. The amount of things we've needed to unscrew at one time or another & when we've come to them it's been a PITA each time. Unreal.

To me screws are just screws but i imagine that's not the case & there's likely 'decent' screws out there that are at the very least harder to round the heads? I guess if you just use the wrong bit & keep going with the power drill like a maniac then you'll round anything, but all that aside..........?

I don't mind paying a bit more (within reason). I just don't want a repeat of all of this. I doubt i'll be removing my doors every other week but even still. Is there a brand or something that i should be searching for?

Or are screws really just screws? :rotfl:& no such thing exists?

Browntoa

I find torx head screws tend not to get rounded when first put in

JustAnotherSaver

I forgot to add what i'm actually using them for...

Just simple interior door hinges & door locks.

Silver-Surfer_2

JustAnotherSaver wrote: »

I forgot to add what i'm actually using them for...

Just simple interior door hinges & door locks.

You can get cheap, midrange and premium priced screws. Half the damage is done when the but cams out when putting them in, it's either down to using cheap bits or not drilling a pilot hole.

What finish is your iron work? Painted hinges? Slotted will give you a traditional look.

Screwfix will probably be your best bet.

shaun_from_Africa

A couple of the most common reasons for damaged screw heads isn't the quality of the screws themselves but the condition of the screwdriver being used or someone using the wrong type of driver for the screw concerned.
A good quality Phillips or Pozidriv/Posidrive/Posidrive (depending on the spelling used by the company concerned) shouldn't cause damage to the screws being used but the problems start when a worn driver is used or someone tries to use a Pozidrive driver on a Phillips head screw, something that can damage the screw very easily.

Grenage

As above, it's almost always down to someone using the wrong screwdriver for the screw head.

I also love Torx, and use them whenever possible.

phill99

Try Spax or Reisser

Jonesya

I find even basic screws like Screwfix's single thread Gold-screw, or Silver screws, or the equivalent cheap Toolstation screws are fine for most things and rarely round off.

Only time I come close to rounding off screw heads is if the screw driver bit is worn, or if the screw is over-sized for the wall-plug so very tight.

Worth buying a set of screw driver bits and changing them from time to time.

anotheruser

For most things, I just use good 'old fashioned elbow-grease.
I rarely use my drill for this reason; and by the time you've faffed about getting the right drill bit on and all that, you could have just screwed it in.

JustAnotherSaver

Yeah i can understand the one about the wrong bits being used.

Numerous times in the past few months i've had to point out to my wife that she's using not only pozi on a philips or philips on a pozi (usual one) but also the bit being used is too small (most screws we've had are pz2 & she's been using a philips 1 for example).

A mistake i used to make myself until someone pointed out where i was going wrong.

chrisw

JustAnotherSaver wrote: »

Numerous times in the past few months i've had to point out to my wife that she's using not only pozi on a philips or philips on a pozi (usual one) but also the bit being used is too small (most screws we've had are pz2 & she's been using a philips 1 for example).

I bet that went down well. :eek:


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