I am putting down a hardwood deck and using EB-TY. These things are
, for sure. I am so bummed that I got these. Plastic is not the material I would use for this application. They make a metal one that screws straight down, I should have gotten that one.
I have never seen FHB do a comparison of these attachment systems. I guess they can’t call out EB-TY because they advertise in the magazine?
Predrilling, screwing in at a 45 degree angle, and then having to screw around with EB-TY’s cause they don’t sit properly, what a mess. I am sure there will be someone who is a fan of this system, power to you, but the system is a total joke.
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Yup, used deckmaster in the past, other than a sore neck and a learning curve for butt joints, they were easy. Just used EB's for the first time, not as fast as I anticipated they would be and a little more fickle than I had expected. Once I figured them out they were not that bad. The biggest downside I saw was that they still required alot of screws and plugs. Even though I thought I had a couple of tricks that may have avoided this(they would not work effectively). So the upside of the deckmaster was the fact that I had virtually no face screws/plugs(accept where a 1x4 fell on a doubler at the rim). I even did all of the stairs with the deckmasters, 5 years later still like new!
Oh FineHomebuilding did do a comparison on these concealed systems a while back, may have been a couple of years now, but I do recall it....
I was thinking more along the lines of these two products:http://www.splitstop.com/PRODUCTS/deckease.ASPhttp://www.woodbymail.com/deck_clip.php?pid=107801and alsohttp://www.woodbymail.com/invisifast_deck_fasteners.phpThe best one looks like deck clip, as far as speed and ease of installation goes. The only drawback is that it only comes in one spacing size. You could probably account for a wider spacing by using a homemade spacer when using this product.
How big a deck are you talking and what is it's height off of the ground?
Have you seen the new ebty with a steel shank built into it???
I do not see that these any stronger than the ebty? Maybe a little easier do to vertical screwing, but I also think that is what creates some strength. Otherwise you are counting on platis alone to be stronger than the IPE, doubt that will happen.
I did not see the eb-ty with steel shank when I ordered it online. Would have definitely done that.
In planning a new deck I want to use a hidden fasteners system and the EB-TY looks good, but it is plastic. I found the following which is basicly the same thing but Stainless Steel. Any body use this product?
http://www.deckfastener.com/products_tc120.asp
Kevin
Edited 7/9/2009 11:50 am ET by Goffer