How To Know What Type Of Fastener Is Right For Your Project

Having the right construction fastener is crucial to completing any project. While this is second nature to most tradespeople, new technological developments mean the variations of fasteners now available on the market can make your head spin if you’re not careful.

To understand what fasteners to use on every project, it’s important to know what options are available and the factors to consider when deciding.

Common Types of Fasteners

A fastener, simply put, is any mechanical tool used to join two separate materials together, usually in a non-permanent way (as opposed to permanent alternatives such as welding, glueing or cement).

Fasteners are a key part of many jobs, creating a clean and secure finish. Here are some popular types of fasteners you’ll see across many common jobs.

Nails

The simplest of all fasteners is the trusty nail. Particularly popular in woodwork and carpentry, nails are a quick and easy way to stick two objects together.

The big benefit of nails is their ease of use – it takes little preparation and doesn’t need the support of things like bolts. Nails are also very cheap compared to other fasteners, at least when multiplied over hundreds of jobs.

The disadvantage of using nails is that they are not as strong as other options, such as screws, so are only suited to certain jobs. Also, nails can be harder to remove, so are suited to more permanent applications.

Screws

Screws are probably the most widely-used fastener out there. Incredibly versatile and easy to use with a few tools, screws come with threads that provide a much-improved grip compared to a simple nail.

The big upside to screws is their comparative strength compared to nails which, alongside their ease of use, make them great for simple fastenings that need to withstand long-term forces (such as the gravity pull against a shelf). Screws are also easily removed compared to nails.

A slight downside is that many screws require more tools and preparation, such as pre-drilling, compared to the simplicity of a nail. Screws by themselves also won’t have the same level of strength as the following fasteners.

Nuts, Bolts and Washers

A step up from the simple screw. Washers – thin plates that sit between the fastener head and the material – can be used alongside screws to help create a stronger fix while also protecting the surface.

Similar to washers, nuts and bolts screw together on each side of the surfaces to create a strong, secure hold. The thread in a bolt is often less sharp compared to a screw’s thread, which can make it more durable long-term.

Nuts and bolts often have increased strength and durability – particularly against vibrations – compared to screws, making them suitable for more heavy-duty applications. They also tend to be easier to remove and replace without damaging the fastened materials.

One of the downsides of using nuts and bolts is that it requires access to both sides of the materials being fastened, which isn’t possible in some applications. Bolts also tend to use larger bodies compared to screws, which might not be suited to certain materials and applications.

Masonry/Concrete Anchor

Including features of both nails and screws, anchors are fasteners designed specifically for fixing something to masonry or concrete. They come in many styles – from plastic wall plugs to more complex throughbolt – but commonly work by being hammered into a pre-drilled hole before being screwed, which expands the anchor inside the hole, gripping the masonry for a secure fit.

Anchors like these are designed to spread the load through surfaces, which makes them suited to heavy-duty applications involving masonry and concrete, but could cause problems if used in other materials such as wood.

Factors to Consider When Choosing a Fastener

Within the common fasteners explained above, you will find an immense number of variations for specific tasks. It’s not enough to know whether your project requires a screw or a nail, you need to know which specific screw or nail is required.

Here are some of the crucial factors to weigh up when deciding which fastener is right for a specific job.

Materials

First and foremost, it’s important to understand what materials you’re fastening and how they might react to different fasteners.

Wood is a classically temperamental material that not only expands and contracts but can also split if not treated carefully. When working with wood, you need to take care not to split it with an oversized fastener like nuts and bolts, and consider whether your fastener can withstand any fluctuations. Specific wood screws are useful here.

Likewise, screwing directly into concrete can make it liable to crack, so drilling and using an anchor to spread the load is important.

Expected Load

How much force you expect to be placed on the fixing will play a big role in deciding your fastener. Nails are great when there’s little force expected (such as in carpentry), but for more heavy-duty applications, the other fasteners are almost always preferred.

Various types of screws are very good at withstanding long-term forces. However, for particularly heavy-duty applications, and those where significant vibrations are expected, nuts and bolts may be a better option.

External Conditions

The location where your fastening will live is usually one of the last things to consider but it can’t be ignored. While it won’t usually dictate what fastening you go for, it will impact the specific style of that fastening.

Every fastener comes in different materials suited to different locations. If you’re fastening something external, you’ll need to make sure it’s protected against corrosion from the elements that could cause it to weaken over time.

With all this knowledge, you should be able to make more confident decisions regarding what fasteners to turn to in different situations. Of course, you should do specific research before each job, but this information will hopefully speed up your process.

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