Holmes again

Bob S.

Member
Howdy,
I was just watching Holmes on Homes and the wife chased me out of the living room. It seems without me noticing, I yell at the TV when Holmes is on. He was working on a stud wall and while popping hemmerroids trying to pull out a bent nail, he said that screws hold better than nails in a shear application. I will bet that a cement coated nail will hold better than a screw in conventionaly built stud walls. He is talking about shear and lateral strength, I say if you build the wall and put pressure to rack the wall the screws will pull out and break. I use screws a lot too but not like Holmes does. What do you guys think?
 
Comparing apples to apples? Meaning a screw with the same size shank as the nail? Screws do snap pretty easy where a nail will flex and hold under a shear load. Seems to me like screws the same length as a corresponding nail have a thinner shank than the nail unless there are different screw sizes out there that I don't know of. I found out the hard way plain old galvanized nails work better in a hayrack floor because screws of the same length as the nails tend to snap off from the flexing.

On this last cattle shed remodeling project I did I used mainly torx headed screws just because my arthritic right thumb doesn't like a hammer. I do have a little bit of an uneasy feeling about it just because of the fact that screws can snap under severe stress. Jim
 
I hear that. Holmes is a loud mouth and is Mr. Perfect.....So he says.
I would like to put him in the environment that I work in and yell in his face.
 
Screws are generaly not for structural use, a nail will perform better, although those little itty bitty skinny nails that come out of nail guns are not all that great unless 3 or 4 are fired in where one good'ol hammered in nail would have done. So I can see where Holmes preferes to throw a screw in to hold things together, then follow up with a few nails.
I for one am glad to see a home reno show where things are 'done right' I do agree with Holmes on that. These 'fast repairs' these days are bandaids and a waste of time and money. Just like that roof product that is put on with a roller, extends the life of the roof... ha what a joke.
 
I've been a Carpenter for over 40 years and I agree--screws have very little SHEAR strength. For deck boards, they are fine; for walls, not so much. One thing that really bugs me is the use of OSB for roof sheathing. This stuff will NOT hold nails. I've talked to my insurance man about this and he was unaware of this. My house has been near the path of tornadoes twice in the last 40 years; one time it even pulled the chimney liner out of it's boot on the roof. BUT I didn't lose a shingle! These programs make me laugh, especially when they show construction workers and truck drivers; the editors are essentially clueless.
 
Hello smart arse guy,
That Holmes is a tough guy, see him demo dry wall with his fists? In one show while hitting dry wall he hit a stud.....twice. He did say ouch though! I guess he though he was stronger then the 2x4 under it! The crew also is tough, the demo the drywall with their feet?
Reality TV.................... really?
Guido.
 
Only a monkey would demo drywall with their fists, that is what tools are for. Wrecking bar, hammer, chisel too.
A kid can kick drywall out with their tennis shoes.
In terms of strongmen competition can that Holmes guy do what a real lumberjack does, climb trees, cut down a tree with an Axe? A buddy of mine is good friends with a guy that is 6' 8" 320 pounds, The biggest white guy I have ever seen, A real Paul Bunyan. He used to do tree work.
 
I put my whole house together with 3" drywall screws 18 years ago.It i still as good as the day i build it.
I did some remodelling over the years.Sure handy when i can take a wall out incl the drywall without wrecking things and use the studs and most of the drywall again.
I can asure you that screws hold way better than nails ever will.
Nail guns work fast but do a poor job IMO
 
When I'm building wood concrete forms that I'm worried about blowing out, I use 3" screws for the framing.

If it's not that intense I nail the framing.

Screws hold substantially more than nails, but they're substantially more expensive to purchase and labor intensive to install.

I think they would be just fine for wall framing, but it seems like structural overkill.
 
I think that Holmes is full of himself, which is common in that field. He dismisses code as minimum code, pushing his way as something superiour to code. Many of the units that he completely guts could have been done without throwing away everything done, and he does overkill. I watched an episode where the insurance company would only pay to rebuild the home to original condition. He argued that the owners should have stone countertop, but that isn't how insurance works, and Mike should know. If you have laminate counter tops, and because of an insurable event they must be replaced, the insurance company isn't going to give you marble. If the insurance won't pay for a change that is needed to bring the structure to actual code, or is no longer manufactured, as a contractor, he should call them to request an upgrade, which is a battle that often ends with victory, but not something like saying that the kitchen should have stone countertops. If the wiring which met code when the house was built is now below code, I would have no issue calling the insurance company and they would likely agree, if the code has changed, but, if you had laminate countertops, at the end of the job, you will either pay the difference out of pocket or have a laminate counter top.I also didn't like how he appeard on Ellen. Does he also push the abomination? My dad is a retired contractor, and like the show, or it would never show in this house, but even his methods are over the top with excessive cost for anyone doing home improvements. I saw the episode where the nails a screws happened. It was the one where he featured Ellen. If he is having that much trouble driving those nails, he ought to at least drill a pilot hole and use a hammer to drive a 16p nail. If he can't do that much, perhaps he should hange up his tool belt up in the measum of Hollywood contractors.
 

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