Review on 🔩 Improved GRK ProPak Multipurpose Screws - Large 425 Count Pack for Enhanced Convenience by Jacob Diego

UPDATE: After a few months I had to remove some decking boards and was horrified to find that some of the GRK screws were broken. Not as many as TrapEase screws, but is it really that hard to make screws that don't break? The end of one board popped out completely because both GRK screws broke off. To make matters worse, I had a leak around my wood paneled chimney and used GRK screws to attach the plastic under the 2" wood siding boards as a temporary fix. When I removed the plastic less than 2 months later, several GRK screws broke. These screws were not meant to be stressed and held the 2x1 planks and were screwed into what used to be the nail holes, then why the heck did they break? I used other GRK screws to clamp the plastic between two 2x6 planks, and one each Screw screwed in 6 inches or so without pre-drilling, and about 10% of it was broken when I removed it. I can only assume that they broke while driving due to the lack of pre-drilling. Since these screws have special tips that should eliminate the need for pre-drilling, a 10% gap without pre-drilling is ridiculous given the high cost of these screws. The description doesn't say it, but these screw sets are green in color, 1" long, Torx T25 bit for 1/4" hex driver. My neighbor gave me about 300 FastenMaster FMTR9003-1750GY 3" TrapEase-I Composite Deck Screw, Gray, Shuru He used to do construction work and used these composite deck screws in his regular wood decking because he thought the concave underside of the screw head would hold the wood together and reduce splitting. This really looks like the truth. I have Comparing the TrapEase to these similarly priced GRK screws and found that the GRK screws ride in a wider gap than the TrapEase It appears that the concave underside of the TrapEase actually holds the line together Unfortunately I found that when removing the Many months later, TrapEase screws replaced the tighter threads on the top intended for tightening the composite decking aren pulling the plank up faster than the tip of the unscrewed screw, lifting the plank until it was tight .tightened thread. slips and tears fragments from weaker boards. About 1 in 20 screws I removed resulted in large pieces of wood breaking along the grain, and many others suffered less damage. I think this negates any advantage of the mushroom head screw in preventing splitting. Note that I didn't have this splitting effect when I removed the newly installed TrapEase screws, I think because the wood wasn't expanding/seating around the tighter threads on top. GRK screws should also reduce splitting as the underside of their heads have small teeth and pockets that cut/make a hole for the head. GRK heads cut a clean hole but sometimes split the board anyway. If I see the board starting to split I can loosen the GRK screw, blow the sawdust into the hole and screw the screw back where it was to lessen the split so hopefully it doesn't get any worse becomes. My boards are old so maybe the newer board won't crack. I actually found a video on YouTube where they screwed a GRK screw through a 4" piece of wood into another piece of wood using the cutting action of the GRK screw head. I don't have a 4" piece of lumber, but I did a test on a 2x4 piece of scrap lumber and screwed the GDT screw half an inch below the surface of the lumber. In this test it left a nice clean hole around the head and didn't cause any splitting even though I was about 1.5 inches from the end of the board. GRK bolts are stronger, maybe twice as strong, but my sample size and testing method are too limited. To be sure, I checked the flex of two #9 TrapEase bolts and one broke in half when the bolt was at about 160 degrees and the other at about 100 degrees. broken, and even then it's still hanging from half a millimeter of metal. I'll have to try a second GRK for comparison, but I don't want to sacrifice the other one. Never broken GRK bolts with twice as many clogged. After a mild winter, 23.2% (36 out of 155) of the TrapEase screws broke while all GRK screws were fine. I found that GRK makes a GRK KAM9318-5R Kameleon ProPak 9 with 3-1/8" composite deck screws, 375 screws per bucket, redwood, which has a similar head to TrapEase, so this is probably the best Option for strength but I still don't think they should be used in natural wood Another reason I don't expect any issues with GRK props is that they are about twice as fast as the TrapEase My percussion instrument switches to a slower percussion mode because TrapEase gets too tight when it's about 50-75% in the tree. Almost every GRK screws in at full speed and doesn't switch to percussion mode until the screw head touches the wood. Even if it does If the GRK weren't stronger it's unlikely to break during movement just because it's not as snug against the wood.I think the tightening of TrapEase is caused by the threads having different pitches at the top and therefore try to pull back into the wood faster, which pulls the wood down but creates tension around the screw and increases the stress on the screw. The anti-corrosion coating seems to be a bit more durable. Driving the GRK all the way into a 2" piece of wood (no pre-drilling) and then removing it left more coating on the screw than the TrapEase screw, but not much of a difference other than the tip. from TrapEase, which probably lost three times as much coverage (about 8mm). I also noticed that after removal, TrapEase was too hot to touch, while GRK was only warm, further proof that TrapEase screws have a much higher have friction with the screw. tree (maybe something to do with their coating?). With less friction, I find more of the GRK coating remains intact after the screw is driven in. Torx bits last longer. I've also had more trouble with a screwdriver skipping square sockets than Torx sockets. about 30% of it on the lower deck (where the paint is not peeling yet) and about 50% of the breakage on the upper deck. I don't know what brand the screws are as they were fitted by the previous owner of the house but they are unmarked and have no identifying features other than a square shank. I need to get out the broken screws because I can't countersink them to get the paint off the deck with Paint Shaver Pro (highly recommend if you ever need to remove paint). I have yet to get the screw removal tool working after two hours of trying different methods, so I can't replace the broken screws with new ones. Instead I had to drill at an angle to avoid the broken portion of the screw so the head of the new screw ended up roughly where the head of the old screw was. Unfortunately, this creates a secondary pathway for water to enter the joist and accelerate drying (yes, ironically, drying is caused by moisture). Dry rot is time consuming to repair, requiring expensive wood hardener and epoxy or replacing the entire joist, so really do your best to avoid it. So do yourself a favor and spend more on more powerful props like these GRKs. I've done a lot of searching on the forums and the GRKs came up most often as strong and quick to handle. I couldn't find another brand with consistently good mentions, but Deck Mate probably came the closest. Deck Mate is actually a Home Depot brand and they have used the name "Deck Mate" for different quality and style screws over the years, so I think there is some risk in using them.