rowanr88•1mo agoProlific Poster

PSA: Hit 100 drywall screws in one square foot and it blew my mind

I was patching a hole in my living room last weekend and got curious how many screws I actually put in. Grabbed my phone and counted 104 screws in a single square foot around a ceiling crack. No joke. I was so focused on making sure nothing budged that I went way overboard. Now I'm wondering how many of those are just stress points waiting to crack later. A buddy who works in framing said anything over 20 per square foot is overkill and can actually weaken the board. Has anyone else done this and found a bunch of extra screws in their work?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_sage1mo ago

Can weaken the board" - is that true or just old framer wisdom?

patricia_hill601mo ago

Counted 87 in a patch job once and felt like a moron after. You really only need like 6-8 per square foot for a solid hold. All those extras are just creating weak spots where the paper can tear. Take a guess and say you probably added 80 screws that are doing more harm than good.

wadejenkins1mo ago

Isn't that how everything works these days though? Like we all just assume more is better until somebody actually does the math and realizes we've been wasting time and materials on stuff that makes things worse.