Screw guns for decking and drywall

Most people don’t understand why a person would screw the floor decking plywood down in a new home, especially when the decking is glued and nailed when it’s installed. I’m going to relate a personal story with you about why it needs to be done.

I live in a home that I put a major (2,500-square-foot) addition on 16 years ago. Of course, I used manufactured joists and OSB for the decking. It was glued and nailed when installed during dry conditions. So, what’s the problem?

In a room that is 36-by-26-feet, the deck has developed four areas that now squeak when walked on. Had I glued and screwed the decking down, I wouldn’t have had this problem. I now have to wait until re-carpeting to screw the decking down. A mistake on my part, but nobody screwed decks down back then. Now, we screw down not only decks but walls to the decking. After building new custom homes for the past 30-plus years, I might be finally getting it right.

I have a couple of tools especially designed for screwing down decks inside and outside of the home. The Muro North America Company of Brampton, Ontario, Canada, makes tools for solving the deck screw installation problem. We have a Muro Vslider FDVL41 Speed Driver screw gun. This is a dedicated tool for installing collated screws from 1 to 3 inches in length into floor decking and outdoor decking. This model features a drum magazine that will carry a coil of 150 screws of different lengths. It’s great for getting lots of work done without reloading, and using it is a breeze in the standup position with the added rod handle extension provided.

This tool is a bit bulky for getting into some tight stud spaces because of the drum. But one gets used to it real fast realizing how easy it is to screw the deck down so quickly. I suppose if you’re really clumsy you could step on the screw drum, though.

This is a well-built tool that is easily adjusted for different specifications. Changing to different lengths of screws and drive bits is a very straightforward, easy-to-do job. Though this screw gun is for decks and walls, there’s no reason you couldn’t use it for screwing sheetrock and cement board into place. Makes fast work out of a real boring job.

The other Muro tool is a CH7392SF Ultra Pro Auto Feed Screwdriver. It is made up of a Makita 6823 sheetrock screw gun and the CH7392SF Ultra Pro II driver tool. It uses 1- to 2-inch screws in 30 count collated strip form. The Ultra Pro Driver tool is quite small, so it will fit into the tightest spaces.

If you were to purchase the CH7390 that will drive 1 ½- to 3-inch screws versus the CH7392SF I believe it will be more versatile because of a greater selection of screw sizes. On a recent job I found the CH7392SF to be a real time saver when screwing on cement board. But with the CH7390 you can screw sheetrock in the morning and decking in the afternoon with the same gun. One of the most important reasons a contractor buys a tool is whether it will pay for itself and make my job easier. And the more uses a tool has means less stuff in the truck to deal with.

Muro also supplies a full line of fasteners for these guns, whether it’s for sheetrock, decking or cement board, and square, Torx, or Phillips drive heads. They can supply the product to suit your needs. A glued and screwed deck is a must to ensure a floor that is as quiet as possible. Only a concrete floor will be quieter than when you screw down your decking down with a Muro Screw Gun.