Do you like a good screw?

I call myself meticulous for a reason. One of the things I check for regularly is proper hardware at places like exterior doors, cabinets, staircases and railings.

For the record, drywall/sheetrock screws are for DRYWALL or SHEETROCK!

They should not be used at exterior door hinges (like the one above). These screws have certain properties, and are meant to hold some weight, but they have a low shear strength, so they do not hold a lot of weight. All door manufactureres include with their exterior doors very long screws with a heavy shank so the screw not only goes into the door frame, but to the stud within the wall so you cannot break down the door.

Some of you in other parts of the country may not have experience with the New York - Tri-state area, but when people break into houses in Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn, they sometimes use a battering ram to blast through the door and ransack the house - but they don't batter the doorknob side of the door, they concentrate on the HINGE SIDE!

In other words, if your contractor mounted your $6000.00 kitchen cabinets to the wall with sheetrock screws, and then they fall to the countetop with all your dishes, pots and pans, then you will have a means of recourse because this is an IMPROPER INSTALLATION of cabinets.

I see railings that, if you leaned against them, you would fall down the stairwell and most probably get injured - or worse. Why - because some clown installed the railings with INADEQUATE hardware.

Sheetrock screws are great for some things, but too many people (contractors and homeowners alike) use them for everything that you SHOULD NOT.

Like to hold the electric service mast to your house, or to hold the decking boards to the structure below. These screws rust quite quickly and are not meant for exterior areas.

These are just some of the many things I look for, so if it is put together with the wrong screws, you COULD BE SCREWED! -Ray