Making sure you have the right fasteners for the job is an essential step in any construction project. It can be hard to know where to start when choosing the right fasteners, and often a project will need more than one type used together to finish a job perfectly.
There is a huge array of different types of fasteners out there, and they all have different properties which make them ideal for different uses. Luckily at Construction Fasteners we have them all, and can help you choose which fasteners will work best for your project.
We’ve put together this helpful guide to choosing the right fasteners for you, taking the guesswork out of it and making sure you know what you’re looking for and why.
These are the most commonly used types of fasteners, and what they are designed to be used for:
Screws
Screws are probably what most people think of when they think of fasteners. They are one of the most widely used fasteners, often used in DIY projects and around the house because they are so versatile and easy to use.
Screws are threaded, which means they have an indent cut into them which spirals around the shaft. This threading means that they cut into whatever material they are being screwed into, leaving an identical indent and so forming a perfect seal. This makes them extremely strong and reliable, and great for projects which need to resist gravity and the possibility of fasteners being shaken loose.
In most cases this indent cut as a screw is installed makes screws very easy to remove, as it can just twist in the opposite direction and follow the grooves cut into the material. Being easily removable is ideal for any project which may need to be dismantled and rebuilt such as flat pack furniture or anything that needs to be easily portable.
The head of a screw is an important factor to consider when choosing your fasteners, as they vary a lot and provide different finishes to a project, and will need the corresponding screwdriver for installation. Some common screw head types include the hex head, flat head, cross head and six-pointed star head.
Some of the most common types of screws to look out for are:
Wood screws
Wood screws are the most commonly used type of screw and, unsurprisingly, are designed to be used with wood, although they can also be used on other soft materials such as most plastics. The tip of these screws comes to a sharp point which allows them to easily cut into the surface of wood, or whatever material you’re fastening them to, for simple insertion.
Twinfast screws
Twinfast screws can be screwed into materials with double the speed because they have double the threading on them (or twice as many ridges cut into their shafts). They are designed to be used on wood or drywall.
Security screws
Security screws are much harder to remove than most other types of screw because they don’t have the normal indent in the head for a screwdriver to be inserted into. They can be removed, but need specialised equipment to do so. This makes them a great choice for projects which need extra security and definitely don’t need to be dismantled in a hurry.
Nuts and bolts
Nuts and bolts work together to fasten something in place. A bolt is similar to a screw in that it has a threaded shaft, but it is more heavyweight and durable, with a nut used to fix it securely. Bolts don’t always need to be secured with a nut – if the hole cut for them is very precise they will stay in place without – but often a nut or washer is used to hold a bolt tightly in place.
Bolts are often used in industrial fastening projects involving concrete and metal because of their durability and strength as well as their resistance to vibration. They are also used extensively in cars, trains and planes because of this resilience and resistance to vibration and intense force, as well as the ability to dismantle as and when needed to be able to make repairs.
Bolts come in a huge range of shapes and sizes, but here are just a few examples:
Frame bolts
Frame bolts use a large, circular washer under the head of the bolt, which means a load can be evenly spread across a surface, instead of just one small load bearing point. These bolts are also sometimes referred to as flange bolts.
Carriage bolts
Carriage bolts are some of the most widely used bolts you’ll find. They have a distinctive domed head with a square undercut beneath. This undercut bonds tightly and securely to whatever you are fastening, holding it firmly in place. This bond can then be made even more secure and unshakeable with the addition of a nut.
Eye bolts
These are sometimes known as circular bolts and, as their name suggests, they have a metal circular ring on their heads. These are normally used for threading through rope or chain for weight distribution during lifting and pulling, so are really heavy duty and secure fasteners.
J bolts are very similar but instead of having a full circular ring they have a half ring or J shape, also used in pulley systems for lifting with ropes or chains.
U bolts
U bolts are, you guessed it, in the shape of the letter U. They are rounded in this way to fit around pipes or other rounded tubing, although they can also have squared off corners or varying shapes to fit around specific things.
Nails
Along with screws, nails are up there with the most commonly used fasteners. They are extremely simple to install as they just use direct force to be knocked in, either with a hammer or nail gun, and don’t need any help from nuts or washers to stay in place. They are considered a permanent fastener because although they can be removed, the removal of nails normally causes some damage to the surrounding material.
They are often the cheapest choice, and are great for quickly and easily fastening things together when the look and finish of the project isn’t as important as the strength of the join.
Common nails
These are the nails you will be able to find wherever you look, used in construction across the board. They are reliable, sturdy and strong. Common nails are also ideal for woodwork projects if you’re not too bothered by the heads of the nails being visible when hammered in.
Box nails
Box nails are a slimmer version of the common nail. They are slightly less strong than common nails but the thinner shaft makes them less likely to split wood during insertion.
Brad nails
Brad nails are slimmer still and also have smaller, more streamlined heads. This means they easily sit flush with the surface of wood when hammered in and so can provide a more polished finish to your project.
Brad nails are also generally the nails recommended for use with nail guns because of their streamlined shape; more substantial nails are more prone to splitting wood when fired in at speed.
This is just a small selection of the most typical kinds of fasteners you might need on a construction project, but at Construction Fasteners we stock any fastener you could ever require. With so many to choose from it can be difficult to know which are the fasteners that will be best suited to your particular requirements.
When choosing the right fasteners for your project, you just need to know what you want them to achieve. Do they need to penetrate wood, plastic, metal or something else? Can they be permanent or do they need to be removable? How much weight or force do they need to withstand? Do they need to fit around a specific shape? What do you want the finish to be?
If you know the answers to these questions, you can work out which fasteners you need by reading through this article. Alternatively, if you’re still unsure, you can just get in touch with our team and we’ll be happy to put our three decades of experience to good use and offer our advice. We know fasteners better than anyone and are on hand to help set you up with whatever fasteners you need.