It’s easy to overlook fasteners; but try to build a house without any, and you’ll quickly see how important they are.
With that in mind, we wanted to properly award innovation in this category. It may not be as glamorous as a new cordless impact driver, but it just might be more significant in the industry—and choosing well might just save you thousands of dollars in call-backs and punch list work.
And besides, good fasteners are cool—especially when they include a never-before-seen type of bit head. Read on to find out more.
Winner: Fasteners—Nails, Framing
Senco ProHead 34° Offset Full Round Head Collated Nails
What they say: Senco’s new offset full round head nail is a 34˚ paper taped collated nail and has an improved head design that is two times more robust than competitive products and helps prevent head cracking, leading to a more secure and lasting connection. Because the ProHead® is uniquely engineered with a robust head configuration it beats competitors’ offset full round head in head pull through testing. Each nail uses Sencote®, a proprietary coating that acts as a lubricant to ensure more fully completed drives, and as an adhesive.
What we say: These offset full round head nails are tough. They drive solidly and tend to stay down. Fasteners are important, as anyone knows who’s dealt with pulled boards and proud heads on decks and other framed lumber. What we like most is the thick head on these nails that can take a beating—and provide extra hold on boards and dimensional lumber. Don’t take nails for granted!
Winner: Fasteners—Screws, Decking
Outlaw Fasteners World’s Best Deck Screw
What they say: The World’s Best Deck Screw by Outlaw Fasteners is a revolutionary product that allows the use of just one bit for all screw diameters from 5/64″ to 1/2″. The Outlaw Deck Screw won’t wobble or fall off of the non-magnetic bit, so you can drive a screw with just one hand. The head of the Outlaw Deck Screw has up to 18 points of contact (Philips has six), which virtually eliminates stripping and/or “camout”.
What we say: While only available in limited quantities in 2013, we couldn’t help but handing Outlaw Fasteners the decking screw award for innovation. After all, we haven’t ever seen a bit like this before, and it’s a solid statement as to what extent construction industry professionals will go to build a better mousetrap…or bit. We got to test these fasteners and the multiple points of contact truly do stand up well to camout, as does the multi-step design of both the bit and the screw head. Innuendos aside, you truly get a good screw out of Outlaw Fasteners.
Winner: Fasteners—Screws, Subfloor
Paslode TetraGrip™ Subfloor Fastening System
What they say: Based on the knowledge that floor squeaks are primarily caused by relative movement between the subfloor material and the fastener, Paslode developed the innovative TetraGrip™ Fastening System. The revolutionary system features a specialized, pneumatic coil nailer and a unique fastener with a patent-pending, barb-threaded design that rotates as it drives to bond with wood fibers. This advanced design allows the fastener to drive like a nail and hold like a screw, eliminating subfloor nail squeaks.
What we say: We hate those random squeaks you get on your subfloor due to movement of the sheet good along a fastener. Paslode has really eliminated that with the TetraGrip Subfloor Fastening System. We’ve used this system (which really includes the nailer, but the innovation is in the fastener) and it really does work. Because it’s effective and innovative and solves a major problem we’ve all encountered, it was easy to hand the award to Paslode for this great line of products.
