Structural Fasteners

Nov 11, 2015

As a professional in the construction industry, you work with all kinds of structural fasteners. The biggest difference between structural screws and lag screws is that although lag screws are very tough and used for heavy duty jobs, you often need a power drill to make the hole first, before placing the lag screw inside. The threaded feature that characterizes structural screws means you can do both actions in a single movement, since they thread their way into the material in a winding motion.

Structural Fastener Details

Structural screws don’t need a nut at the end of the bolt, since the fit is so secure. Lag screws, however, benefit greatly from a nut at the end of the For a quick way to discern between the strengths and weaknesses of these structural fasteners, see below:

Structural Screws:

Structural screws are very sharp at the head, which means using them saves you time since there’s no need to pre-drill the hole. Because they’re able to drive tightly into a structure, it is important the they are made of high-quality materials so that any shearing off is minimized.

Lag Screws:

With lag screws, you will need to drill two holes before you can use them to hold structures together. One of the holes will be used for thread, and the other for the shaft. This second hole must be larger to accommodate the head.

Lag screws are regularly seen in construction. Construction workers have been using them since the very beginning of the industrial age. As such, they are readily available in a huge assortment of sizes and grades – you’ll have no trouble finding them in large home centers and warehouses like Copper State Nut & Bolt Co.

Lag screws are also very cost-effective. They are up to one-third less than the cost of structural screws – which really starts to matter with large jobs that require lots of structural fasteners.